Music Therapy in the NICU

I'm just recovering from jetlag after a world wind tour to NYC to present at the International Summit for Music Therapy in the NICU. First Sounds: Rhythm, Breath and Lullaby was a major cool international summit sponsored by the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine who sponsored the program, with a donation by the Heather on Earth foundation.

This invitational Summit included 35 doctors, nurses, music therapists, healing music specialists (moi :-) and psychologists working in the NICU. The intent was to develop an international alliance and plan for training international practitioners in NICU music therapy.

My presentation on wordless singing and the five elements of Voices of Eden healing music, which was experiential in nature, was punctuated by a flood of tears which unexpectedly burst open as I acknowledged the blessing of us all being in that one room together.

Thanks to Joanne Loewy who had the foresight to bring these experts together, from literally, all corners of the globe. The countries represented were (in alphabetical order):

* Argentina
* Australia
* China
* England
* Germany
* Ireland
* Israel
* Spain
* Sweden
* United States

I had the pleasure of rooming with Kat Fulton of www.rhythmforgood.com, a music therapist residing in San Diego, CA who works with rhythm in the NICU. Her site is definately worth checking out. Kat summarized our very full and intense conference with the following topics that were covered:

* Program design and implementation in Europe (Germany)
* Noise, Music, and the Environment in the NICU (USA)
* Music Therapy as a Semiotic System of Communication (Spain)
* Interplay with the Medically Fragile Infant (Australia)
* Development of a Trauma-Informed NICU Music Therapy Treatment Model (USA)
* Wordless Melodies: Voices of Eden (Israel)
* The Pacifier Activated Lullaby: From Theory to Practice (USA)
* NICU Palliative Care: Anticipatory Grief & Bereavement (USA)
* Guided Imagery and Music with a Bereaved Parent: Case Study (USA)
* Live Infant-Directed Singing and Instrumental Music for Expression and Interaction (USA)
* Heather on Earth Multi-Site Research Study (USA)
* Music and Maternal Sounds in the NICU (USA)
* Neurological Development to Inform Music Selections in the NICU (USA)
* Analysis of Music Therapy Contributions (Spain)
* Relational Psychophysiology: Lessons from Mother-Infant Interaction (USA)
* Pain, Songs of Kin and Sedation (USA)

It was a stroke of Divine providence that my brother and niece Julia happened to be in New York the same day I arrived, so we got to meet for dinner at TGIF (where a cocktail party was given for us the first evening of the summit). What a blessing.


My favorite moments of the summit were during the cocktail party when we spontaneously broke into a rhythmic improvisation - it was a heavenly blend of glasses, spoons, cups and the plastic barrel played stupendously by one of the "very musically inclined" waiters who came to join us. I was in ecstasy.


Special thanks to Joanne Loewy, Sherry Williams and the staff at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York for making this International Summit possible! Support for the summit came from the Heather on Earth Music Foundation, Remo, and the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.

How can ancient hands support you today?

I am getting ready to leave for my brief tour to the US next week to present at the Music and Medicine Symposium at Beth Israel Medical Center in NYC and thinking about sticky New York summer weather makes me grateful for the current heat, and the popsicles which are cooling down the inner heat.

There is alot of heat bubbling these days. Not just from the summer heat, but from so much change going on ... we are all experiencing it... Sometimes the confusion created may seem so great that we reach up our hands in frustration.

While in the midst of change and confusion, ancient hands can provide us with a great deal of support and clarity.

How do ancient hands provide protection?

Many cultures have regarded not only as a source of human power, but also as representative of a higher power. Ellen Frankel and Betsy Platkin Teusch write in The Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols, that the notion of the Divine hand protecting, formed the symbol of "hamsa" from the Semitic root meaning "five". The hamsa is a hand shaped amulet to protect and ward off the "evil eye".

The hamsa is used throughout the middle east and mediterranean, and is common to Jewish, Christian and Moslem cultures. It is used as a decorative motif, a popular house warming or gift for good health. The traditional color used in the mediterranean to adorn the hamsa, is turquoise, blue, green - which is also aymbol of health, and of nourishing water.


The photos of hamsot (plural of hamsa) are those I created as a healing gift item from Galilee. The shards you see, are 1000+ year old pottery shards which I have hand picked (pun intended), from the healing music sites of Galilee.

I love the feel of my hands on the dry earth as I pick up each shard. I feel that each one is a gem, crying out to be rediscovered... "Pick me up please! Help me put the broken pieces of my forgotten self back together." Each one I treat like a jewel. My hand caresses them. It is one of my favorite past times to find these ancient shards. I have collections of them in beautiful bowls next to the hamsas adorning the living room walls.

When the ancient symbol of the protective hand is placed with the shards, it can provide you with deep focus and concentration.

