Episode 96 | Sean Johnson | From Tragedy to Connection: Music as a Path of Transformation

(1) Episode 96 | Sean Johnson | From Tragedy to Connection: Music as a Path of Transformation - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tfvATP5TLo

Transcript:
(00:06) ah so Sean thanks so much appreciate you taking the time to do this um I was thinking I'm curious how you prepare for uh being a presenter like this how do you prepare mentally and spiritually Ah that's a great question uh you know a lot of it has to do with my personal practice and the the main practice that has been a go-to you know for me for many years is singing I have a morning singing practice and uh as close to the first thing that I do when I wake up to capture the resonance like that bass quality you know and the voice uh
(00:48) there's a practice that I learned um from a wonderful Indian musician named Nyan gosh many years ago and he taught me this practice to sing long tones as low as you can you know for like half an hour or so in the morning and it really like it's an Attunement practice you know for me uh it's a vocal yoga practice that uh in the opportunity to tune my voice I am really feel like I'm tuning myself to the universe you know and charging my voice uh for whatever I do that day whether it's speaking or singing and I believe
(01:30) you know through my own experience and through teaching you know for many years now that uh the vocal Yoga practices uh Mantra you know and and kirtan and and singing practices they really um they have this ability to make us into more articulate like fluent human beings to be more aware of the impact of sound and how we weave our life like through speech and uh so that that morning vocal practice is really like an underpinning you know for me very very important as far as the preparation for presenting a program you know so great this we got
(02:16) to be in here this morning like doing things early yeah so this is Friday and you're about to embark on a week weekend Workshop program so exactly yeah so it's so nice to be able to not rush you know and and you know set up in a rush so we we we're set up already uh it gives me some time and some space to refine you know my plan for the weekend I get to tune into the space and you know sometimes I get to meet some of the participants on the earlier side and you know listen to the group and and I'm
(02:47) very uh intuitive you know in my um practice and uh and teaching you know as well and so I come in with a plan but also like to listen to the room you know and tune into what people are sharing and and feel the space and oftentimes the plan will change based on based on what I feel see I think that is really fascinating subject in the area of balance kind of between like the planning and the intuition that all of us experience in our lives right it's like okay it seems wise to make a plan for something feels
(03:25) helpful but at the same time to not be so rigid and be able to be malleable and to stay in in the present moment has that kind of been a journey for you to honor those two aspects absolutely and the way that I like to think about it is templates you know I feel like a template is different from uh like a set of instructions or like a boilerplate you know type of thing and the template allows for there to be some Freedom you know and some improvisation and so it's taken me some time to through the experience of teaching and playing music
(03:59) like developing templates that I feel you know are really strong you know and sturdy and consistently work you know over and over again and then inside of those templates I can improv and explore and be creative but you know one version of that would be even like a song or a chant like we have a structure but there's room inside of that that I uh navigate like through oftentimes through vocal cues that we've developed as a language inner language with a band that can allow for us either to stretch out
(04:34) you know a section of this of the song or or condense it or repeat it you know there's different directions that we can go in and I similarly like with storytelling which is a big part of the teaching that I do and even in teaching Asana as well there's a template there's things that are it's like a ritual you know there's things that I do every time that I teach you know that create this beautiful structure in a way like a ceremony in a sense but then it breathes you know there's room inside of
(05:05) there to to feed off of you know what might Bubble Up you know in the space spontaneously yeah even when we were talking about you know our children before I think about that with with this of like how to create a container and then within that container then the play can kind of happen but the container itself kind of helps the play too right absolutely so my son Finn is going to be five in a couple of weeks and um being a parent for the first time one thing that I noticed watching him in the space from a baby all the way to now is part of the
(05:51) container like you were speaking to is just like the attention you know that I'm offering him and holding space for him whether I'm playing with him directly but I even noticed there's an influence in just being present like to what he's doing in a room or in the front of the house and when I'm paying attention uh there's this like energetic field you know this container that that gets created you know that that uh I feel like there's a care you know in that that on an energetic level like he feels
