They dig in the earth, move with the wind, frolic in the Sun and splash in any water source available.
They are naturally connecting with the elements, and almost always happy when doing so.
Whenever I run a relaxation session with children I always incorporate language of the elements –
Feel the ground beneath you, breathe in the fresh air, feel the warmth, notice the flow.
This is a reminder of that innate connection that they already have.
When we bring awareness to the healing vibrations that nature provides, we equip children with calming strategies that are available for them to use each and every day.
Here is a relaxation I’ve designed specifically for children, bringing awareness to the healing vibrations of nature.
I hope this brings some calm into your children’s day.
A favourite quote of mine is “An empty lantern provides no light. Self-care is the fuel that allows your light to shine brightly.”
It’s hard to find someone who hasn’t been affected by the events of 2020, and I have definitely had my own challenges to manage. Therefore Nourishing Harmony took a little break, enabling me to focus on my own self-care.
After my time out I am now feeling re-energised and excited to tell you that as we reach the end of this crazy year, I am ready to get the ball rolling once more. I’m even increasing to two sound bath events per month!
A huge, heartfelt thank you goes out to all of you for your patience and supportive energy, and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with the Nourishing Harmony community again in the New Year.
2021 Sound Bath dates to start the New Year with some soothing vibrations –
The final mini sound break in this series. Sunday’s intention is ‘hope’. 29th March, 2020.
Sunday’s mini sound break has the intention ‘hope’.
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” Desmond Tutu.
You might like to use this as today’s affirmation.
When hope is lost, we cannot move forward, so it’s important we find something to be hopeful about.
If we’re feeling overwhelmed, we can bring our awareness into the here and now to reduce anxiety and remind ourselves there is hope all around us –
Sit with the sun on your face,
Listen to the sounds of nature – the birds, water flowing, cicadas chirping,
Watch children play with their innocence shining bright,
Find something that makes us laugh with family and friends,
Feel the breath as it flows in and out of the body,
Watch the Sunset, knowing that tomorrow can bring new possibilities.
This is the final mini sound break for now, I hope they have been able to bring you some calm.
They will be here whenever you need a little help bringing awareness back to the present, or if you wish to reflect upon any of the specific intentions with the sounds to guide you.
Friday’s mini sound break, with the intention ‘gratitude’. Friday, 27th March.
Friday’s mini sound break comes with the intention of ‘gratitude’.
You may like to use the affirmation “I practice gratitude everyday and choose to find joy in the little things that make me smile”.
For this sound break I have chosen to use the bowls on their own. The three larger bowls have come from my travels to Nepal, where I really settled into my gratitude practice. I hope that my strong connection with these bowls will bring you some calm today.
May your reflections on gratitude bring feelings of warmth and joy.
Wednesday’s mini sound break – ‘patience’. March 25th, 2020.
Today’s mini sound break has the intention ‘patience’.
You might like to say the affirmation “I am patient and calm. I have compassion and empathy for myself and others.”
Today I’ve used the ‘koshi chimes’, some of my favourite tools to bring calm and relaxation. These will definitely be featured in another sound break before the week is out, so stay tuned.
I hope you enjoy this one, and can reflect upon how you can bring patience into your day.
Tuesday’s mini sound break comes to you with the intention of ‘connectedness’.
You may like to say the affirmation “we are connected, we are one”, and take the feeling of connectedness into your day.
Please note that the crystal bowls are usually ‘rimmed’ with the mallet, however with my basic recording equipment all we could hear was feedback when played in this way, so unfortunately the best I could do was gently tap them for this video. But they are definitely still sending vibrations alongside the metal bowls and tingshas.
I hope you enjoy this little break for your mind, body and soul.
Here is the first of this week’s sound breaks, and today I send this out there with the intention of ‘wellness’.
Having an intention can be helpful for you, as you will have that word with you throughout the sound break, and hopefully into the day. You might even like to say a little affirmation – “I am well and my health is my priority.”
