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    127. Willing to Receive, Willing to Release

    4:4 Accept Acceptance Sing Be Present Boundaries Breathe Calm Determination Empower Flow Generosity Grow Heal Release Ribbon Song Form: Call & Response Song Form: Harmonized Trust Wisdom
    ​Song: Willing to Receive, Willing to Release
    Music: Lynn O'Brien
    Lyrics:
    ​​
    I am willing to receive
    Anything you got for me
    I'll take the big
    I'll take the small
    I'll take the unknown
    I'll take it all
    I am opening!

    I am willing to release
    Whatever does not serve me
    I'll drop the big
    I'll drop the small
    I'll drop the unknown
    I'll drop it all
    I'll let go of everything!
    Picture
    Notes: A generous song to let us both receive and release -- I deeply respect Lynn O'Brien's way of moving through the world. I love singing this song of hers so these words, this wisdom of taking and dropping, yes and no, can sift into my being and start to feel natural, like something I believe in my very core. Patty says, "I connected this song with the micro rhizomes and roots of trees -- what they have within them to give and what is given to them from others." Yes, yes, yes!!!

    Songwriter Info: Described as a "musical force of nature," Lynn O'Brien is an award-winning vocalist, songwriter, performer and recording artist with a soulful, dynamic voice. She has captivated thousands of audiences with her healing original songs, well-loved covers and compelling vocal improvisation - seamlessly blending genres like folk, jazz, soul, blues and R&B. ​Lynn has collaborated with artists across all mediums (from book authors to belly dancers to Bobby McFerrin himself) and also soars as a solo artist; she accompanies her vocals on guitar, ukulele, piano and occasional loop station to create an a cappella "one woman choir" effect. Drawing on her background as a board-certified music therapist, women's empowerment coach and speaker, Lynn brings a deep sense of presence, authenticity and inventiveness to every performance.
    ​
    In a moment of deep presence, Lynn spontaneously composed this tune as a self-prayer and intention-setting of radical openness. Influenced by Tosha Silver's writings and many other spiritual teachers, she finds that her core work is often about opening - opening to receive and release - opening to being an easy, open conduit for Life to come through. Singing and improvisation is where this openness is most accessible for her, but she tries to practice in all areas of life. Thanks for listening, and please use this freely.

    Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share but Lynn always welcome financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved. To request the original recording from Lynn O'Brien, please contact her through her website, www.LynnOBrien.love

    Links:
    Website: https://www.lynnobrien.love/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynnobrienlove/
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynnobrienlove
    Listen/buy on Bandcamp: https://lynnobrienmusic.bandcamp.com/album/rising
    Listen/stream on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4yMCG3V8FNV7JbkGR6FPTc
    Listen/follow on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LynnOBrienLove
    ​
    Support via Virtual Tip Jar (you know, "willingness to receive" and all that!)
    Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/lynn-Obrien 
    Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/lynnobrienmusic

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:51
    Start time of reprise: 00:15:40

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4 minor; call and response, harmonized

    Join the A Breath of Song mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share) to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

    ​Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!
  • Published on

    126. Meditation

    6:8 Accept Be Present Breathe Calm Chant Enough Flow Gentle Grieve Harmony Heart Listen Notice Release Ribbon Scale: Minor Song Form: Harmonized Tend Trust
    Song: Meditation
    Music by:​ Neal Jolly
    Lyrics:

    The beat of the heart in the chest,
    The pulsing of blood in the hands,
    The in and the out of the breath,
    The here, the now, the you.
    Picture
    Notes: A vivid reminder of what it's like to drop into hyper-awareness of breath and body... combined with a song that makes me extra aware of breath flow (like, it runs out! ) Very satisfying combination. The harmonies also move in intriguing ways -- now close, now far, now drawing back together and intertwining. As often happens, I struggled a bit to release this episode -- it's not perfectly, exquisitely in-tune... and it's not a perfect, exquisite voice that's singing! But I remind myself again and again that the point here is not perfection -- it's good that you'll be able to understand the song and sing it, too... and carry it off into your world. It's good that I spent an evening singing a song that helps me be more aware of my breath and body. It's good that I got to gaze at Patty Piotrowski's artwork for this piece as I sang. This is just a darn good way to be spending my life... so thanks for your company in this practice of singing beyond perfection!

