Contemplations
What is your relationship to sound?
What songs light you up? Soothes you?
***
This past weekend I was led through a beautiful sound meditation by one of my classmates in my BIPOC Intergenerational Healing and Justice Fellowship at the Garrison Institute. It was such a beautiful reminder of how sound can help you connect to the present moment. Later that day, I went for a walk to the Willowemoc Creek at the end of our land in the Western Catskills and it was the first time I had been present with all the sounds. Suddenly, I was heard the squish of the springtime mud, the crunch of the gravel on the walking path, the swooshing of the wind through the tree branches and the rushing water.
What a gift to truly be able to listen deeply on a path that I have walked many many times before. It’s like I experienced it for the first time.
Funny enough, shortly after, my essay on sound healing that I wrote months ago went live on Medicinal Media, a new nonprofit committed to creating and elevating media that supports mental health. You can read the story, Listening with Your Whole Body, here, along with a guided written meditation. In the story, I dive into the spiritual and scientific explanations of how and why sound can be healing including exploring the mystical benefits of chanting the Heart Sutra.
What has been consistently effective in helping me through my struggles, sometimes almost instantaneously, has been the rapture of sound. Whether it be mantras, singing bowls, brown noise, or Maggie Rogers’ latest single, sound has always helped ease my suffering. Intentionally using sound to support well-being has now become a daily practice for me and one that I share with others as a mindfulness teacher. I start the day listening to practice songs from Buddhist Zen Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village Community, jam out to classical while I write (or to rap/ top-40 dance songs when I have to meet a deadline), and usually end the night with jazz music to unwind. Depending on the day, I play a little guitar, banjo, or harmonium to help me break up any mental monotony I might be feeling.
OK! No more spoilers.
To accompany the article, I wanted to share what I listen to everyday with y’all to serve as a potential resource, a refuge, a balm, a joy. Taking inspiration from the wonderful Healing Our Way Home authors, I’m sharing my personal healing playlist with you :) Lots of links below. Take what serves you. Leave the rest. More than anything, I hope this is an invitation for you to explore how and what kinds of sound can be healing for you.
May this be of benefit for your wellbeing and for the liberation of all 🙏
Morning Meditations
Chanting has become an essential part of my meditation practice. It helps me create the container for my stillness practice and drop in quickly. I like to start my practice listening to Morning Chant (Vietnamese version here). (Thanks to my dharma buddy Mackenzie for introducing it to me!) And depending on how my heart is, I will either listen to the Heart Sutra or Namo Avalokiteshvara, which is a chant invoking the Bodhisattva (someone who dedicates their life to all beings) of compassion.
After my stillness practice, I love to listen to Plum Village practice songs, particularly when I cook breakfast. (Plum Village is Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Buddhist tradition that I practice in.) It’s a great way for me to ease into my day. Here are my top three picks from my morning playlist.
Afternoon Jams
Usually I warm up my brain with the Calming Classical playlist if I want something to help me focus for the work day. This is great for catching up on emails and light-to-medium-level tasks.
Later in the afternoon, when I’m deep focus or writing mode, I usually jam out in my noise-canceling headphones to some dance/pop/rap/ Top 40 music. But lately, I’ve been loving my ever-evolving Liberation playlist. It’s the right combination of driving beats to keep my energy up while also having a message that resonates deeply with me. I’ve made the playlist collaborative if you want to add anything to it. I WOULD LOVE! Also, I know this doesn’t work for everyone and I highly recommend
which makes awesome recommendations every week on how to get to that exact level of Hz that helps your brain really go in.Evening Wind Down
One of the ways my wife Jess and I shift into the evening is listening to jazz. We’ve done it for so long now that the minute we hear a sax playing, our whole body downshifts and our entire parasympathetic nervous system relaxes, knowing that our work day is over. It’s an incredible thing to experience and witness through the years, seeing how our physical and emotional body respond to this cue. For that, I am grateful to all the jazz greats like Nina Simone, Etta James, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Chet Baker, and so many more for their continued efforts in helping us get into the groove of life.
I’d really love to know if any these songs resonate with you and what are your go-to songs/chants/pieces that help you transform unwieldy emotions to connect with the present moment. And if you also look to sound as an ongoing resource for your wellbeing and healing. Let me know in the comments!