The recording is quite basic. I’m not yet set up for recordings, however felt the need to share whatever I can in the current situation.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you’ll be aware there’s a whole lot going on that’s out of our control at the moment, leaving society with an overwhelming feeling of uncertainty. (I’m not going to name the ‘thing’ that we all know has the World on tenterhooks, so let’s just call it “it” to try to reduce its’ power.) So I want to help you find a little calm at this difficult time.
First we need to find some control over what’s going on.
Feelings of anxiety, overwhelm, fear and panic are to be expected when we are confronted with constant daily images, videos, articles, press conferences, memes, etc. with “it” as the focus, yet so many unanswered questions remain because “it” is so new to the World. Whilst scientists and governments are grappling to find solutions, we are often getting varied information and the rumour-mill is going wild. With all this uncertainty, our brains are detecting a threat and releasing adrenaline to put us into survival mode, which leads to us reacting instead of being able to respond calmly.
The important thing to remember is that we are not powerless, and we have control over whether we are purely reacting or acting with purpose at this time. This not only helps ourselves, but has a direct impact on how others feel when they interact with us.
We can be the calm in the storm, but we need to do some work in order to keep our own energies in check.
The only way to calm our brain’s response to danger is to remind ourselves of what we can control whilst “it” is on our doorstep.
What can we do to stay healthy?
We can increase our hygiene practices – wash our hands properly, use hand sanitiser, limit our physical contact with others. And this message is out there loud and clear. Yet we’re still anxious and fearful. So what else is in our control that might ease the brain’s sense of imminent danger?
We can take some time to ‘fill our cup’ so that when the threat increases we are in a calmer state to deal with it. I’m sure for many of you this isn’t the first time you’re hearing about the ‘fill your cup’ analogy.
We all have energy reserves, and each time we encounter stress our energetic cup empties a little.
Currently we’re bombarded with news of increasing numbers of people infected, we’re shopping in almost empty supermarkets, and our social media feeds and conversations are monopolised by “it”. It’s easy to see that our cups are tipping over at an alarming rate and unless we make a conscious effort to fill them back up we will fall into the pattern of stress, fear and panic taking over our entire lives.
We don’t want our bodies to get fatigued and rundown, as this will heighten our susceptibility to illness. Let’s be pro-active to make sure this doesn’t happen.
Nourishing Harmony is here to help.
Nourishing Harmony is offering a week of free mini sound breaks for you to tune into your bodies, and take a break from the doom and gloom.
In these sound breaks your mind, body and soul can re-connect with your inner truth. If nothing else, it’s an opportunity to slow down and step back from “it”. Take a little time for yourself to reconnect with your emotions, how your body is feeling, and maybe even get a bit of insight into hidden energies that have been suppressed because the focus has all been on “it” lately.
We can’t serve from an empty cup. Now more than ever we need to prioritise self-care, and I hope that my week of mini sound baths will help you do just that.
How can you access Nourishing Harmony’s free mini sound breaks?
For 7 days, starting Monday 23rd March, there will be a new 5-10minute video released, with the link posted on Nourishing Harmony’s facebook page at 7am each day. These sound breaks are available free of charge, and I encourage you to share them widely to share the gift of vibration. Let’s respond to “it” with consciousness and calm.
I look forward to sharing my sound breaks with you all, and hope that they bring you calm and hope in these challenging times.
When the specifically designed Peter Hess® therapeutic bowls are placed onto the body, a gentle activation producing a soft ringing sound is all that is needed for the vibrations to be felt within.
Peter says it’s often the softest vibrations (those that are barely audible) that have the greatest benefit.
This is because human bodies are made up of between 50 – 75% water, and vibration moves up to four times faster through water than it does through air.
Look at this video of a rock dropping into water. Watch how the vibrations move through the water, and notice the length of time they last.
Now imagine this inside your body – If we activate the bowls harshly so the auditory sound is loud, the vibrations would be too extreme and the system can be overwhelmed.
Those of us who are trained in the Peter Hess® method have learnt the ‘less is more’ approach and understand how to activate the bowls in such a way that the system feels relaxed and rejuvenated.
If you would like to try a Peter Hess® Sound Massage for yourself, let me know.
My last two sound massage days for 2022 are Friday October 21 & Friday November 25, in Somerville.
Sound experiences to nourish your soul 