(06:23) you know even if we're distant and I'm doing my own thing in one part of the room and he's doing something else and uh I feel like there's some uh parallel you know with teaching you know in a sense as well is that I feel like a big part of my role as a yoga teacher is uh to hold the space you know to hold the container I don't I'm not the kind of a teacher I don't believe I have the answer the single answer you know or my life experience has um allowed for me to bring some knowledge like to the people that you
(07:00) know come to practice with me maybe there's a little bit of that in there but I feel like the my uh Focus my gift in teaching is to create space for people to connect to that inner truth to their intuition to that Spirit of guidance that has been I've had such a strong relationship you know and and rather than have somebody come in with a hammer you know and and sort of dogmatically tell me what I should believe or you know what the truth is or what I should practice I'm very you know feminine gentle innocence like I wanna I
(07:38) wanna create a container like for people to discover that for themselves and the container I feel isn't feel important you know uh if it's too loose then it's just any you know there's not enough structure there to hold up people having an experience so the container becomes a little bit like what I was speaking about earlier the the template or the ritual or the ceremony or these practices that I facilitate that uh allow for people to have their own experience yeah yeah I totally resonate with this and I'm like thinking about
(08:13) all the different ways that it comes up like in teaching but also in just in relationships that we have and what I hear you saying and what I consider is that often you know I think I do too much right um push too hard and and so the practice is to like you said to create the space just be the presence right and and does this have to do also with like acceptance of just not trying to make things the way that I want to make them or make someone else the way they made like I have something to you know teach you not trying to do any of that just having
(08:52) faith in the the power of Simply holding space and allowing other people to figure things out in their own time totally yeah yeah absolutely Faith trust yeah what's what's that part of ourselves like almost like wants to go like too far at least that I noticed Within Myself like yeah he knows and I definitely used to do that more in in the past and so I'm like in a way I feel like it's my relationship with silence too of just seeing how powerful that can be and I don't need to take that extra
(09:32) step I could just allow it yeah I totally agree with you and it for me it's been a kind of seasoning I feel like over the years of practice and teaching that has created more of a sense of trust you know and myself and the universe you know and and others and students you know and I think part of my process maturing you know as a teacher over the years has been to trust what I have to offer you know and and uh to trust that I don't have to Over Control you know things and that that spirit will speak you know to people in in its own
(10:14) form and in its own time uh and I have such like respect for people's individual experience you know and also the um that which is universal like that Pierces the boundaries of culture and lineages and tradition and language you know I just think there's some like I think of myself as a humanist or Universalist you know like and and when when I allow myself the trust and the faith to really steep in that way of being in the world and holding space for people it definitely created more a sense of confidence you know than I than I had
(10:58) you know as a teacher in earlier years uh and uh that there's a um there's a Christian Mystic Meister Eckhart who said God is like a great underground river and there are many ways to get to that Underground you know Reservoir reminds me a little bit of uh was it one truth mini paths yeah truth is One Pastor many yeah yeah and so uh there's a great I think there's a great freedom and Trust like in that way of looking at the world and looking at spirituality uh well when we're you know the opposite
(11:39) would be just to be so tight and uh confined you know and and thinking there's only one way to do it you know one One path to do it there's not I feel like there's not a lot of trust you know in that in that orientation so that that world view you know that kind of Paradigm has been essential I like to that sense of trusting what happens you know more and more yeah do you yourself ever struggle with doubt like this relationship between doubt and Trust happening within you well uh I think that you know
(12:16) particularly that that has arisen when it comes to uh death you know and and uh you know one of the experience you know interesting death and then heart heartbreak you know that both of those I feel like are potentially like huge obstacles but also doorways you know and initiations uh on the spiritual path and um you know I I'm part of my the reason why I do what I do like the reason I'm a yoga teacher the reason why I'm uh musician you know and make creating Mantra music just in this realm is because of heartbreak you know but
(13:04) initially like I didn't I I experienced just such a sense of grief you know and and um I felt myself tempted to become cynical uh and um and I put it but I kept saying no I'm not gonna give up on love I'm not gonna give up on a you know living a fulfilling life I don't want to become someone that walks through the world you know grouchy you know and cynical and you know sort of small-hearted you know because I've this suffering that I've experienced and then similarly with with you know with death and death of loved ones you
(13:45) know there's definitely been a journey to um my brother Jeremy passed away uh nine years ago now and uh in a drowning you know accident which is really um shocking you know and really really sudden and and there's definitely was this period where through the grief you know and the horror you know of that you just wonder like uh why would uh why would God let this happen you know or why you know what is if this is it really um it was it was it was a mystery you know to experience that and to really ask like why like why would something
(14:31) like this happen and it was like every day there's numerous things that happen to people to animals to the environment you know and that certainly so can sow seeds you know of doubt and I would say like a big part of my personal process and grieving has been to connect to my brother's Spirit you know in New in new ways uh and that's been a great Act of trust you know in faith as well and I've um I have feel like I've made have made a connection you know and it's been uh incredible like to to relate to him in a
(15:11) way that I wouldn't have thought you know was possible uh so those are a couple of examples you know of places where I feel like doubt you know has has risen I also just um I leave room I'm not I'm not a I don't let's see how do I show this I think that there's a lot of room in the spirituality for doubt you know for Darkness for shadow uh for anger I don't think being spiritual means being joyful and happy you know and and love and light and unicorns and Bubbles and sparkles you know like I don't I think
(15:50) that um I believe that living a spiritual life is one where we can can embrace you know and include Shadow the more shadowy experiences you know of Being Human which includes you know anger and grief and sadness and doubt and fear I don't think you have to choose love or fear like I I don't really believe in that dualistic way of living I think you can honor and include both you know and that that's a more holistic way to be do you feel like you've personally benefited from kind of uh having this relationship with your
(16:28) own shadow and your own Darkness absolutely yeah I feel like I I benefited from it and then I have a tool which is singing that really allows for me to energetically integrate and express you know a lot of what is churning you know inside of me uh it I don't uh you know certainly have I've gone through therapeutic experiences in the past where I've talked about things and there's been some value in that but for me the practice of singing is like a I think of it as like exercising the heart our emotions and also
(17:10) exercising like purging and releasing you know and then in that exercising there's like an end there's an integration and a deepening and a [Music] um seasoning you know that happens and what's so cool about it it doesn't have I don't have to talk about it I don't have to like analyze it too much it's happening through the act of singing you know and and the emotion this emotional Spectrum the Dynamics of singing and you know I think the mantras you know really have a big part you know
(17:44) in the medicinal kind of healing power but then they're just purely like the act of vocalizing in different ways soothing quieter voice screaming cathartic you know release uh I just think that that's yeah that's been a tool that has helped me to I feel like live with my darkness rather than stuff stuff it inside you know I know I wonder about this uh the stuffing and what results from that even because you're when you were talking about your morning practice I instantly thought about that like energy release and how
(18:26) amazing that is you know I think about like Mr Rogers I think talk talked about that like you know talking to the boys and girls and and saying to them do you ever feel so angry that you just don't know what to do with it and he says what I do is I go to the piano and I just bang on the keys you know he just gets that that that energy out yeah um so it's great to hear you talking about that and how that helps you to and just to be aware of that that we have like what's your Insight and like even what's
(18:55) happening on an energetic level like how is the energy building up and then how can we be aware that something needs to be released I mean is it just best to have a routine and a practice for releasing energy um is there just times when you're interacting in your regular life where you feel the need to do it and then you take a time out to release some energy it's a blend of both for me I think that the the practice the daily practice definitely like the consistency of that is a go go-to and uh I think it has a cumulative you know
(19:37) impact and um you know it reminds me I I I've listened to a interview with the poet Mary Oliver um and she said she she wakes up a certain hour every morning and she goes to her desk and she writes and that uh that's the appointment that she has with her Muses yeah and if she misses the appointment her belief was like the muses won't trust her anymore you know what if like to meet to meet her and so that's her commitment like to connect to those inner spirits of creativity and so I feel like that daily you know practice
(20:15) and that thing is that I think sometimes we can sabotage our daily practice by being too ambitious you know or having it be too big or too long or you know so I think it's sometimes you know it depends especially as a parent sometimes it's just five minutes you know most of the time it's about 20 to 30 minutes or so singing first thing but sometimes it has to just be shorter and that's okay you know and similarly with the other practices uh so that that definitely has you know a big impact and then for sure
(20:45) like uh treating things more as they arise uh you know by you know all right I gotta sing now like Mr Rogers at the piano you know I love that and uh you know the band the origin of the band like we our birthday is August 29 2005 which is the day Hurricane Katrina you know hit New Orleans and the the beginnings of the band was traveling around the country doing benefit concerts at a time when we were feeling credibly angry grief stricken horrified you know by what was happening you know in our in our city and and what
(21:28) was interesting was and again my perception is different from people that were living outside of New Orleans but my perception was that event impacted a lot of people around the country who saw the video you know what was going on in the flooded streets and bodies and and they were genuinely like moved and wanted to help you know and so we weeped like with people like while we saying you know people who cared like about what had happened you know in New Orleans and we sang a lot of like Shiva mantras and Kali mantras and those were
(22:05) those were mantras that I knew but I had never had the same kind of an experience like singing them as being you know under that in that in that situation and um that experience of the band like being born from this tragedy and this destruction like has been really influential like in the music that we've created you know over the last 18 years we're not denying that it can be hard to be a human being you know and we can experience suffering as a part of you know of life and also so so our music can be can have like
(22:45) darkness and intention you know in Shadow and also of course you know release and tension and release and and catharsis and openness and Grace um similarly when my brother died um the thing that I felt like there was an energy that was pent up inside of me and that that was there until we started touring again you know as a band and uh I started singing our songs again and you know it was with my bandmates you know in this container uh and it was a few months you know of grief before I went on the road again and
(23:22) um and that was when I experienced my brother's spirit you know like I experience energetically like I felt his presence while I was singing you know with the band and then also I felt like again just invisibly was processing you know it was almost like the the music was like eating the the grief you know or something like that and it's not like it's gone or disappeared not at all I still went when I think about what happened to him but I have a different relationship you know with him with that experience and with
(23:56) the grief that I felt initially and that I feel like I would not have if I hadn't sung you know many many times to to get there yeah that sounds like a a great gratitude that you have for this practice for this container of music yeah oh yeah absolutely I mean I I again I'm not a proselytizer you know I don't see everybody I you know I think everybody can benefit from singing I don't think necessarily it's everybody's number one path you know but speaking for myself and folks that we've shared this
(24:32) practice with for many many years now like it's so healing you know and it's so powerful and uh God I mean I just I do find myself more in awe of it like you you know more than ever and I think particularly after I'm in a state of even deeper gratitude for it in this phase of coming out of the pandemic you know in this period of time where we weren't able to gather you know and singing was like one of the most scary things to do you know in person together and so we're in this phase right now
(25:09) where the world is opening up and people are gathering again indoors and singing together and there is this um really palpable gratitude you know that you feel from everyone and it's like may we never take that for granted again you know I hope I really that's my my prayer like because it's amazing it's miraculous you know I hope we don't get dull to it or get cynical about it I feel that way in general like about life yeah just like the abundance that many of us have majority of us have in
(25:47) so many ways I mean just to have access to food and shelter right like it it's hard I find it hard not to take for granted yeah you know like gratitude has been um very serious practice for me for some time and what I notice about it is like if I'm being honest with myself about being grateful there are so many layers and to really be grateful for what I have is like whoa that's it's very ambitious yes indeed I'll say so it's like and and so I noticed that like and and like you said that that's
(26:21) part of the Shadow and accepting the shadow it's like part of what I am is just going to take things for granted and not have perspective all the time and the more that I allow for that I think then it opens up and then I I can at least be more grateful yes yeah I always think about like just part of the human experience is like forgetting yeah remembering and forgetting and remembering you know and my experience like spiritual practice ideally is a way to remember like more often a touchstone you know to come back
(26:54) to again and again to remind ourselves like what's really important what's really meaningful you know and and so easy to forget you know it's so easy it's crazy yeah maybe in today's world is more than ever before because there's so many distractions absolutely so much noise so much noise um you know thinking about like challenges as you're talking about like your relationship with challenges and it's when I consider it it's almost like a short circuiting happens in my mind
(27:26) because you know I don't want to experience like really hard challenges the loss of loved ones like all the all these things the pandemic happening at the same time the the lesson is that amidst these hard experiences is something that is very valuable right so what is my relationship like with them in the future like how do I view I know challenges are going to happen in the future how do I view them because there's an automatic resistance and then there's this other part of me that knows that like there's value here like don't
(28:05) be afraid of them yeah yeah I I feel you um you know I feel like sometimes when I'm in the middle of something that's really difficult it's so hard like to trust that there's some fruit or some seeds are being planted and [Music] um I don't feel like I'm very patient you know when when when and and and in the feel the weight you know of it but there still is like a part of me that maybe sometimes it's a faint voice you know that's sort of like optimistic you know that's just like oh one you know at
(28:49) some point like you might maybe you'll see like what um gift you know there is in this experience is like horrible you know as it is and it's not it's different from bypassing it because uh that's a different path where you just like trying to forget you know and and sort of like toxic positivity you know it's not really that but uh it reminds reminds me a little bit there's a passage from rilka's uh letters to a young poet have you ever read that book but it's a it's real writing letters back to a young poet
(29:27) who's asking them for advice on different things and um I can't I'm gonna paraphrase but he says uh he says you know my friend [Music] if you in your sadness like if you can pay attention if you can be present enough in your sadness you will perhaps be able to witness the seeds you know that are planted like in the Dark Shadow shadowy time and then when something new eventually arises in your life you will see the relationship like the through line between the steps of your sadness you know and the birth of this
(30:14) new thing it reminds me of the no mud no Lotus you know the Buddhist you know uh proverb and uh so I I don't know like I walk through like my friend I have a friend named Michelle Cassandra Johnson you should interview her sometime uh she's an amazing yoga teacher and and uh activist she says every day I walk through life with an with a broken heart and an open heart and I like I love that like to hold space for both you know and I aspire to that because sometimes I do feel so broken-hearted that I don't feel open-hearted you know
(30:56) and sometimes I feel so like I'll go to another side where I'm you know more distracting myself and forgetting about the suffering and maybe that's not so good you know in an extreme but to be able to hold both of those simultaneously feels like a you know a beautiful way to to live yeah and just to hold the experience of being a human being yeah when you're you're saying that I was I was thinking about like when I'm going through experiences like that if I'm really paying attention
(31:31) what happens for me that I notice is how quickly I'm fluctuating between the different states like literally like less than a moment I'm angry and then I'm accepting accepting of it and then I see the fruit of it and I'm angry again it's like so quick and I wonder sometimes if like because of the limitations of language that we kind of pretend like things are more stable and solid than they they really are from my experience while I'm paying attention there's the movement is very very very
(32:10) fast I feel you yeah absolutely that's that's my experience as well and I think that even the kind of systems that have been created to help us to Define and navigate those times like the stages of grief for example you know or the hierarchy of needs or you know like I feel like those are limited because it's sort of still saying well no you're in this stage now and then you'll go to this stage and it's like no what you were just subscribing is within the period of a minute you might be visiting like four
(32:42) or five of them you know uh like where you were more we're we're less linear yeah you know than than perhaps like you said language it defines us yeah yeah for someone who maybe doesn't have much experience with kirtan could you explain a little bit of you know what it is how would you describe to someone and and also maybe a reasonable first step of moving in the direction of having a practice sure that's a great question I guess the first thing like where I always like to start is that singing you know is a part of almost
(33:24) every spiritual tradition you know on the planet that to sing or to vocalize in some way as a part of Rites of Passage and rituals and ceremonies you know it to be to me it's a universal Human Experience that people have in many languages you know in many cultures and uh you can experience it in a in a church or a synagogue or a ceremony or indigenous you know ceremony or a a Muslim Mosque or or a a a Jewish temple uh and so and then beyond that you know we sing like think about like sporting matches there's this chanting
(34:09) thing political rallies you know we raise our voices to create this United you know sense of we're we're bigger when we when we chant something together you know than we are individually so there's something Universal so that's that's important for people to realize Okay so singing like as a form of spiritual practice is for everybody you know and so kirtan would be the practice from the Hindu you know and the yoga in the yoga Traditions that is has a certain sort of form to it one of the main forms is also you can
(34:47) find in many different cultures around the world which is calling response so you'd sing a mantra and then the crowd would Echo it back and then the leader sings in the Mantra maybe a different melody in the crowd Echoes it back in this way of like calling back and forth creates creating this communal participatory you know interactive energetic experience for everybody who's there that's one form of uh a vocal yoga practice that you can do communally and then um japa which would be the practice of
(35:21) by yourself like chanting like one Mantra over and over and over in a repetition you could do it with Mala beads or you know there's different methods different tools would be another way to develop a personal relationship you know with uh with the Mantra and the Mantra is something that is really it's a sound that in the translation of mantras like it's a sound that can help to like train the mind or free the mind or release ourselves from the restlessness and the impatience and the wildness you know of
(35:55) our of our mind it's a it's just a sound that can really sort of soak up you know all the other wild sounds of our of our thoughts and allow for us to experience this deep sense of presence and each one has a different kind of energetic quality to it many of them have myths and stories that are attached to them that uh I feel like can take us to a universal again human place so and this is really important to me to really create context you know around Mantra practice curathon practice is you know I could say if I wanted to be really
(36:34) esoteric you know I could say um you know this next Mantra is to Shiva the um the Lord obstruction and he's the Ashen covered one and with the Crescent Moon and his dreadlocks and the ganga flowing down you know uh from his head and and uh he carries a trident and you know and someone who's never experienced that before would sit there and they're just like what the hell are you asking me this chant too you know and it's like all that is true uh but it's not necessary you know initially perhaps like to introduce you
(37:13) know um I think that for me in order to build a bridge like to people that haven't experienced uh Mantra before is to to go to the thing that I think is most essential which is the arc the archetypal and a universal energy inside of these sounds so for me like Shiva is the in the inspiration of transformation you know and change and uh really what we talked about earlier so so I might say we're gonna sing this Mantra om namah shivaya and it's a mantra for helping us to Trust the grace inside transformation you know
(37:53) in change and sometimes even destruction even when that's difficult a mantra that can help us to open to the gifts you know that that might be we might experience you know inside uh change and so if there's something that is in flux in your life right now you know if there's something that maybe you have some resistance to or if you're being invited or even you know thrown into a situation where you might find you know you're being asked to change in some way I invite you to sing this Mantra you
(38:26) know with me to really open to the possibilities you know inside that change and to me like that introduction that context you know around the sort of universal archetypal meanings and qualities that really meets people where they are because it's going to The Human Experience and uh and it's like if I heard someone say that I'd be like oh yeah I'll chant this you know I am I am experiencing that I can identify with that I don't know if I can identify with the Trident and you know so um so that
(39:01) is important to me like as a teacher to build Bridges to make you know these practices relevant and I'm not making anything up you know I'm not pretending like it's something different I'm just more going to the underground river than I was talking about earlier you know that the the the essence you know I mean I love the the Lotus Temple here and the and all the altars you know and honoring all these different paths you know to to the one and uh there's something like essential that's I feel like is being
(39:30) celebrated you know inside the temple and that's what I'm seeking to do when I speak to these Universal human experiences and qualities you know another thing that I like to speak to which which I think is a really great uh uh way to communicate and contextualize Sonic practices is you know there's a great um scientific and medical you know benefits so chanting actually uh activates a mechanism in the inner ear that feeds the brain electrical potential it tones the vagus nerve and has this incredible impact on our
(40:08) nervous system you know it releases all these endorphins I think it's something like chanting or singing for 20 minutes like releases more endorphins than like running for an hour you know people heal more quickly from cancer recovering from cancer there's one group that chants you know and another group doesn't the group that chance you know their healing is more accelerated the world is made of sound you know like this table right here it looks really solid but it's actually on a subatomic
(40:37) level it's vibrating molecules that are humming and dancing and I feel like when we sing we really get more into that true perception you know of we're just we are vibration there's a lot more I could share but I feel like I've gone on it's wonderful um few things here one is that I wonder even you know we speak about benefits uh whether it's the benefit of of Mantra or even teaching yoga you know the benefits of the Asana whatever whatever it is I wonder are there maybe many humans that are
(41:14) even struggling with the intention of taking care of themselves right it's like for for some people it might be like an obvious thing like oh you tell me the benefit of this and then that's my goal to you know make this this being that I'm have a more intimate relationship with the best possible being that it can be you know in order to not only benefit myself or I believe that that will benefit everyone and some are clear on that I think some people are maybe really confused about this that the intention is not even clear to take
(41:58) care of of the self and because like that leads to a lot of confusion and wondering about what to do with myself yeah yeah I mean I agree with you and there's lots of reasons for me some people just don't have the Port you know or the or the food you know how do you take care of yourself can't feed yourself you know or you have the the income to be able to do that and then I think other people different circumstances where you know there there's a message that I should be selfless you know and help all
(42:35) the time other people and one thing and we talked about forgetting and remembering earlier one of the things that I forget oftentimes is that when I nourish myself like through self-care that that actually gives me more energy to be of service to my loved ones in my community and I'm curious too if you have this experience like I don't see why it is impossible to also feel that way of when I'm um being in service to someone else like that also feeds me in a way like is there anything that I can't view as
(43:13) self-care oh I love that yeah absolutely that's yeah that's fantastic yeah yeah I mean because I I think that I think probably also ties into this idea of Dharma you know and people feeling like a sense of purpose you know in their life and um I think for many their sense of purpose is to serve you know and so that it it there's this feedback you know in this nourishment you know that comes from that but I think that there are a lot of people that are confused you know about their purpose you know and their Dharma
(43:51) and um it might even feel like selfish or something like that to even put energy into trying to figure out you know what that what that is uh so um I think it's important to it's just start small don't you think like little bits and little morsels you know to especially for folks that have a lot of resistance to to self-care you know just and another thing that I realize again and again is sometimes just a little bit of as a parent you know as well just like God five minutes in a quiet five minutes of quiet gives me the energy that I
(44:39) think going on a retreat on the other side of the world you know it just like a little bit can go a long ways like homeopathic you know yeah one of my favorite things about kirtan is the silence when the chants are done which is so unique so you don't you don't get that when you go to most concerts it's just you know the song ends and then wild cheers and then the next song begins but it's in that silence and I think you know we all feel it when you're experiencing it it's like absolutely so I'm constantly wondering
(45:09) about and just paying attention to my relationship with the silence and I'm I'm witnessing it being nurtured and how can we balance it the kirtan just has a beautiful balance I think it does and for people that have challenges with silence you know that are really uncomfortable or find it really awkward I find chanting to be this beautiful Gateway you know into the contrast between the full volume you know voices and that vibration and resonance and then like you said just like sitting like steeping like bathing and
(45:43) silence and it's not really silence because there's the sound of our thoughts and our feelings and Sensations but there's more room to perceive you know that blanket and for the a lot of folks that you know like you said in our culture holding silence is a rare thing it's uncomfortable and awkward and a lot of times like I'll just encourage people to say you know is it just see if there's some treasure like underneath the awkwardness now be patient if there's any like gifts underneath the uncomfortableness and the
(46:13) self-consciousness just be patient enough to see what bubbles up there you know so yeah man I love you on that Sean thank you so much if uh someone listening is interested in hearing some of your music or getting in touch with uh you and your work what's the best way yes our website is Sean Johnson and The Wild bonusband.
(46:38) com uh Spotify Apple music or great uh platforms to listen to our music we have a YouTube channel with some videos uh I uh have been in the process of creating a collective of uh spiritual enchant based musicians called The Oracle Collective it's a-u-r-i-c-l-e and we have over 160 musicians from around the world uh making this music and really seeking to be like a hub where people can discover more chant and spiritual music and support you know these artists uh so uh encourage you to check uh Oracle oraclecollective.com would be the
(47:12) website there you can follow us on social media and Instagram and Facebook and uh we're tour year round and hopefully we'll come somewhere where near where your listeners are so it can come in and sing together awesome we'll put this on the uh in the notes as well wishing you a wonderful weekend thank you so much thank you so much thank you thanks for listening if you've enjoyed this content and think others might as well please feel free to share and subscribe