May 26, 2020
1. How Did I Get Here?
I was 16 years old in this picture, at my first ever choir trip, to Florida and Puerto Rico. It was one of the bright spots in an intensely angsty adolescence. Like so many kids who endured abuse and neglect, creative expression was my refuge. I became a full-on choir geek, staying late for every practice, fiendishly selling candy bars to earn my spot on our first big trip. My artsy, highly sensitive nature was always drawn to the alchemical power of words and sounds. I noticed how the right word expressed at the right time could sell candy bars, and win awards, while the opposite could destroy relationships.
I plunged into poetry and choir, and eventually landed at New York University to study classical voice. The sharp contrast from the camaraderie and stylistic diversity – pop, classical, gospel, etc – I experienced in high school, and the drab sameness I experienced in college, prompted me to drop out of that program. I felt no joy in singing within a context where there was only one narrowly defined, “acceptable” vocal aesthetic.
I went through a long line of well-meaning voice coaches who helped me successfully produce an impressive sound, but were not oriented to the healing power of sound in such a way that could empower me to deepen my own relationship with my voice, let alone all the issues that are connected to that: courage, self-acceptance, wholehearted self-expression. That’s a big part of the story of how I got here, as a holistic vocal coach. I was not interested in producing the “right” or “wrong” sound, but rather the hows and whys – what effect do sounds have on my psyche, and to anyone listening? What does it mean to listen to yourself and trust your voice from a deep, fully embodied place?
These are the kinds of questions I wanted my vocal coaches to help me answer, moreso than just the technical aspects of singing. This led me to a realm widely known as sound healing, which integrates the aesthetic (musical) with the somatic (body), psychic (mind), and energetic (soul) aspects of sound.
It is this multidimensional awareness and approach that I most yearned for as a vocal and spiritual seeker, and what I now have the honor of offering to you.
Book an introductory session to get a taste of how deep your vocal exploration can go! According to a recent testimonial, “Through intention, mindfulness and energy, Onome supported me in becoming aware of different aspects in which sound and breath resonate within me. She was very attentive and intuitive.”
$40 per participant for an introductory 40 minute session.
Click the button below to schedule a session.
2. Save the Date: Open Sing Online! June 14 (Second Sundays of the Month)
Thank you to all the wonderful participants from all over the world who joined us for our most recent Open Sing Online! Join us again on June 14, because you want to keep your expressive and communal juices vibrant! It’s so easy to slip into isolation and passive consumerism in these times. Take back your creativity and sing with a wonderful and compassionate community of vocal enthusiasts.
RSVP to get the Zoom link and details once they become available.
If you don’t see the Live at the top of the Facebook newsfeed wall,
click on “Video” on the side menu of the Lush Tongue page.
Lush Tongue: Sound Meditation, Improv and Musings #24
Tuesdays at 8pm EST
Make a contribution through CashApp or Venmo:
Cashapp: $LushSoundHealing
Venmo: LushTongue
Suggested Contribution: $10-$20
All amounts welcome!
4. Covid-19 Resources
Here is a comprehensive and ever-evolving list of resources available for those who are dealing with Covid-19, from good news-makers all over the world: mutual aid cooperatives, economic grants, home remedies, online communities, wholeness mindset work, yoga poses, and more. Please pass this information along!
Distance Resistance Facebook Group
Database of Localized Resources During COVID 19 Outbreak
Iyengar Yoga Poses for the Respiratory System
You Can Heal Your Life Audiobook
Who is Onome?
Onome is a vocalist and interdisciplinary sound artist of Urhobo heritage in the Niger Delta. She incorporates improvisation into her practice as a tool to expand consciousness, creativity, and personal development. Through her audience-interactive performances, workshops and sound installations, Onome embodies joy, enchantment, and infinite possibility. She is a partner artist at Carnegie Hall as a core member of the vocal improvisation ensemble, Moving Star.
She has performed sound poetry at hundreds of venues nationally, recorded soundscapes for podcasts, and created vocal film scores. She received her MFA in Performance Studies at Pratt Institute. She is the artistic director for Lush Tongue, a vocal improvisation project where sound, creativity, self-discovery, connection, and joy converge through singing—via sound healing sessions, workshops, vocal coaching, retreats, and concerts. She got her start in spoken word poetry and opera via Nuyorican Poets Cafe and New York University, and now facilitates community vocal immersions at concert halls, conferences, galleries, museums, schools, cultural centers, shelters, prisons, parks, churches, wherever voices gather.
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Love and gratitude,
Onome