Start your week with an intention AND practice of living creatively.
If you are ready to take action in your life in a new direction, if you are facing a transition and need to gain a vision of greater possibilities, if you are simply wanting to feel more at peace with the changes happening in your world...this class is for you!
I have found that simply talking about and thinking about change is not enough to bring us the results we desire in our lives. We need to combineintentional thinking with mindful actions. How do we begin to do that?
This 5-class series will deliberately combine MIND and BODY work in the practice of music improvisation, with the intention to improve your experience of daily life.
You will...
Invigorate your body, calm your mind, and experience greater clarity as you begin to take action throughout the week.
Achieve greater awareness of your own thoughts and awaken to new possibilities through deep listening and meditative sound-making.
Learn and practice small daily rituals that will help you begin to live and act more creatively.
I will facilitate as we REFLECT on our intentions for the week and PRACTICE the core elements of free music improvisation:
listening
play
repetition
emptying the mind
letting go of attachment to outcomes
offering quality sounds
allowing silence
**Please bring a notebook or journal and a pen.
**Musical instruments are welcome but NOT REQUIRED. Some simple instruments will be provided for your use.
Enter into this practice and watch your life IMPROVE with IMPROV.
What do you do for a thrill? Go ride a roller coaster? Plan an adventure vacation? Book a skydiving or heli-skiing trip? Try something you've never done before?
We all have ways that we access excitement, aliveness, and passion in our lives. Hopefully you've identified positive outlets for these emotions that we all long to experience, rather than resorting to addictions or distractions from your real desires.
My thrill-of-choice right now is showing up at open mic' s and playing all-improvised violin on songs I have never heard or played before in my life, with musicians I've never met before either. The story of how I got here is a little involved (I've written about it before here and here and here), but I am truly thrilled to have this new source of joy and freedom in my life, and a way to connect with people I can learn from.
Watch and listen to my new band play live tonight...all without leaving your home!
TONIGHT you can watch me play with my new band, Randy Bales' Chinese Melodrama, on a live streaming webcast! Yes, from the comfort of your own home, you can watch and listen to our music as we are playing it. If you're in the Bay Area, we'd love to see you join us live, but for all of you who are spread out across the country, please tune into this link at 7PM Pacific (10PM Eastern) TONIGHT, Friday, June 25: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sf-bay-area-sounds
Here's a little taste of the kind of music I'm playing these days. Enjoy!
I'm prepping for tonight's call and it's like a trip down memory lane to look back at the way my young, impressionable mind believed everything I was told to be true in medical school. Just drank it in like a free cup of coffee at Trader Joe's.
But now that I am beginning to understand and see the difference between REALITY and THOUGHTS about reality, it's a whole different game. Things have loosened up in my mind, and all of a sudden there's this vast amount of SPACE. It feels ROOMY in there! After a lifetime of jamming my head full of things to remember, and things I believed to be true, all of a sudden, I have more room to move around. This, I sense, is what the word FREEDOM means to me. We are so blessed to live in a country with many freedoms, but the most important place we experience it is in our own minds.
I'm so excited to be chatting it up tonight in a FREE coaching call with medical students, residents, & fellows who are curious about the topic of PHYSICIAN BURNOUT. It's a frequent subject on the blogs, in the New York Times, and in the academic medical journals. Doctors seem to be on the brink of something. While to many others it may seem like a crisis, I find myself getting very excited about this juicy opportunity to share what I've learned from my life coaching practice as well as my personal meditation and yoga practices.
To get your appetites whetted, here's a little sneak peek.
First I'll be talking about our "To Do" lists. We'll zero in on exactly that task that you never talk about - the one you really don't want to do, but find yourself forcing yourself to do anyway, on a regular basis. Chances are, you have a long list of mental rationalizations about why you "have to" do it, why you "should" do it, or why you "can't" do anything else. I love diving into these rationalizations as a way to illustrate how our minds work, how they entangle us in patterns of behavior based on explanations that may or may not be true.
