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    70. As I Relax with guest Lyndsey Scott

    2:2 Be Present Celebrate Change Empower Flex Flow Generosity Grow Hope Open Release Scale: Minor Song Form: Layer Songwriter Conversation Trust
    Song: As I Relax
    Words & Music: Lyndsey Scott
    Lyrics
    ​As I relax, I know my needs are met, And I live my life in joyous anticipation
    This draws in what I most desire, So I can live my life in full-on participation

    I'm alive to the life in me; I'm alive to the Mystery; ready ready ready ready; Grow!

    I let it happen to me; I let it happen through me; I'm molting -- unfolding -- Open

    I can feel the future calling, drawing, dreaming, pulling me towards it.  I'm letting this Be
    Picture
    Notes: I've shared this song with my pocket song singers online group, meaning I was live-looping it... and the layers are intricate! The different lines interweave closely, creating a dense, beautiful texture. Lyndsey and I enjoy our conversation -- hear her talk about dropping root to choose what to do in the morning and set an intention, about how grief can be a healer, and wealth of teachers and mentors she draws on. Learn which voices still niggle at her, even with all the wisdom she has steeped herself in, and how she includes and cares for those parts, too. When we recorded this, I was in a particularly fragile place, feeling a little unmoored -- I felt better after this time spent talking and singing... more connected, more hopeful. As usual, I left with more questions than I started with... but it feels like a big door has opened and is welcoming me through. Following the links will keep me learning for a good long time!

    Songwriter Info: Lyndsey Scott is an artist-goofball-yintennae devoted to priestesSing the Heartland, (literal and figurative).  She weaves community singing to empower earth-based spiritual consciousness, and gathers soul circles that, through Song and sacred listening, decompose oppressive scripts that get in the way of freely living the Love we are. With jams that get you skipping easily between the sacred, sexy, and sssssilly : your inner child, exiled banshee, and wise elder are all very invited to the circle. 

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:06:40
    Start time of reprise: 01:14:35​​

    Links: Are you ready??? Lyndsey had so many resources to share, so this is the longest set of links yet!

    Let's start with links for Lyndsey and As I Relax:
    The song is free to share but Lyndsey always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.
    ​    Lyndsey's website: lyndseyscott.earth
    Everything Lyndsey! https://linktr.ee/lila.gaia
    We Belong Community of Song: https://www.facebook.com/webelongcommunityofsong
    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lyndseyscott
    Lyndsey's album on Bandcamp: https://lyndseyscott.bandcamp.com/album/well-held

    And now links to things that came up during the conversation -- starting with some of the quotations.

    “He who sings, prays twice.” ― St. Augustine
    “I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” ― E. B. White
    “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ― Howard Thurman

    Orland Bishop: Orland Bishop (presswarehouse.com)
    adrienne maree brown: adrienne maree brown – 'The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.' – camus…documenting my liberation
    San Francisco mural by Susan O’Malley: SusanOMalley_Mural_2009-2048x1536.jpg (2048×1536) (rootdivision.org)
    ​Starhawk, “The Fifth Sacred Thing” The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk « Starhawk's Website
    Marianne Williamson: Marianne Williamson – #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author
    A Course in Miracles: Combined Volume: Foundation For Inner Peace: 8601421955508: Amazon.com: Books
    Shireen Amini: Shireen Amini Music Medicine and Shireen Amini
    Shelley Tochluk: Living in the Tension & Workshop Series (shellytochluk.com)
    Emerald Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/jm/podcast/how-trance-states-shape-the-world/id1465445746?i=1000512752303
    Chubby Cree: https://www.instagram.com/p/CbTonaZJL2d/
    Laurence Cole: Can’t Do It Wrong / My Life Is So Cuckoo — Laurence Cole
    Love Poems from God, translated by Daniel Ladinsky: Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West (Compass) - Stillness Speaks
    Grace Lee Boggs: Grace Lee Boggs - Wikipedia
    Malidoma Somé and grief ritual: Dr. Malidoma Somé, Phd. | The Legacy of Elder Malidoma Somé
    Sibomfu Somé and grief ritual: http://www.sobonfu.com/  Embracing Grief | Sobonfu Somé
    Enneagrams – here’s one summary set: Integrative Enneagram Solutions (integrative9.com)
    Aretha movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkKOIQwTiKE
    Characteristics of White Supremacy by Tema Okun: Microsoft Word - Okun - white sup culture.doc (whitesupremacyculture.info)
    Francis Weller/ five gates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBfagOEkMi4   Home (francisweller.net)
    Liz Rog/Center for Belonging:  https://www.centerforbelonging.earth/
    Earthkeeper Wisdom School: https://www.earthkeeperwisdomschool.com/
    Grief to Action: https://www.holisticresistance.com/grief
    Influential album: MC HAMMER - Please Hammer Don't Hurt Em - Amazon.com Music
    Lynn O'Brien: https://www.lynnobrien.love/
    Artist Lyndsey wishes more people listened to: Briony Greenhill. Album: https://www.brionygreenhill.com/crossing-the-ocean

