Trust - A Breath of Song

Published on: April 22, 2026

230. Great Turning with guest Grace Oedel and singer Rebecca Csuy

Song: Great Turning

Music by: Joanna Colwell

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start time of teaching: 00:03:03

Start time of reprise: 01:08:19

Lyrics:

Part 1
We are turning, turning
We’re part of a great turning
We are turning, turning
We’re turning it around

Part 2
I will not fear you
I will not harm you
I will not fear you
We are turning it around

Part 3
We are all in it together
We are turning, turning it around

(Gratitude to Joanna Macy, for her teachings on The Great Turning)

Notes: It seems fitting that Grace Oedel, who tells us she is “Not doing any of this alone," brings us a song caught by a friend of hers, Joanna Colwell... and that this song references the mentor and teacher Joanna Macy, who helped so many folk seek reconnection. Grace and I are joined by Rebecca Csuy to learn this three part song, and then we dive into a laughter-filled conversation that visits some hard questions and nourishing responses. Grace is doing vital work in the world in many different arenas, seeking ways to help us get comfortable with the enormous changes we are facing, hospicing modernity -- but she points out, “I eat chocolate chips in bed… I am not a holier-than-thou person!” "We're all in it together," like the song says... "we are turning it around."

Songwriter Info: Joanna Colwell is a yoga teacher and song leader in MIddlebury, Vermont. She started the Yoga Equity Project and can generally be found tearing down the patriarchy with art, song, ritual, and good cheer.

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

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start time of teaching: 00:03:03

Start time of reprise: 01:08:19

Links:

Grace's Substack: https://graceoedel.substack.com/

Joanna Colwell – Middlebury yoga teacher:

https://www.yogaequity.org/

www.ottercreekyoga.com

https://www.instagram.com/ottercreekyoga/

Joanna Macy – The Work that Reconnects: https://workthatreconnects.org/

Octavia Butler: "Kindness eases change." "God is change.": https://www.octaviabutler.com/

Moira Smiley on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/39-stand-in-that-river#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/40-render-a-remedy-with-moira-smiley#/

Heidi Wilson on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/139-bend-and-rebound#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/140-the-feast-with-guest-heidi-wilson#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/228-all-call-this-home#/

Singing Resistance: https://linktr.ee/singingresistance

Kairos Center with Songs in the Key of Resistance: https://kairoscenter.org/projects/songs-in-the-key-of-resistance/

NOFA – Long-Handled Spoon Dinners: https://www.nofavt.org/about/blog/announcing-new-long-handled-spoons-dinners

L’Chaim Jewish collective leadership in Burlington: https://www.lchaimcollective.org/

Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst, UVM professor: https://www.uvm.edu/cas/religion/profile/ilyse-morgenstein-fuerst

Elise Witt on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/21-song-deep-in-your-bones#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/211-set-us-free#/

Nero’s Expedition Up the Nile by Moondog (Louis Thomas Hardin): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpUIzHWB_zc

James Baldwin “The children are always ours.”: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/notes-house-bondage/

Aylie Baker – wayfinding in Micronesia: https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/wave-patterns/

Indigo Girls: https://www.indigogirls.com/

Batya Levine on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/166-breathe#/

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3-layers

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Published on: March 11, 2026

225. Walk Me Home with guest Una McCann

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Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:05:32
Start time of reprise: 01:28:35

Lyrics:

Oh wind blow away the doubt circling around my head instead
Let me know the blessing of my feet upon the ground

[Chorus:]
(And) walk me home,
(And) walk me home,
(And) walk me home again

(And) walk me home,
(And) walk me home,
(And) walk me home again
.................
Oh moon shine a silver light illuminating all that I would hide
Guide me through the shadows, trusting in the steps before me

[Chorus]
.................
Over and over, your touch at my shoulder, guiding me homeward again
.................
Oh mountain, be kind to me, shelter me from storms that would arise, wise and silent, you show me how to follow through

[Chorus]

Song: Walk Me Home
Music by: Una McCann

Notes: What do you do with anger? Can you set shame gently aside so you can get out of the way of what's coming through you and wants to be voiced? How do you move through times of doubt and grief to do what you are called to do? Una shares with us a beautiful song companion for walking each other home, and we explore these questions and so, so much more in this extended conversation.

Songwriter Info:
Una McCann is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland where she works as a choir leader and songwriter. She has been leading groups in harmony since her school days and has been working with adult choirs for 15 years.
Una is a proud and active member of the UK Charity The Natural Voice Network, and works in line with the principle that we are all born to sing. She is passionate about the power of song and creativity to transform lives.
Song writing is a part of life that sustains and supports Una. She writes melodies and words that she needs to hear in that moment and is always delighted when they resonate with other people too.
In her spare time, Una enjoys running singing holidays and retreats.

