Vocal Journeys

ALL YEAR IN THE STUDIO WE LEARN and practice how to be fully seen and heard. We experiment with new songs and genres, deepening in relationship with our voices, ourselves and each other. We play with the questions (and attempt to answer) How do I get my whole self into a song? How do I allow this whole song to sing through me? What is this song here to show me? Then comes the question of singing in the showcase and the monkeys come out.
MONKEY VOICES SOUND LIKE THIS: Is my voice good enough? Who am I to get on a stage and sing? I'm not good enough. I'm not experienced enough. I don't want to. Do I have to? I am not good at memorizing. What if I forget when to come in? I don't know how to sing with a band. I'm afraid I will forget my words. What if I forget my words? I can't remember my words. And it doesn't stop there.
THIS YEAR THE MONKEYS WERE OUT in numbers, distracting, making mischief, wanting their say. Wrangling only made their voices louder and more insistent. It was only when we stopped and listened earnestly, when we turned toward those voices and not away from them, that things got easier. Isn't that how it always goes? In meeting the different parts of ourselves, the ones we often judge harshly, we find more understanding and grace, an overall lightening of spirit and mood? Isn't it true that when we listen with equanimity to all the parts of ourselves, we find every voice has a gift for us?

SING YOURSELF STEADY this holiday season. Take one class or several. Offerings begin December 11th and go through the 23rd.

THIS SEASON OUR THEME IS MUTUALITY. I love how the intelligence, wisdom, perspective and personality of a group emerges and supports each individual to grow and become in the ways that they need. Mutuality is one of the reasons why; we tend to be more generous and loving with others than we are with ourselves, more patient and kind. We tend to see and appreciate beauty in others in a way we resist seeing it in ourselves.

GOOD WILL BREEDS MORE GOOD WILL, compassion more compassion, love more love, kindness more kindness. In turn, the harvest of our shared seeing and knowing yields more wisdom, more forgiveness, more growth, more awareness of ourselves AS THAT BEAUTY. We become more of everything we want to be and feel-- not just in the studio, but in our lives. You grow because I grow, not because we are obligated to, but because we naturally rise in relationships where vulnerability is the currency, where we feel safe enough to shed our skin and take risks. What that means for the voice is profound.

THE PRACTICE BENEATH SINGING IS BEING WITH WHAT IS, learning to be seen and heard as we are in whatever shape we are in, working with ourselves to change what doesn't serve us. We practice how to listen deeply to the whole person and give thoughtful feedback, and to receive feedback without deflection or defensiveness. Though this work is practiced in the studio and on stage, it is most profoundly about cultivating our voices for the rugged task of living and expressing authentic lives.

CLASSES START WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 7TH. Message me with your email address and I will send you a class schedule/pricing.
I look forward to holding space for you at the crossroads of vulnerability and risk, as ever.

YOUR SUMMER SINGING PASSPORT IS HERE. Message me for class schedule and pricing. ALL ARE WELCOME.

UNCERTAINTY IS A CONSTANT IN THESE HUMAN LIVES and what grows increasingly important is staying connected to ourselves, our values and each other. The Vocal Journeys studio is a sanctuary for being WHO you are and as you are. New classes start the week of February 18th, offering more connection with your voice (and other wonderful humans), more access to the wisdom of your "Capital S" Self and your "Capital V" Voice: what you stand for, what sings through you. Sing your truth, power, vulnerability. Sing your wisdom, questions, outrage, longing. Come for connection, tether, support, freedom, self-discovery, solidarity. As always, I promise to meet you at the crossroads of vulnerability and risk, to witness, reflect, handhold and celebrate YOU.

WHAT WILL THE GIFTS OF 2025 BE? I can't wait to get into the studio and find out! Classes start next week!

WITH GRATITUDE FOR THIS SACRED WORK, I AM OFFERING 20 PERCENT OFF private sessions and small group classes paid in full between now and December 24, 2024. Up to two private sessions and/or two group classes to be used in 2025. Please message me with your email address for rates. There will be lots of evening and day classes to choose from throughout the year. I cherish the world we create in the studio, its safety, depth and magic. Thank you for another wonderful year of holding space for you and your unfolding. You are a wealth I am grateful for every day.

REGISTER NOW -- next round of 6 week classes starting week of October 21st. Open spots indicated on flyer.

THIS SEASON WE TURN OUR ATTENTION TO making relationship with uncertainty as an integral, albeit uncomfortable, part of the human experience.

UNCERTAINTY MIGHT COME WITH THE END of a relationship— or the beginning of one. It could be a change in lifestyle, chosen or unchosen, or the proverbial empty nest. It might come with stepping back and looking at your life honestly and knowing something has to change. It might be something you bargained for or something you didn't bargain for that has broadsided you into an unwanted reality. Uncertainty often comes with no idea of what comes next-- or how what's next will look or feel.

YOU CAN'T HUSTLE WHAT'S NEXT INTO REALITY, because life needs time to create a richer experience than we can imagine. What's more, uncertainty doesn't want to be hustled, it wants to be deeply experienced. Truth is, the more we stay with the feelings uncertainty brings, the more our humanness and core values are revealed, leading us to more authentic voices and more authentic lives.

HOW DO WE STAY PRESENT, FLEXIBLE AND CURIOUS in our not knowing? We stay connected to our voices, ourselves and each other, and we learn to honor the formless often dizzying geography of uncertainty.

LET'S NOT RUSH TOWARD THE KNOWN. There is much to be discovered along the way. As always, I promise to meet you with a full heart at the crossroads of risk and vulnerability.

UNCERTAINTY MIGHT COME WITH THE END of a relationship— or the beginning of one. It could be a change in lifestyle, chosen or unchosen, or the proverbial empty nest. It might come with stepping back and looking at your life honestly and knowing something has to change. It might be something you bargained for or something you didn't bargain for that has broadsided you into an unwanted reality. Uncertainty may come with no idea of what comes next-- or how what's next will look or feel.

YOU CAN'T HUSTLE WHAT'S NEXT INTO REALITY, because life needs time to create a richer experience than we can imagine. What's more, uncertainty doesn't want to be hustled, it wants to be deeply experienced. Truth is, the more we stay with the feelings uncertainty brings, the more our humanness and core values are revealed, leading us to more authentic voices and more authentic lives.

OUR CLASSES THIS FALL EXPLORE UNCERTAINTY as an integral part of the human experience. Let's not rush toward the known. There is much to be discovered along the way.

GOOD NEWS! VOCAL JOURNEYS FALL CLASSES post tomorrow!