    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, Minor; 4 layers, one echoed/harmonized
    ​
    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

    65. Loving-Kindness with Guest Wendy Luella Perkins

    2:2 3:4 4:4 Accept Calm Celebrate Flex Flow Generosity Journey Pain Rest Scale: Aeolian (minor) Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Unison Song Form: Zipper Tend Trust
    Lyrics to all six songs shared in this episode
    ​by Wendy Luella Perkins
    LOVING-KINDNESS TO THE WHOLE
    © April 17-19, 2022 - Wendy Luella Perkins
    timestamp in episode: 5'42"
    In bed with lots of sciatic pain and began singing loving-kindness to my leg, my ankles, etc (as an add on to my body scan)…later on morning walk this was created.

    loving-kindness to my body
    loving-kindness to my mind
    loving-kindness to each and every joy
    and heartbreak of my time
    loving-kindness to my spirit
    loving-kindness to my soul
    loving-kindness to each and every part
    loving-kindness to the whole

    zipper: your body, our bodies, all bodies

    WHEN ALL IS SWIRLING
    ©2004 - Wendy Luella Perkins
    timestamp in episode: 19'31"

    when all is swirling in my heart
    quiet come
    take rest in me

    zipper: busy, worry, hurry, troubled, etc

    WE’RE ALL CONNECTED
    ©2020 - Wendy Luella Perkins
    timestamp in episode: 21'10"

    we’re all connected, bird, cloud and tree
    we’re all connected, earth, wind and sea
    an interwoven, exquisite tapestry
    we’re all connected, breath, you and me

    ​IT'S GOOD TO HAVE A SONG OR TWO
    ©2022 - Wendy Luella Perkins
    timestamp in episode: 35'10"

    it's good to have a song or two
    when the road gets bumpy
    it's good to have a song or two
    on this journey
    ​
    Picture

    ​TRUST IN THE POWER
    ©2021 - Wendy Luella Perkins
    timestamp in episode: 48'28"

    i'm gonna trust in the power
    trust in the power
    the power of love
    i'm gonna trust in the power
    trust in the power
    the power of love

    zipper: song, care, story, etc.

    TO LOVE I DO RETURN
    ©2021 - Wendy Luella Perkins
    timestamp in episode: 55'50"

    to love i do return
    to love i do return
    when my heart breaks open
    to this broken world
    to love i do return

    zipper: song, action, courage, kindness etc.
    Notes: Wendy Luella Perkins sings to telemarketers, tells of her brother choosing her for his show-and-tell, and why she has a tik-tok channel. She talks about auditory memory, singing as refuge, and the reclamation of her voice. She describes the transition from singer/songwriter work into the Soulful Singing in 2002, and the challenges unique to this kind of therapeutic singing which is not professional therapy. We have the awkward conversation about money -- is it possible to make a living as a songwriter without commodifying song, which is a birthright? Patty Piotrowski has created the most appropriate beautiful art in my mind because of the generosity and openness of the bloom.