    Songwriter Info: Neal has been leading singing sessions in Cornwall for seven years. His style is influenced by membership of the Natural Voice Network and the sessions are non-performance, inclusive, mindful and with an ear to the spiritual/sacred in the widest sense of those words. Neal's songwriting is inspired by outdoor spaces where he does regular singing events, and being in the present: the only place where we can experience the world and each other.

    Sharing Info: Please share this song and make a donation to https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jollygoodsinging, the amount reflecting your own income and assessment of the song's worth to you.

    Links:
    Jolly Good Singing on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jollygoodsinging/

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:00
    Start time of reprise: 00:14:41

    Nuts & Bolts: 6:8 minor with harmonic minor moment, 3 part harmony

    Join the A Breath of Song mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share) to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

    ​Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!
  • Published on

    125. Dahil Mahal Kita with guest Gerone Pascal

    4:4 Be Grateful Be Present Belonging Breathe Flow Gather Generosity Gentle Heart Joy Love Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Unison Tend
    Song: Dahil Mahal Kita
    Music:     Gérone Pascal
    ​Lyrics:

    Dahil mahal kita
    dahil mahal na mahal kita
    dahil mahal kita
    ibibigay ko ang lahat

    Because I love you so much,
    Because I love you so much, so much, so much
    Because I Iove you so much,
    I give you all of my heart.
    Picture
    Notes: Gérone explores ways we can give ourselves our full hearts… with words and without words. How songs express and touch emotions, how questions can be a form of self care. Her partner is cooking in the background, so the recording is riddled with the crashes and bangs of everyday life, and our conversation is grounded in here and now. Recorded just two days after we moved, I wasn't feeling at my sparkliest(!), yet singing Dahil Mahal Kita was a settling, centering way to start in to a conversation about song in daily life.

    Songwriter Info: Gérone is a thirty-something movement and meditation teacher from the Philippines, now living in France. Her work is mostly about helping people get to know and love their bodies so much that they'd want to take care of them through yoga postures, mindful consumption, regulated breathing, and rest. When she's not in the yoga studio or the health center, she's happy singing Filipino folksongs while hiking, belting out karaoke hits in the kitchen while cooking or baking delicious vegan fare, or meditating while sewing or knitting clothes for her friends and family.

    ​Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Gérone for recording and/or performing permission.

    Links:
    Lyon, the gastronomical capital of France: https://www.thetravel.com/what-makes-lyon-the-gastronomical-capital-of-france/
    Tagalog- one of the main languages spoken in Manila: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tagalog-language
    https://www.omniglot.com/writing/tagalog.htm
    History of music in the Philippines: https://www.tatlerasia.com/lifestyle/arts/historical-notes-on-why-filipinos-love-music
    Understanding Mantras: 
    https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/sanskrit/mantras-101-the-science-behind-finding-your-mantra-and-how-to-practice-it/
    Bobby McFerrin: https://bobbymcferrin.com/
    Rhiannon: https://rhiannonmusic.com/circlesing
    Tonal languages - https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/tonal-languages
    Le Cercle Enchanté (The Enchanted Circle) retreat - https://lecercleenchante.com/en/
    Gérone’s friend's album on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0xPu4z5Z0lj7cmfGg8YjNG
    Kendrick Lamar: https://www.biography.com/musicians/kendrick-lamar
    Cynthia Alexander on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0pu1wIlONwzjRxXFMg3u0U
    Comfort in your Strangeness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltebib8teeM
    Gérone's Website: https://gerone.yoga/fr
    Gérone's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gerone.gentlewarrior

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:05:15
    Start time of reprise: 01:04:02

    ​​​Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, unison

    ​Join the A Breath of Song mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share) to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

    Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!​
  • Published on

    124. Andito Ngayon

    3:4 Be Grateful Be Present Belonging Breathe Calm Flow Generosity Gentle Heal Heart Home Love Peace Rest Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Harmonized
    Song: Andito Ngayon
    ​Music: Gérone Pascal
    Lyrics

    Andito ngayon
    Sa aking puso
    Ang bawat hininga
    Maginhawa.

    Here now
    in my heart
    Every breath
    Full of ease.
    Picture
    ​Notes: It's magic to sing a song of presence in a language unfamiliar to me -- this one from the Phillipines -- it magnifies the focus, the awareness. Also I experience great comfort singing this particular set of sounds. Songwriter Gérone Pascal talks next week about what is special about Tagalog, why song creating feels natural to her, and her #1 self care tactic... all things which play out in this song. I added a few harmonies, but you might choose to play the melody section on repeat and add your own!