I have a hamsa hanging in my bedroom, just opposite my bed. Upon the hamsa are three pomegranates (another ancient symbol of fertility and abundance) and the word "success" printed upon it. Every morning when I awake, before getting out of bed, I meditate upon that symbol. I find that it grounds me, and fills me with quiet power for what I am about to meet that day.

Where could ancient hands provide you with support?

Perhaps you could draw a hamsa to relax. You could even outline your hand with a crayon (remember doing that as a kid)?

You could also use your own hands to pat yourself on the back for all the great things you are doing!

Or, if you are so willing to express your authentic creativity and natural voice, you could use your hands to play rhythms, using your body as an instrument. You can use this video clip of a healing music program I gave to a group of physically handicapped youth. It is so amazing to see how their playing relaxes them and provides stress release and nourishment to their minds and bodies.



What will you do today to provide protective hands to yourself?

Self Compassion Softens Jagged Edges

Are you interested in changing some of the things that you find yourself saying to yourself over and over again that don't exactly serve your highest good?

Perhaps you've already made a commitment to make peace with yourself by choosing to change one of those self defeating phrases that keeps you a silent prisoner of your inner war. When it is most important for you to express what is in your heart you need to come forth as a knight in shining armor for yourself.

So you write out what you plan to say. You call a friend to discuss your fears so they won't get in the way when you need to speak what is in your heart in real time. You practice your speech in front of the mirror to experience the level of confidence you need to shine in the moment when it counts most to you.

In the moment of truth, all hell breaks loose

The moment arrives. You're ready. It feels so good to have prepared beforehand. Yet when you open your mouth, instead of expressing what is in your heart, you find yourself saying other things you never meant to say.

The listener had this funny look on their face. "What will they think of me?", you wonder to yourself. They seem stressed and uptight. You didn't want to stir them up anymore than they already are so you speak about what you think will please them instead of what you had originally planned.

You can speak your heart another time, anyway. You're a kind person and care. Hmm… Really?

How kind towards yourself? Afterwards your inner voice silently criticizes you, "Why didn't you speak from your heart? Why can't you follow through like (whoever you compare yourself to most), "You'd have done better if only..., Now it's a fact, you are not as good as (whoever you compare yourself to most), It's too late, you failed again." Not the most harmonious tune.

As Wayne Dyer writes in his book, Real Magic, our personality is made up of the hundreds of habitual ways that we conduct the daily physical affairs of our life.

Your habits reveal you.

Your habits say something about how you have chosen to live your life and to how you use your powerful mind. They pattern the way you speak to yourself and how you behave.

The problem is that even when you make a decision to change a habit, you may find that your inner warriors come to do battle with your intentions to make positive change within yourself.

How can you stay focused when your resistance sends arrows to your gut instead of lovingly defending your heart's desire?

Deconstruct to Reconstruct

When the foundation upon which you built your way of expressing yourself no longer works, it many times means that it's time for a renovation.

Renovation requires deconstruction. Deconstruction is dirty work. It's not comfortable and it can bring up a lot of stress.

One of my clients, a singer with several years of classic vocal training behind her came to me longing to release and express her natural voice. She only felt safe singing and speaking formally, in the way she had been trained.

When she dared speak or sing her heart, she would tear herself apart afterwards with harsh inner criticism that it wasn't pretty or good enough. "I will fail. I will fall. I will embarrass myself, or worse, I will embarrass others, and this will embarrass me even more. Better to just hold back."

Though others thought of her as extremely talented, her negative self talk was eating her alive. Through the gentle process of questioning the daggers of her inner criticism, she began to challenge even the stickiest thorns of her life. Through employing the healing music element of silence and focus, instead of reacting to the attacks, she found renewed energy by simply listening to them, and gently chose to respond to herself with loving kindness and acceptance.

With self compassion, you can truly perform magic in your life.

Making peace with your inner conflicts

Are you interested in changing some of the things that you find yourself saying to yourself over and over again that don't exactly serve your highest good? I just found an article which I wrote a few years ago, and find that it still applies today...

Perhaps you've already made a commitment to make peace with yourself by choosing to change one of those self defeating phrases that keeps you a silent prisoner of your inner war. When it is most important for you to express what is in your heart you need to come forth as a knight in shining armor for yourself.

So you write out what you plan to say. You call a friend to discuss your fears so they won't get in the way when you need to speak what is in your heart in real time. You practice your speech in front of the mirror to experience the level of confidence you need to shine in the moment when it counts most to you.

In the moment of truth, all hell breaks loose

The moment arrives. You're ready. It feels so good to have prepared beforehand. Yet when you open your mouth, instead of expressing what is in your heart, you find yourself saying other things you never meant to say.

The listener had this funny look on their face. "What will they think of me?", you wonder to yourself. They seem stressed and uptight. You didn't want to stir them up anymore than they already are so you speak about what you think will please them instead of what you had originally planned.