    Songwriter Info: Wendy Luella Perkins has been singing and making up songs since she was a very young child. When she was three years old, her older brother, Tim, took her to school as his Show+Tell item saying, “this is my sister Wendy Lu, listen to her sing!” She's been going strong ever since. As a singer-songwriter, Unitarian Universalist community minister, and founder, in 2002 of Soulful Singing (singing meditation for all) Wendy Luella leverages the power of song to build authentic, healing and joyful communities.

    A prolific writer of folk songs and meditative chants and supportive guide who helps others to create their own songs, Wendy Luella's greatest joy is to bring friends and strangers together in the transformational circle of song. Wendy Luella has produced three CDs of original music, which you can find on her website. As a response to pandemic restrictions and recognizing the need to keep on singing in community, especially in difficult times, Wendy Luella transitioned Soulful Singing to online sessions in March 2020. Soulful Singers from all over have been gathering online EVERY SINGLE DAY since then and once a week on THURSDAY evenings.
    ​
    Everyone is welcome to join Soulful Singing via Zoom. Singing daily over the last 875+ days with wonderful folks from Kingston and around the world has encouraged Wendy Luella to share her original songs more broadly in what she calls her “Song Liberation Project” (The SLiP). She has written hundreds of songs and with The SLiP is sharing them one by one on TikTok. Wendy Luella grew up in rural Nova Scotia, and has lived in Kingston Ontario for over 25 years with her sweetheart and fellow musician, Charlie Walker. She loves waking early, walking daily, eating communally, crafting publicly, sharing deeply, gardening bountifully, laughing abundantly and of course, singing soulfully!

    Links: 
    Wendy Luella's website: https://www.wendyluellaperkins.com
    and tiktok page: https://www.tiktok.com/@wendyluellaperkins
    To email Wendy Luella: info@wendyluellaperkins.com
    To join Soulful Singing every day from 9:00-9:45 a.m. Eastern Time, please click here for information: Wendy Luella Perkins | SoulfulSinging
    (notice you'll need to email ahead of time to receive a link for joining, so don't leave it to the very last minute!)
    Album that mattered: Joni Mitchell, Blue
    Songwriter Wendy Lu wishes more people would listen to: Coco Love Alcorn

    Nuts & Bolts: 
    ​Loving-Kindness: 3:4, major, zipper. Time: 5'42" 
    When All Is Swirling: 2:2, minor, zipper. Time: 19'31"
    We're All Connected: 4:4, major, unison. Time: 21'10" 
    It's Good to Have a Song or Two: 4:4, major, unison. Time: 35'10" 
    Trust In the Power: 4:4, major, zipper. Time: 48' 28" 
    To Love I Do Return: 3:4, major, zipper. Time: 55'50"

    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

    58. When We Are Gone

    2:2 Change Earth Farewell Fire Flow Grieve Hope Ribbon Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Call & Response Song Form: Harmonized Water
    Song: When We Are Gone
    Words & Music: ​Starhawk and Anne Hill
    Lyrics
    When we are gone, they will remain:
    wind and rock, fire and rain.
    They will remain, when we return;
    the wind will blow and the fire will burn.
    Picture
    Notes: An elemental song that reminds us of how ephemeral human life is -- yet how we can rely on the solidity of the elements and return to them again and again. This is a song I need when I feel unrooted by grief and anger. I wonder how it will feel to you, what it might touch, how it might help you adapt and flex and grow? Listen for the surprise sound effect... I was recording with the windows open, and my looper caught a passing sound... I decided not to rerecord, both because I didn't really have the time, and because I thought it was actually kind of cool in the context of this song. Just a reminder that this podcast is not a polished recorded performance (as if you hadn't figured that out already! :) ) I use the looper to layer up my voice a bit, but it's how it would sound if we were sitting in the same place and you were singing with me live... two real humans doing real human-y stuff.