Sharing Info: Una says: "Please sing these songs; they were born to be sung. If you make money through singing the songs and would like to support me in my work as a song carrier, please purchase songs through my website or drop me an email for more options."

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:05:32
Start time of reprise: 01:28:35

Links:
Website: www.unamccann.org
Facebook: Una McCann Music
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unamccann47/
Rhiannon: https://rhiannonmusic.com/home
Earthsong camps with John Bowker: https://www.earthsong.ie/about-earthsong
A note in sand or water: https://youtu.be/-CZlrgq8syE?si=VzijHkmvxuPUJ7MD
The first song Una remembers singing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QfXXj8RoPk&t=32s
Stéphane Grappelli – musicians of the eyes and musicians of the ears: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A9phane_Grappelli
Una’s Soundcloud – Henrietta!: https://soundcloud.com/unamccann/henrietta
Tara Brach – teachings of kindness and wellbeing: https://www.tarabrach.com/
Natural Voices Network: https://www.naturalvoice.net/
Indigo Girls: https://www.indigogirls.com/
The Roches: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roches
Airplane: https://youtu.be/MhVcbRldEfs?si=rubOOaeZ2S8lXF-a (from the Indigo Girls 1992 “Rites of Passage” album – my gift to Una was finding the song she loved!)
Gamelan instrument: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamelan

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, harmonized (intriguingly, it starts with a descending Phrygian scale...)

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Published on: February 18, 2026

223. The Reach

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Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:50
Start time of reprise: 00:14:29

Lyrics:

The earth
opened in the spring, opens
in all springs. Nameless,
ancient, many lived, we reach
through ages with the seed.

– Wendell Berry, “Rising”
New Collected Poems
(Counterpoint Press, 2012)

Song: The Reach
Words by: Wendell Berry
Music by: Malcolm Dalglish

Notes: I learned this beautiful round from the amazing Moira Smiley, who connected me with Malcolm Dalglish to request his permission to share on this podcast. I continue to be amazed by the seeds we sow when we befriend and tend each other, unfolding understanding and trust. It's not always easy to reach forward or back -- but these seeds we plant with each other open, even if the winter is long and icy! At least that's where this poem is taking me today. And let me tell you, I practiced deep love and care for all of you whose voices are comfortable in higher ranges than mine! I taught it where I'm comfy -- but I did the reprise where Malcolm actually set the sheet music (nice tenor/soprano range) -- so if you want to buy the sheet music from him and sing along with it, that's where you should head...

Songwriter Info: Malcolm Dalglish is a hammer dulcimer player and composer from Bloomington Indiana, whose many vocals celebrate a love of our natural world. He has set many poems by Kentucky author, and farmer, Wendell Berry.

Sharing Info: Please buy sheet music on Malcolm's website if you plan to share this song as a songleader.

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:50
Start time of reprise: 00:14:29

Links:
Malcolm's website: https://oooliticmusic.com/

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, round with optional descant

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Published on: January 21, 2026

219. Trust the Work

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Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:43
Start time of reprise: 00:16:07

Lyrics:

Trust the work.
Trust the slow work.
Trust the slow work of God [or love] within you.

Song: Trust the Work
Words by: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.
Music by: Paul Vasile

Notes: Trusting the work of love inside us, as excruciatingly slow as it seems sometimes.... this is a mantra I can fold right into my life, singing it on the regular to remind me back into the power of inner trust. Next episode is a conversation with Paul where we talk about the choice (he ok'd) to replace the word "God" with "love" -- and what it is we all seek. I offer this as a somatic check in as well -- as you sing it in different ranges, how does your voice and body respond?

Songwriter Info:
Paul Vasile (he/him) is a church musician, teacher, coach, and composer who finds his greatest joy in collaborative and community-centered work. Committed to modeling expansive, imaginative, and hospitable experiences of music making wherever he goes, Paul's leadership builds trust, invites spaces of creativity, vulnerability, and play, and supports practices of reflection and holistic learning.
For the past decade he has offered short- and long-term transitional leadership, consulting services, and creative resources to faith communities in seasons of discernment, challenge, and transformation. From 2016 to 2023, Paul served as the Executive Director of Music that Makes Community, a non-profit that shares "paperless" (oral tradition) leadership practices and songs. He traveled across North America modeling distinctive approaches to communal singing and learning at retreat centers, conferences, denominational gatherings, seminaries, and in congregations of all sizes.
Paul also composes music that invites communities to express and explore their connection to sacred stories, their bodies, and the ecosystems that sustain us. His music is represented in Glory to God, All Creation Sings, and Voices Together, as well as The Hymn Society’s resource, Songs for the Holy Other: Hymns Affirming The LGBTQIA2S+ Community.

Sharing Info: Please buy sheet music on Paul's website if you plan to share this song as a songleader.

