This week, I was so inspired by what I wanted to share with you, I made a video so you could “feel” and see the passion behind the words, from my heart to yours.
 
“Music can cure things medication never will”
-Unknown
There is so much anxiety running through the collective right now, and believe me, I have been feeling it, too. Music is one of our greatest allies to help soothe our emotions and our nervous system, especially when they are both hellbent on leaping into fight or flight.

Offering music to our precious body is one of the most nourishing things we can do for our health.

I love to sing because I love the way it makes my body feel. Melodies moving up and down inside of me. The connection with the lyrics and how singing pulls out layers of emotions I didn’t even realize were there. Rhythm pulsing and flowing through my muscles. The pure pleasure of it.

The other day, I sat down at my piano and started playing and singing “The Rose”. Do you remember that song? Bette Midler sang it years ago and it is still my favorite version. Anyway, I got to the second verse and as I was singing, the lyrics triggered something buried deep inside of me, I burst into tears and sat and cried.

It’s the heart afraid of breaking, that never takes a chance.
It’s the dream afraid of waking, that never learns to dance.
It’s the one who’s always taking that never seems to give.
And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live.
“THE ROSE” by Amanda McBroom

I was feeling a place inside of me that has been holding back from full on ALIVENESS. Singing pulled out a visceral, emotional cry from my soul that was begging me to just GO for it. Be yourself. Just LET GO and let yourself be FREE.

Singing that song, in that precise moment, allowed me to touch something deep and unseen and let it erupt to the surface so I could hold it. Be with it. Feel into it and see a new reflection of myself in its eyes. If anyone had said all this to me in a conversation, my head would have gone “yeah, yeah, I know all this” and it might not have landed or affected me much more than surface words. But inside the song? Inside the raw truth of sound? There was no place to hide from that reality burning inside of me.

Music lets us do that. It is the great universal translator of the emotional body. As we clear those stuck, unexpressed emotions through song and sound, we unpeel layers of ourselves and lo and behold! we can breathe a bit easier. It’s like taking a bath in sound.

I can hear some of you now… “Well, that’s all well and good for YOU Ashana. You’re a musician. You can SING. You play piano. I can’t do anything like that.”

And to that I say… well, yes. That’s true. I have skills that you may not have.

But each and every one of us has a voice. And YOUR voice is one of the greatest healing gifts that you have. And I am guessing (No, I am betting) that for some of you, your voice is begging to be released from the cage that you have so carefully imprisoned it in for God knows how many years.

So, take a deep breath and let’s do baby steps here.

When was the last time you put on your favorite song and danced?

When was the last time you cranked up the jam and sang your heart out?

I’m not talking in the car while you’re driving. I’m talking really giving yourself a few minutes of dedicated space and time to really BE with some music that touches your heart. And let yourself do a full on immersion with it.

You can hum. You can chant. You can sing along. You can shower sing. You can tone and sound those tones into your body. You can sound along with a crystal bowl, a drum, or by pounding your feet or clapping your hands. You can hang out on FB Lives with the artists like Krishna Das and Deva Premal or do booty dances with Beyonce on youTube.

You need this. Your body needs this. Your soul and your heart need this.

In the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some songs with you. Things that have been percolating inside of me. For now, I’m just enjoying singing them to nourish my own body and heart, but I already know I want to share them with you. Nothing fancy. Probably just me playing piano inside my bowl room, singing just for us.

Wherever you are with yourself and however you feel about your voice, please trust me when I say that it is waiting for you to set it free. And when you set free your voice, the rest of you follows. I promise.

Wishing you love and joyous sounds, from my heart to yours.

ASHANA

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