    Songwriter Info: Starhawk is an author, activist, permaculture designer and teacher, and a prominent voice in modern earth-based spirituality and ecofeminism. Anne Hill has expertise in many areas, from dreams and spirituality to self-publishing and author platforms. She is a sought-after speaker and teacher, helping people improve their lives using both inner and outer resources. With Diane Baker, they co-created a book called Circle Round, which is a resource of nature spirituality practices.  Unusually, I did not manage to get their explicit permission to share this song, though I reached out through their websites... so if this episode disappears, you'll know why! I'm hoping that because this song is already widely shared, it might be okay. Please, if this song speaks to you, here's an extra plea to use the links and visit their websites to support their work!

    Links: 
    Regenerative Culture, Earth-based Spirituality, and Permaculture « Starhawk's Website http://starhawk.org
    About Anne | Serpentine Music & Media

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:28 
    Start time of reprise: 00:13:29
    ​
    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, Ionian, Call & response with harmonies.

    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

    50. Navigate The Current with guest Saro Lynch-Thomason

    2:2 Be Grateful Flex Friendship Gratitude & Trust Grief & Fear Grieve Pain Protection & Presence Release Rest Ribbon Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Ballad Songwriter Conversation Tend Trust
    Song: Navigate the Current  Words by Saro Lynch-Thomason  Melody based on the traditional Irish tune ​known as "Star of the County Down"
    Lyrics
    I often feel a deep despair For a pain that feels unending
    For a body made with many faults That resists all salve or mending
    I’m tossed and driven with a tide Of an ocean unforgiving
    I am left shaking on the shore Afraid of even standing.

    I feel a deep temptation then As I am lying weary
    For a marble form to encase my bones That I may rest more deeply
    What comfort to be cast as stone To be static and suspended
    No ecstasy, no misery Nothing given or expended

    I am startled then by the touch of friends Who raise and fortify me
    Who say my name, bid me stretch my frame Help me face the sea’s great fury.
    Where would I be in these long hours Without their voices by me?
    To ease the pain and soothe the strain Of a troubled and angry body?
    ​
    I am bound between the amity That salves a body splintered
    And the cries and sighs of the daily hours That pull my soul more inward.
    Oh, may I learn to trust the hands That soothe a pain so fervent
    ​May I ride each wave with a greater faith And navigate the current
    Picture
    Notes: There's a freedom in not waiting for a cure. Traditional music is a way to connect to your spiritual ancestral community; it can affirm your experience and there's the "big expansion of empathy that is happening when we sing." Ornamentation and pronunciation of words in oral tradition. We don't create in isolation. How Saro's mom conveyed joy in singing, and what Saro would love "every human being on the planet to understand about disability." The broad umbrella of disability. Speaking with compassion to our bodies, and how that relates to justice work. Why singing is too important to be left to the professionals. Need I say more? This conversation with Saro has left me mulling over so much, and learning "Navigate the Current" has touched me deeply. Here's a chance to dig into what authentic expression feels like...
    ​
    Songwriter Info: Saro Lynch-Thomason is an award-winning ballad singer, song leader, folklorist, and documentarian from Asheville, North Carolina. Saro has been studying and teaching traditional song and balladry from the British Isles, Appalachia and the American South for over a decade. Saro believes that old songs help modern learners access history, folklore, and (most importantly) compassion for the experiences of others, and she uses in-person teaching, film documentary, podcasts and more to convey these lessons. She holds an M.A. in Appalachian Studies and a Certificate in Documentary Studies.