Then, we'll look at the difference between REALITY and THOUGHTS about reality. When we question reality, we suffer. When we question our thoughts, we become free. This is such an important discussion that I thought I'd give you a headstart with some examples, listed below. See if you can come up with any of your own examples from your life. It's essential that the thoughts you work on come from YOU. Notice the difference between REALITY, which is a statement of facts or circumstances that are irrefutable, and THOUGHTS, which are interpretations or value judgments placed on reality.
Reality: I am in medical school.
Thought: Medical school is hard.
Reality: I am a doctor.
Thought: Being a doctor is stressful.
Reality: I am on call tonight.
Thought: I should be getting more sleep.
Reality: I am learning to practice medicine.
Thought: I need to do everything perfectly, or I won't get into the residency or fellowship program I want.
Reality: I work in a system of 3rd party payor reimbursement.
Thought: I should be getting paid more for the work that I do.
Reality: Insurance companies determine what I am paid for certain procedures.
Thought: I should have control over how much I am paid.
Reality: Doctors' reimbursement for certain procedures has declined in recent years.
Thought: Doctors are supposed to earn more money than they are now.
Reality: I am a human being just like my patients.
Thought: I need to be smarter than, stronger than, and more responsible than my patients in order to take care of them and be a good doctor.
Reality: No human being can know all the right answers all of the time.
Thought: Good doctors don't make mistakes.
Reality: I have student loans from going to medical school.
Thought: The only way I'll pay off my debt is by working as a doctor in this system. I have to, I have no choice.
As you look at this list, and come up with your own examples, also notice the content of a typical social conversation you might have with a classmate, coworker, family member, or friend.
Are you discussing reality, or your thoughts about reality?
Do you spend your energy arguing with reality by coming up with more layers of thoughts that prove your own beliefs?
If you're like I was when I was in medical school, you might find that the only conversations with classmates are around your collective, self-reinforcing thoughts about reality. The other option might be to escape to the latest bar night, where a temporary, alternate reality is offered in the form of alcohol, noise, and release of repressed emotions. Neither of these really moved the needle for me.
It's up to you. I hope you'll join me tonight on the call! And if you can't make it, please send me a message and I'll email you a recording of the call afterwards.
Last Thursday was the first meeting of Sounding for Self-Care Circles. This is a group that started out as a weekly practice circle for several of us who are about to finish our certificate program in Sound Voice & Music Healing at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco. We began meeting weekly as a way to keep our skills active and to integrate our learning and transformation during a break in our classwork.
A Place to Practice
As our training program comes to a close and we each set out to offer our learnings in the world in unique ways that resonate with us, I realized that we needed to keep cultivating our community of practice, and to plant the seeds for a circle of practitioners to grow on the Peninsula.
So, I thought, why not open up our weekly practice to the public, and see who comes? You may not realize it, but every time you are admitted as a patient to a teaching hospital, you are entering a community of practice. The purpose of these institutions is to train doctors and other health care professionals in their art. Yes, true caring and healing work is an art form, no matter how far we've strayed from that in our health care system. The medical model at least recognizes that becoming a skilled practitioner (in anything) is a process of practicing. Many medical residents spend years chomping at the bit, waiting to get "out there" and start practicing on their own, and to have a "real job" with some autonomy.
What I now appreciate is the value of having a place to practice.
Effective practice requires repetition with awareness and consistent effort toward a conscious goal, as well as specific feedback along the way. The problem is, it's impossible to practice something and get better at it without taking the risk of doing something that doesn't work. We knew this when we were toddlers learning to walk. We fell down thousands of time, cheerfully getting back up again, training our muscles, building strength, until finally one day, we took our first step. After which, we promptly fell down again.
How many of us are willing to fall down in front of others? To risk "looking bad", or appearing silly?
When we were learning to walk, almost everything we did was entertaining to our parents. When we tried, they laughed. When we fell, they laughed. When we finally walked, they also laughed.
Some time between the age of 3 and being a teenager, we manage to lose our sense of sheer delight at the process of learning and practicing. We somehow forget our cheerful attitude toward failures as part of the process. It seems that "some time" is getting closer to age 3, as parents focus earlier and earlier on getting their kids into the right schools, needing to optimize test scores and performance evaluations even to get into kindergarten. It also seems that there are fewer places in our society that enable us to practice something in front of others - to be witnessed in our process of trying, failing, and trying again. There are plenty of performance spaces - in fact, many of our work and even family environments are probably best described as places where we put on a costume, play a role, memorize our lines, and hope for the applause at the end of our show.
