April 7, 2020
Hello LushFam,
As is often the case with me as a Libra, today I had two seemingly diametrically opposed truths hit me at the same time. I looked out the window of my New York City apartment and saw a peaceful street full of wide sidewalks, tall stately trees with gently swaying branches and leaves beginning to blossom, a beautiful park across the street, a few cars passing by, an occasional pedestrian, birds cooing in the distance.
Then I thought, wow, I’m witnessing this postcard-perfect moment while living in the epicenter of a global pandemic.
I understand why there is a critical mass of us who are either in full panic mode, or at the other extreme of not taking this viral outbreak seriously at all. I would have expected the scene out of my window to look more like Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, or whatever dystopian film comes to your mind with the phrase “epicenter of a global pandemic.”
Our default setting is to observe whatever is right in front of us, uncritically accept it as the truth, and behave accordingly. This is why the fear-based 24 / 7 news cycle tends to be so effective. Challenging times offer us opportunities to practice seeing beyond both rose-colored and fear-tinted glasses, transcending our ego / echo chambers, and holding space for multiple truths.
Here is one truth: in New York, as with everywhere else, there is suffering. There is also joy, peace, uncertainty, anxiety, humor, ordinary moments within extraordinary circumstances.
And there is creativity. Vocal expression is a powerful way to clarify for ourselves – out of the myriad of truths that co-exist in the world about what is possible, what is healthy, what behavior patterns, paradigms and lifestyles are most in harmony with the highest quality of life – what truths we desire to express, embody, uplift, and propagate. In reference to the popular Native American parable: which wolf do we feed?
1. Vocal Sound Bath
Wednesday Daytime Session: April 1, 11am – 12pm
Thursday Evening Session: April 2, 8pm – 9pm
Online via Zoom. You will receive the link in a confirmation email.
$20 – $40 suggested donation
Venmo: LushTongue
These times are unprecedented for our modern era, and anxieties are running high. Amidst navigating the terrain of our work lives, love lives, children’s education, our health and that of our loved ones, and so much more, it is important that we take care of our emotional well-being.
Vocal Sound Bath is a 60 minute class that offers an opportunity to practice deep listening and heart-centered presence through vocal immersion, guided meditations, and small group exercises.
This class is for you if you desire to:
connect with yourself and with others in an intimate and interactive setting
release stress and feel more centered, energized and resilient
immerse yourself in the soothing, transcendent beauty and power of voice
You will receive a Zoom link in your confirmation email. Please add lushtongue@gmail.com to your email addressbook to ensure that you receive the confirmation email in your inbox. Registration closes 15 minutes before the start of each session.
Email lushtongue@gmail.com to register for Vocal Sound Bath.
2. More Online Vocal Offerings
Thank you to everyone who has booked an online session with me! If you are thinking about it but concerned about your budget, now would be a great opportunity to gift yourself a one-on-one Zoom session, on a Pay-What-You-Can sliding scale. You can book a:
Private vocal session
Private one-on-one vocal sound bath session
Private small group vocal sound bath session (7 people maximum)
Your literal voice serves as a powerful portal for your symbolic voice in the world. Would you like to feel more grounded and confident in the dynamic capacities of your voice? Invest in a session with me. Clients leave my sessions feeling revitalized, inspired, more in touch with themselves, and a deeper understanding of what their voices can do. Here is more of what you all have to say about my courses and coaching. Thanks for your feedback! Email at lushtongue@gmail.com to book a session.
3. Lush Tongue Sound Meditation, Improv and Musings: Facebook Live
A huge THANK YOU to all the new fans and followers of the Lush Tongue Facebook Page. You helped cross the threshold into 600 fans! I’m glad that you are being enjoying the daily FB Lives. Starting in April, the FB Lives will become weekly, Tuesdays at 8pm ET. And I will also pop up here and there on the Lush Tongue page with videos that hopefully bring a smile / inspiring thought / joy to your day.
Tonight:
Lush Tongue: Sound Meditation, Improv and Musings #17
Tuesday, April 7, at 8pm EST
Click this link to view the latest FB Live of “Lush Tongue: Sound Meditation, Improv and Musings”and to find out when the next Live is scheduled:
https://www.facebook.com/LushTongue
Make a contribution through CashApp or Venmo:
Cashapp: $LushTongue
Venmo: LushTongue
Suggested Donation: $10-$20
All amounts welcome! Call during the FB Live during the broadcast, or leave a musical voicemail anytime afterwards, and I’ll share it during the next FB Live!Call-in number: 984-244-2094I’ll share sound meditation practices, improvise with folks who call in, live loop, share a few songs. Let’s sing, release stress, get creative, share inspiration, have fun and heal each other!
4. Open Sing: Online!
Sunday, April 12
7pm – 9pm EST
You will receive the Zoom link in the confirmation email.
You can download the free Zoom app here: https://zoom.us/download
Singing together fosters connection, empathy and leadership. And singing together improvisationally unlocks creativity, heightens intuition, and surprises and delights the soul.
Join us for this monthly workshop on second Sundays. Guided by Moving Star ensemble member Onome, together we’ll navigate the online virtual space as an opportunity to embrace community by sharing songs open-mic style, and doing individual and small group improvisation sequences to help us find the music within and between us. FREE EVENT!
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 an artist-in-residence at Carnegie Hall as a core member of the vocal improvisation lab and 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 project that encompasses improvisation based on a repertoire of songs by women composers, sound healing, singing immersions, workshops, vocal coaching, retreats, and concerts. She facilitates community vocal immersions at concert halls, conferences, galleries, museums, schools, cultural centers, shelters, prisons, parks, churches, wherever voices gather.
Thank you for reading the Lush Tongue newsletter. Wanna stay? Hooray! Forward this newsletter to your loved ones.
Love and gratitude,
Onome