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:43
Start time of reprise: 00:16:07

Links:
Paul's website: https://www.paulvasile.com/
Paul's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovedintobeing/

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, optional round

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Published on: November 26, 2025

213. Breath By Breath

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Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:22
Start time of reprise: 00:15:51

Lyrics:

Part 1:
I will allow my heart to be broken
I will allow this river to flow
I will allow my soul to be opened
Breath by breath, steady and slow
Breath by breath, steady and slow

Part 2:
Breath by breath, I grieve you
Breath by breath, I'll know
You will always be here
And I can let you go
Yes, I will let you go

Song: Breath By Breath
Music by: Juliana Murphy

Notes: There is so much joy and delight in the holiday seasons -- and there can also be so much grief and loss. The air is thick with the smells of sugar and memories, we are in contact (or not) with folk with whom we carry long histories, and sometimes it's really hard to show up as we are now. I love this song of Juliana's for the full acceptance of grief: "I will allow my heart to be broken." And I love the way that very allowing unsticks feelings, so they become a river flowing, a soul opening... and I love the way she gives a concrete way to do all this: "breath by breath, steady and slow." This song helps me be wiser about allowing my full self to include my grief -- and reminds me that breath by breath, that grief can be a gentle, soul-opening presence.

Songwriter Info: Juliana Murphy (she/they) comes to the circle with a lifelong love of singing and a library of original and collected songs that connect us to ourselves, nature, and the cycles and rhythms of being a human on this planet. She brings a deep desire to sing a more beautiful, inclusive, loving, sustainable, and delightful world into being. Juliana is co-founder of the Monsoon Seed Choir and Chrysalis Choir, co-tends the Tucson Community Song Circle, is a graduate of the Littlebird Songleader Flight School for community songleading and is a member of the Ubuntu Choirs Network.

Sharing Info: Juliana says: "This song being carries potent medicine for moving grief. It is most supportive when sung within a container of care, both individually and in community. If you plan to perform or record it with the intent to sell, please contact me for permission."

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:22
Start time of reprise: 00:15:51

Links:
Website: https://www.julianamurphy.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/julianamurphy
Community Singing Offerings: https://www.tucsonsongcircle.com/
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/jumutx

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, major, 2-layer

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Published on: October 1, 2025

206. Breathe Easy

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Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:34
Start time of reprise: 00:14:16

Lyrics:

Breathe easy, let it all go
Rest your body, trust your soul
To guide your way and keep you whole
Breathe easy let go

Song: Breathe Easy
Music by: Karly Loveling

Notes: When I heard this song of Karly's, I couldn't wait to tease apart the harmonies -- and I find I sing it to myself at odd moments -- its kind, gentle advice lets me release into my own wisdom. What's funny is I came to record it in a bit of a rush, after a rather stressful day and knowing I'd be travelling in the morning, so I really had to get it done... and the breath of song did its thing. As I taught it, my heart eased, my breath deepened, I reconnected to my own wholeness -- and by the end of the episode, I was loathe to stop! I'll be curious to know if your body responds the same way?

Songwriter Info: Karly Loveling is a seasoned songleader, songwriter, and permissionary of heartfelt expression. For over two decades, she has been guiding voices and hearts through community singing, classes, and workshops in Eugene, Oregon and beyond.
Karly’s journey in Oregon began with a formative chapter at Lost Valley Educational Center, where she immersed herself in personal growth workshops and forged lasting connections. With a background in dance and a degree in the field, she co-founded Coalessence Dance, an ecstatic dance community that continues to thrive, with Becca Perry in 2006.
Karly’s love for community singing deepened through her many years at Singing Alive, where she led song circles and found inspiration among fellow songleaders from the gathering’s inception through 2023. In 2013, she founded the Hummingbirds Girls Choir, whose joyful harmonies became a beloved feature at the Eugene Saturday Market, Holiday Market, and the Oregon Country Fair.
In 2015, Karly launched Singing Heart, a community singing group, which inspired her to complete the Community Choir Leadership Training in British Columbia the following year. Singing Heart is proud to be part of the Ubuntu Choirs Network, affirming the principle that everyone can sing and that singing builds connection.
Karly’s often playful, layered, and meaningful original songs are sung by songleaders from Appalachia to Ireland. She currently offers in-person and online classes, leads retreats, and shares her work at community singing gatherings across the country.

Sharing Info: This song is free to sing, but Karly always welcomes and appreciates financial and networking support.

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:34
Start time of reprise: 00:14:16

Links:
Karly's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/KarlyLoveling
Karly's Bandcamp: https://karlyloveling.bandcamp.com/music
Singing Heart Harmonies: https://singingheartharmonies.com/
Karly's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karlyloveling

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, melody & 2 harmonies

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Tags

230. Great Turning with guest Grace Oedel and singer Rebecca Csuy

225. Walk Me Home with guest Una McCann

223. The Reach

219. Trust the Work

213. Breath By Breath

206. Breathe Easy