But where do we go when we want to really LEARN? Where do we go when we need to really practice something, and try things out, and know that we don't have to look good, and trust that by being willing to NOT look good, we actually enable ourselves to get BETTER?
My vision for Sounding for Self-Care Circles is to create a safe space not only for students but for us as leaders and facilitators to play, practice, learn, and grow.
There were some beautiful moments of sharing and discovery last Thursday. The one that touched me the most was 21-year-old Elizabeth's comment that she never used to sing at all, but by the end of the class realized that she actually does enjoy the sound of her own voice, and wants to start practicing at home.
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I'm currently exploring my inexplicable fascination with what happens when you put a bunch of colorful children's bells in the hands of adults and say, "Play!"
In every class, I look at these bells and think, "Maybe we won't do it this time." But every time, I end up learning something new when we DO play with them. This Thursday was no exception.
Improvisation: Freeing the group's wisdom
The first time around, everyone chose their favorite color bell. Among the five of us, there were all the notes in the C major scale. This would be like having available only the white keys on the piano from middle C to the next C, 7 keys away. Try this at home on the piano. Give yourself those 8 notes to work with, and those 8 notes only. See what you can create.
Here's what five of us created, with our eyes closed and no one standing in front of the group to lead. I love the space between the notes and the unexpected harmonies that emerged.
Then, at one participant's request, I handed my bells to someone else and took a turn standing in front of the group, as if it were an orchestra and I were the conductor. In my efforts to find melodies and harmonies by directing the others, I felt the group energy as being a bit stiffer and more distracted by this way of interacting.
Same group of people, different leadership dynamic, different result. Fascinating! Maybe as the conductor I was trying too hard, but in any case, you can listen to the clip below and hear for yourself.
Right now I am loving the freedom of using my voice to create a safe space for all of us to explore. I hold in my mind the image of all the teachers who had come to CIIS to share their art with us. The common theme that ran through these experiences was total authenticity. Each of these teachers had done the work of transformation, and continued to practice creativity as a way of life. Each was completely unique and beautiful. Each was willing to be with us and stand before us as exactly who they are right now.
And I, even at this beginning stage of a new journey for me, must remember that my willingness to share myself in process is one of the greatest gifts I can offer.
"Yemaya" came to me on the morning of the class last Thursday, as I was re-reading a chapter of Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit. It was just one word on a page, mentioned in passing. It's the name of a piece she choreographed years ago. It leaped off the page as inspiration and I created a simple medicine melody to go along with it.
[audio:http://www.themusicwithinus.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Purification-Mantra-with-Shruti-4.22.10.mp3|titles=Purification Mantra with Shruti 4.22.10]
So what IS the sound of freedom? It's a practice I am just beginning to savor and enjoy.
"This is like getting HIGH, except without drugs!"
That was my favorite quote from a participant in my workshop this past weekend. Hmmm, now how can I incorporate that into the testimonials without giving the wrong impression? All we were doing is making music!
Music is a lot like drugs - it can be stimulating, or relaxing, and maybe even cause hallucinations. Depending on the quality, dose and frequency, music can be extremely healing - the ultimate medicine - or it can be an immediate escape from reality. I also believe it's possible to overdose on music of any kind. Just like a good medicine that's taken in the wrong quantities, music's effect is all about timing and placement.
I recently learned that the Chinese character for "music" can also be read as "happiness" if pronounced differently. I also learned that the character for "medicine" is exactly the same as the character for "music" and "happiness", with the addition of the symbol for "herb" on top. [Note: it's difficult to discern in the pictures I found on the web, since they are written in different styles of calligraphy, so you'll have to use your imagination a little.]
This was a huge revelation for me, not only because I'm of Chinese descent and have a preschooler's reading level in that language, but also how ancient the ties are among music, happiness, and health. Isn't it fascinating that at the root of the Chinese language lies a knowledge of the overlapping relationship among these things? Maybe it's about time we started to pay more attention to our musical diets, and the sound environments we create and live in.