You can speak your heart another time, anyway. You're a kind person and care. Hmm… Really?

How kind towards yourself? Afterwards your inner voice silently criticizes you, "Why didn't you speak from your heart? Why can't you follow through like (whoever you compare yourself to most), "You'd have done better if only..., Now it's a fact, you are not as good as (whoever you compare yourself to most), It's too late, you failed again."
Not the most harmonious tune.

As Wayne Dyer writes in his book, Real Magic, our personality is made up of the hundreds of habitual ways that we conduct the daily physical affairs of our life.

Your habits reveal you.

Your habits say something about how you have chosen to live your life and to how you use your powerful mind. They pattern the way you speak to yourself and how you behave.

The problem is that even when you make a decision to change a habit, you may find that your inner warriors come to do battle with your intentions to make positive change within yourself.

How can you stay focused when your resistance sends arrows to your gut instead of lovingly defending your heart's desire?

Deconstruct to Reconstruct

When the foundation upon which you built your way of expressing yourself no longer works, it many times means that it's time for a renovation. Renovation requires deconstruction. Deconstruction is dirty work. It's not comfortable and it can bring up a lot of stress.

One of my clients, a singer with several years of classic vocal training behind her came to me longing to release and express her natural voice. She only felt safe singing and speaking formally, in the way she had been trained.

When she dared speak or sing her heart, she would tear herself apart afterwards with harsh inner criticism that it wasn't pretty or good enough.
When we began the course to ease

Test the limits. I could fail. I will fall. I will embarrass myself, or worse, I will embarrass others, and this will embarrass me even more.

Better to just hold back. Only there is no more time. I committed to write this newsletter. It's been more than a week and a half since I wrote. It's a really tender time for me.
With the magical powers of your persuasion, you can choose to challenge even the stickiest thorns of your life.

One of my clients, a busy medical doctor, when I first met him, was so stressed that even without saying a word, the tension from his persona, shouted like an announcer over the loud speakers, "ee gads, I am going nuts". The fact that his wife had just given birth to a premature baby in intensive care was not helping matters any more.


I'm a medical doctor, so vocal meditation isn't exactly what you would call my "cup of tea". But, I gotta admit it, this CD relaxes me and my family, including my newborn premature son in a way that other CDs haven't done before. Lord knows we've tried.

So how do you respond when the &*%^ hits the fan?


This week I have met with lots of challenge. I gave my best. I was hoping for a better deal. Hoping that what I had to contribute would be recognized.I was hoping for more connection with the other teachers. I was looking forward to team work. All I got was a lot of competition. I am feeling hurt that my givingness was not recognized.I am feeling unseen and unheard and this is the most painful thing for me.Misunderstood or ignored. That is what has hurt the most in my life. The invisible force of nature and energy

Is it easier to go along with the war than to stand up alone, like a lone soldier who can be knocked down with a single shot?

Not all war happens with bombs and guns.

There are war zones in everyday life. In order to make the healing and transformational power of music practical tools for daily life, I'm looking for a few readers to interview (by phone or Skype).

I'll be asking about where they most long for peace. What's in the way? What makes it hard to practice peace-making exercises?

If you're interested, please email me.

In the meantime, please enjoy this short 30 second peace making music meditation I recorded this afternoon, focusing upon making peace with inner war, allowing for the authentic colors of my voice to be heard.

I hope that you will allow yours to be heard as well. Look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Balkan Dance in Israel

Edna Rimon took fabulous photos of the twenty fifth year anniversary of the Balkan folk dance club in Haifa Israel. To celebrate with us, the Balkan music performers - Chubritza, came to Israel to play their wonderful music, while we danced (and I also sang and drummed in a few pieces).

Aviella Angel (really an angel) wearing the Balkanitsa t-shirt, is one of the organizers.

You can enjoy more photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/ednarimon/BLKANITSA#

This gave me a very good break from writing my book proposal for Miriam's Secret and using the healing music to release the stress connected with the Next Top Spiritual Author contest, whose voting deadline is today. You can tell by this photo, I am pretty dreamy faced (smiling yet with little sleep).,

What does Miriam's Secret and Balkan dance movement in Israel share in commo?n

?

Goodwill

Love of rhythm, movement and music as healthy means of living

Community builder

Thanks to both Balkanitsa, Dunav (the Jerusalem balkan dance group), Chubritza who graced us with their lovely live music, and every single person who helped make this event such a success by helping to organize, and showing up to enjoy in the festivities.

Music Meditation for Support

I just love this photo that photographer Nitza Levine shot at a recent networking meeting and art auction in Haifa.

What does business networking, an art auction and music meditation have in common?

1) Mutual support
2) Supporting art

Supports everyone. Man does not live by bread alone. