Plugging Into Yourself: Rhapsodic Release Voice Sessions

‘Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows

can do it and I am, well,

hopeless….

Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.

And I gave it up. And took my old body

and went out into the morning,

and sang.’

-Mary Oliver

Our voice. We often use it without thinking. It flows with ease around our closest allies and yet trembles and breaks in our most intimate moments with those same beings. Some of us use it boldly and with abandon, others of us wait and watch until the moment unfolds to offer a simple word or concise turn of phrase.

We express every conceivable idea and emotion through it, in sounds, in song, in words. When we need to scream and the sound won’t come, we still feel and hear the reverberations within ourselves.

We carry it with us even in silence.

Our voice is intertwined with every aspect of our being, and in order to fully embody our most authentic selves, it’s essential to bring awareness there and plug back into ourselves through it.

And, even if you never spoke another word, or sang another love song; even if you could never allow another laugh to ripple from your core, reconnecting to your voice would be just as important to this incredible process of self-realization.

What is a Voice

Voice has a lot of meanings attributed to it and while defining something that seems so obvious has its place and purpose, for our exploration here I’m interested in introducing the themes of how we as humans perceive and experience our voice; what is our universal understanding of our first instrument? What is our experience of a voice beyond the obvious of what it is? How does that apply to integration, embodiment, working/playing in altered spaces (for those reading that do), and bringing the unconscious to consciousness?

Across languages, cultures, and belief systems, the voice is most always first defined by sound, specifically the sound(s) produced by an animal (including the human animal) by their vocal organs.

In humans those vocal organs include the lips, teeth, tongue, palate, uvula, nasal and oral cavities, and the vocal cords. We utilize each of these parts in tandem to create an indescribably rich and varied collection of voicings, at once unique to each individual, while also being a shared experience of communication and expression with all humanity.

However, as we deepen our journey with our plant allies, as well as other consciousnesses (ex. the elements, spirit guides, etc.), we recognize that a voice is so much more than just the physical/form expression of sound crafted into communication. We discover that these beings speak just as clearly as we perceive ourselves to speak - just differently. Everything has its own unique form of voicing/expression.

Coming humble, learning how to listen and respond to the voices all around us - building relationship - through meditative practice, dietas, and embracing our intuitive understanding of these communications, we become more attuned to ourselves and to them, and we have the opportunity to become their voice in form. This happens when we share with others our interactions with our allies, pass along the teachings we receive, and ultimately through the way we speak and live our prayer, our life.

And maybe even, how we sing it.

More than Words

I feel that one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned from all of my plant brethren is that the voice and the expression of our core being are really one and the same. Another definition of voice: ‘the agency or means by which something specified is expressed, represented, or revealed.’

A voice might be specific to an individual consciousness (pertinent questions: How does it show up? Does it make a ‘sound’? Who is attuned to hear it?), but the voice is what emerges when we receive and allow the fullness of our expression. We are the agency and means by which that undefinable something is represented and revealed.

So, plugging back into our own voice turns out to be massively important in the process of awakening and bringing the experience of this realization into something we can make a part of our day to day walk through this life.

What we awaken to is that our voice is more than just the words we speak, the songs we sing, or the sounds we make. We remember the power of the voice behind our own, what it’s really an extension of, the Source of it so to speak. And then we are empowered to let our voice be heard, receive from it, move our own version of mountains with it.

In a world that so often reflects back to us the helplessness we sometimes feel to just be able to be ourselves, and be received, heard, and loved, it’s easy to forget how empowered we truly are to make change, beginning with ourselves. To actually ask for/create and invite in what we want and need, for our best and highest good, whatever that means in the moment.

It’s true, we know life lands us in situations where we don’t have room to do anything other than use our voice as another tool to get our survival needs met. In my experience, when Mama Aya gives me the gift of taking me to survival mode in the midst of an intense ceremony, and acceptance feels impossible, I feel that sense that my voice is absent, snatched away - processing through my body the years of tension that living on that edge embedded in me.

Where it feels like an impossible task to just say ‘help me.’ And it feels hopeless.

And yet, in those moments, somehow, the voice emerges once again, and in time the surrender alchemises to empowerment, and gives birth to sound and song.

This process of reconnecting and expansion in my journey with my voice, the invitation to work with a dear friend and dive into her voice, and the encouragement of my beloved plants, is what birthed the Rhapsodic Release voice coaching session.

A personal Rhapsodic Release Session I recorded, with the intention of allowing my voice to carry the spirit of Mapacho/Tobacco.

What is a Session Like?

‘Violinists wear the imprint on their necks with pride for they are the players of harmony. Pilgrims, too, wear the imprint on their foreheads with pride for they are conductors of unity. And Lovers? Why, they are made humble by the imprint on their hearts for they are merely the instruments of rhapsody.’ -Kamand Kojouri

So, what is rhapsody? What probably comes to mind are Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen (A Classic!), or perhaps Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin. Take a few minutes and listen to each. What feelings/emotions bubble up as you listen? How does your body talk when you receive the music? Does it want to move? Can you help but sing along?

Close your eyes. Sink in.

Rhapsody is an ecstatic expression of feeling, and as we know ecstasy comes dancing wearing many dresses. What we hear in a piece of music called a rhapsody is a wild, unfolding of feeling - and all feelings and expression is welcomed and explored as it emerges. When the voice is released to its most authentic expression, it is ecstatic in that it looks/sounds however it must and for its own satisfaction. The rhapsody released is the natural product of the somatic, embodied experience of reconnecting our voice to our body and being.

How you will plug back in, or strengthen the connection you already have, is unique. However, much of the meeting is like any coaching session. We will meet via Zoom and during our time I learn about your intentions for the session(s), ask questions so that we can discern your relationship to your voice (and later, how that relationship evolves through successive sessions), and as we explore/learn/release we feel, sing, and play.

That play may be in the form of communicating/talking, listening, vocal exercises, making sounds, movement, bringing in instruments (if you happen to play any, even hand claps and snaps are instruments), reciting/reading aloud, songwriting, etc. We even use the magic of silence to explore our voices.

Usually, there’s some form of challenge or play-homework that you will get to delve into between sessions; it’s amazing what arises in the day to day integration of this work and how your voice evolves along with it!

How Do You Know if This is For You?

First, let me get this out of the way: You don’t need to be a singer, musician, or even think your voice sounds all that pleasant to do this work! Do you have a voice? Bring it! Don’t feel you have a voice? Bring the vibration/expression!

It’s possible that you clicked on this blog out of mere curiosity, or perhaps you’ve felt a deep pull to reconnect to your voice. Maybe you just thought, ‘I like to sing!’

It’s possible you want to delve into another way of swimming in the sea of consciousness and non-dual wisdom.

And, my personal delight, you might be drawn to how connecting to your voice can help you move through, integrate, and embody the profound experience of shadow work.

Whatever your initial draw might be, you’ll know because you’ll know. With my gifts/craft as I’ve developed them over nearly 30 years as a musician, and my experience as an embodiment-focused coach and bodyworker, I can help support you, and provide an open/non-judgmental container to navigate whatever intention you bring to this work. And it it my absolute pleasure to be of service.

Are you ready to take the first steps towards reconnecting and releasing you authentic voice? Let's connect here and dive in together!