No Two Moments Are Alike
True to the form of improvisation, every one of the "Music Improvisation for Everyone" workshops has been completely and totally unique. I've not only tried different exercises and "setups", but some of the SAME exercises have yielded dramatically different results, depending on the mix of people and the energy of the particular day.
I love it!
It's perhaps a little antithetical to the spirit of improvisation to record what happened and listen back to it, but such is the gift of modern technology. I couldn't choose among the many amazing audio clips of improvisations that were created on Saturday. I want to share all of them with you!
After a few warm-ups, I felt the energy of the room "buzzing" to begin, so I dove right into groups of four doing free improvisation, starting from silence. I must disclose that this is the first time anyone has brought musical instruments to this workshop, and I felt myself not wanting to disappoint by doing too many vocal and rhythm exercises. OK, I admit also wanted to indulge my curiosity about what all those different instruments would sound like in combination. But we started with just voices.
Improv Quartet From Silence #1:
[audio:http://www.themusicwithinus.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Improv-Quartet-from-Silence-1-4.17.10.mp3|titles=Improv Quartet from Silence #1 4.17.10]
Improv Quartet From Silence #2:
[audio:http://www.themusicwithinus.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Improv-Quartet-from-Silence-2-4.17.10.mp3|titles=Improv Quartet from Silence #2 4.17.10]
If you want to hear a fascinating series that illustrates, through the metaphor of sound, how different leadership styles draw out such different expressions from the same group of people, check out the following seven clips, each between 1 and 3 minutes long. In each case, one participant was asked to be the conductor and lead the "orchestra" of other participants, each holding one of the exact same musical instrument (the only difference being the pitch or note played by each).
Notice the range of dynamics, the use of silence, and the effect of pulse or rhythm on the feeling of the music. This exercise was totally astonishing to me, and I just watched in awe as it unfolded. I never knew bells could make so many different sounds!
The entire group also cut loose in an open improvisation using only the bells. This is what originally inspired me to go with the conducting exercise above.
[audio:http://www.themusicwithinus.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Bells-Open-Improv-1-4.17.101.mp3|titles=Bells Open Improv #1 4.17.10]
A Group Can Find Its Own Sound
Because we had so many instruments, I felt compelled out of curiosity to have two sessions of open improvisation with the entire circle, using any instruments of their choice. No one cued the group to start or stop. It started when it started, and it ended when it ended. A beautiful thing!
As you listen to these clips, sit back and notice what happens in your body over the few minutes of sound you are hearing. Do you notice the importance of pulse, contrasts, silence, space, and textures? Do you notice your mind wanting to call some of it "music" and some of it "sound" or "noise" or "something you can't understand"? Or can you relax into the listening, taking it all in, and allowing yourself to just be with the sound?
[audio:http://www.themusicwithinus.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Final-Open-Improv-CLIP-4.17.10.mp3|titles=Final Open Improv CLIP 4.17.10]
Of course, the sound clips are only a small part of the picture. What isn't captured here is the fact that these eight people - some strangers, some friends before - met each other for the first time through the sound of their music. Together they started and ended, offered and received, played and listened.
I'll speak for myself and say that it is truly medicine for the soul to convene in music-making like this. We weren't trying to compose something, perform something, or get anything right by anyone else's standards. We were simply taking something from inside ourselves and putting it out there to share. It may sound simple, but this profound act of generosity is otherwise known as joy.
Last Friday, I opened up my space. Literally.
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The Cradle of Manifestation was host to an event like no other. Organized by Eugene Eric Kim and facilitated by Lisa Heft, Blue Oxen Associates' Tools for Catalyzing Collaboration was an Open Space format workshop, which brought together over 30 participants from the worlds of technology startups, big corporations, non-profits, facilitation, and academia, coming from all parts of the Bay Area to discuss these questions:
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It wasn't the questions themselves, or even the people, that made it so unique. It was the nature of the interactions we all had, in the Open Space format.
If you're not familiar with Open Space (which I wasn't until recently), there is a great "textbook" of it here.
The basic premise is that people gather, as if for a conference, but there is no pre-set agenda by the organizers. The participants themselves create the agenda at the start of the day, by proposing conversation topics and building the "Agenda Wall", pictured here:
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Other participants interested in those topics gather at the specified times and locations, and allow discussions to develop organically. At any given time, there were up to 7 breakout group discussion happening at once, and any number of side conversations going on. In one corner, a "newsroom" was setup for people to document on laptops the notes from their sessions, so they could be shared with everyone afterwards.
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I proposed the question, "What does it mean to improvise?" and I had a quartet of four participants. I had no preconceived notion of whether people would interpret "improvise" to mean "music". We actually had a brief discussion about the question (with notes recorded here), and then launched into about 30 minutes of different free improvisation exercises.
The principles of Open Space are so similar to the principles of improvisation that I feel compelled to restate them here:
1. Whoever comes are the right people.
2. Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.
3. Whenever it starts is the right time.
4. When it's over, it's over.
5. Be prepared to be surprised.
6. The Law of Two Feet
7. Butterflies and Bumblebees
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These last two merit some explanation - "The Law of Two Feet" refers to taking responsibility for your contribution to a discussion. If you're not listening or contributing, then it's your responsibility to exercise the Law of Two Feet and leave respectfully, finding another conversation where you can make a real contribution. How often do we empower people with that level of responsibility? Instead, we force people to show up for "team meetings" while they remain disconnected by playing on their Blackberries or checking Facebook. C'mon, you know who you are. I'm so curious to know what would happen if more organizations and workplaces utilized and enforced the Law of Two Feet.
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"Butterflies and Bumblebees", a corollary to the Law of Two Feet, refers to the vital role that some people play by hovering or floating among several conversations over the course of a session. Some - the "butterflies" - may arrive and stay only briefly in one place, but contribute one beautiful nugget to that discussion before moving on. Others - the "bumblebees" - may serve the important function of cross-pollinating conversations, pointing out where there are links between two or more different groups or topics.
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What I loved most about the day was seeing the transformation of the space, and seeing it actually fulfill the vision of being a Cradle of Manifestation. It held the space physically for what was going on in the space between all of these people. The space felt alive, yet unobtrusive, as the real life was in the exchange of ideas and connections being made. Someone said in the closing circle, "This kind of collection of people and ideas is where great things are born." I love that!
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As an observer of Open Space in action, I see how it's a lot like improvisation. There are a few simple rules, and a lot of space within that to move. Everyone needs to let go. Listening is a form of participation that is just as important as offering your own voice at the right time.
And while you never know what will happen, you're sure to discover something new about yourself along the way.
See more photos from this event by me and Eugene Chan. Used under a Creative Commons license.
So much excitement to share for the upcoming month! Here's a listing of where you can join me in person...and stay tuned for a new series of articles on this blog to answer more of your questions about learning to listen to your life. Unless otherwise noted, all events are held at The Cradle of Manifestation in Mountain View.
Ignite Bay Area - Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 7:00pm - 10:00pm, at Automattic Lounge, Pier 38, San Francisco
Can't wait to meet you all at Ignite Bay Area tomorrow night! Tickets are SOLD OUT! But you can watch the live webcast right here: http://www.livestream.com/ignitebayarea
I'm on at around 8:30pm PST. But you don't want to miss the stellar line-up of speakers! So tune in at 7pm tomorrow...
Wondering what it means to "listen to your life"? Curious what "life coaching" is all about?
I'll give an introduction to what I'm learning about our thoughts, our bodies, our breath, our voice...and why we need to be reminded to listen more deeply as we seek greater inner balance and harmony in our lives. I'll show you some techniques to begin connecting more with your body, calming your own mind, and freeing your soul.
Learn how these techniques can help you take better care of yourself, so that you have more to give you everyone and everything that matters to you.
The event is for you if you are...
- a prospective one-on-one life coaching client
- interested in attending a future workshop series offered by me
Movie Screening: "Oh My God" - Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 7:00pm (doors open at 6:30pm)
Come and see this beautiful film made by Peter Rodger, who traveled around the world asking people the question, "What is God?". You'll recognize the faces of Hugh Jackman, Seal, and Ringo Starr, but the beautiful images of nature and the faces of humanity are the real answer to this eternal question.