    ​    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:23
    Start time of reprise: 01:03:26

    Links: 
    www.sarosings.com
    www.patreon.com/sarolynch,
    Music at sarolyncht.bandcamp.com,
    TikTok and Instagram at @songspeaksaro
    Sign up for Saro's newsletter to be the first to hear when the class info is available...
    ​    ​Tim Eriksen Soul of the January Hills -- the link goes to Bandcamp, because if you buy the album there, the artist receives a larger % than any other source. Learn more about Tim Eriksen here: Tim Eriksen (timeriksenmusic.com)
    Michael & Carrie Kline at ​Talking Across the Lines (folktalk.org)

    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, Aeolian (minor), ballad form
    ​
    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

    43. Music

    2:2 Calm Heal Hope Journey Power & Change Protection & Presence Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Harmonized Trust
    Song Music
    Words & Music by Matthew Myer Boulton
    Lyrics
    We are going to a place where music
    falls and fills up everything;
    and though it might be a long time,
    know it's gonna be alright --
    ​'cause we've already started to sing.
    Picture
    Notes: This song has an Appalachian feel, and a wonderful way of rising and falling, gradually filling you up with the music that it's singing about as you sing it. Matthew says, “Great songs have great ideas in them, too. They are simple but they are not simplistic.” On the podcast, you'll hear me poking around with different rhythms and experimenting with harmonies and interspersing... and I encourage you to explore, too, as soon as you feel comfortable with the song. Let the music do its thing by filling us up, and let's enjoy the feeling of our voices today.

    Songwriter Info: Matthew Myer Boulton is an author, teacher, filmmaker, and proud papa of Jonah and Margaret. A graduate of Northwestern University, Harvard Divinity School, and the University of Chicago Divinity School, he has served on the faculty of Harvard Divinity School and seminaries in New England and the Midwest. He's also the Creative Director and Producer of the Salt project -- which is where I uncovered his bio!

    Links: 
    The original Butterflyfish recording can be found here: Christian Music for Children by Butterflyfish (saltproject.org) 
      You can buy sheet music here, too, or use the contact button to ask permission to use the song further.
    A shout out to Matt Myer (no relation), whose youtube video introduced me to the song: Music (We are going ) - YouTube

    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, Major,  harmonized

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:23
    Start time of reprise: 00:12:32

    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

    41. I Am the Calm

    2:2 Be Present Calm Gather Gratitude & Trust Protection & Presence Rest Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Harmonized Song Form: Layer Tend Trust
    Song I Am the Calm
    Music & Words​ by Carole Marie Downing, 
    additional harmony by Patricia Norton
    Lyrics
    I am the calm in the eye of the storm, come to center. 
    I am the calm in the eye of the storm, take a breath. 
    I am the calm in the eye of the storm, come to center. 
    I am the calm in the eye of the storm you can rest. 
    I am the calm. 

    ​I am the calm, you are the calm, we are the calm.
    Picture
    Notes: As we prepare to leave our home of 22 years and shift to a new kind of community for us, let me tell you, this song is proving useful! As I sort belongings, as inspections get scheduled... and spring begins to rise, and world news swirls, and how to responsibly bring people together is still confusing and uncertain... something sweet, short and simple that I can repeat to myself, exchanging the words "It's all falling apart! I can't do this!" with "I am the calm in the eye of the storm..." is a huge gift I give myself with tenderness and with strength. Carole Marie wrote it in the early days of the pandemic, when even yoga practice felt overwhelming -- she could sing this to herself on her mat and take a breath. I think it is aging well, holding that kind of unpanicked settling effect that lets us function through it all. And while I sincerely hope you don't need this song right now, if you learn it this week, it will be snugged into your heart for any moment in the future when it becomes useful!

    Songwriter Info: Carole Marie Downing is a songleader, music guide, and facilitator committed to sparking joy and creating connection in times of transition and change. She leads 'Simply Singing', a monthly community song circle and facilitates workshops and retreats integrating music with writing. As a music guide, she teaches introductory ukulele and guitar with a passion for supporting beginners to trust and nurture their innate musicality. Carole Marie lives in Portland, Oregon and finds inspiration for music and life in the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

    Links: Find Carole Marie in any of these places!
    Website: https://www.tunetojoy.com
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TunetoJoy
    Instagram:     https://www.instagram.com/tunetojoymusic/

    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, Major, 2-layers, one harmonized
    ​
    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!