    Songwriter Info: Gérone is a thirty something movement and meditation teacher from the Philippines, now living in France. Her work is mostly about helping people get to know and love their bodies so much that they'd want to take care of them through yoga postures, mindful consumption, regulated breathing, and rest. When she's not in the yoga studio or the health center, she's happy singing Filipino folksongs while hiking, belting out karaoke hits in the kitchen while cooking or baking delicious vegan fare, or meditating while sewing or knitting clothes for her friends and family.

    ​Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Gérone for recording and/or performing permission.

    Links:
    Gérone's Website: https://gerone.yoga/fr
    Gérone's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gerone.gentlewarrior

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching (text): 00:04:00
    Start time of teaching (singing): 00:0    6:10
    Start time of reprise: 00:14:30
    ​​​
    Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, major, harmonized melody

    ​Join the A Breath of Song mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share) to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

    Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!​
  • Published on

    123. Arms of Love

    3:4 Be Present Belonging Breathe Calm Flow Friendship Gentle Harmony Heal Heart Home Love Lullaby Peace Rest Ribbon Safe Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Harmonized
    Song: Arms of Love
    ​Music: Alexa Sunshine Rose
    Lyrics

    Come now child, lay it down
    Just breathe
    Just be
    Come be cradled in the arms of love
    Just breathe, just be.
    Picture
    Notes: Every time I sing one of Alexa Sunshine Rose's songs with a group, people immediately want to sing it again -- they simply feel that good. I give a little extra help picking out the harmonies that are on the recording of this that Alexa Sunshine Rose released (buying it on Bandcamp is a great way to support her artistry)... and then I play around with making up harmonies of my own, as I hope you will if it appeals. There's also something very beautiful about centering in the melody of this song, and letting the harmonies develop around you.

    Songwriter Info: Alexa Sunshine Rose is a singer-songwriter, mother and artist who has dedicated herself and her life's work to being a clear channel for peace on earth. Alexa plays in the tuning frequency of A=432 Hz to promote inner peace and deep sound absorption. Listeners worldwide utilize her music during pregnancy and birth, hospice, yoga and massage, community song circles, and inner-transformational journeys.

    ​Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Alexa for recording and/or performing permission.

    Links:
    Website: www.alexasunshinerose.com
    Instagram: @Alexasunshinerose
    Facebook: www.facebook.com/alexasunshinerose
    Support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/alexasunshinerose

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:25
    Start time of reprise: 00:13:35
    ​​​
    Nuts & Bolts: 3:4 minor, 4-part harmony

    ​Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

    Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!​
  • Published on

    119. I Let Go

    4:4 Accept Be Present Belonging Breathe Calm Cycles Flow Gentle Grow Harmony Heal Home Journey Motion Peace Release Rest Safe Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Call & Response Song Form: Echo Tend Trust
    Song: I Let Go
    Music: Te Martin

    ​Lyrics:

    I let go
    I lay down
    I release
    Return again


    Picture
    ​Notes: Te Martin describes this song as an exhale... I experience it like that, too... a relaxation, a release. It's so very welcome to me as I'm coming into a busy time of life, with lots of commitments lined up -- I need ways to let go quickly, in the middle of all the flurry. Having this song in my mind lets me do that... and if I happen to be with someone else who's willing to sing, it's so easy to echo it back to each other. Next week is a songwriter conversation with Te... bicycles, miso, and the natural world all come into play!

    Songwriter Info: Te Martin is a song-keeper and ritual artist. They were born on Ramaytush Ohlone land in San Francisco and have been shaped by Ocean, Redwoods, circus arts, and theater games. They facilitate oral tradition singing classes and workshops that focus on song as a tool for collective liberation, somatic regulation, and ancestral connection. Te served as co-organizer of Thrive Street Choir in the San Francisco bay area for six years, is a student of Gaelic song, and released their first professional music video and EP of original songs, "Water & Bones," in 2021.

    ​Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Te for recording and/or performing permission

    Links: 
    EP, "Water & Bones": https://temartin.bandcamp.com/album/water-bones
    "May This Body Be a Bridge" Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Mn_2BSNAg
    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/temartin
    Mailing List: https://mailchi.mp/1debadd3ebb3/sos 
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/te.martin/

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:53
    Start time of reprise: 00:12:10
    ​​
    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, call & response

    ​Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

    Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!​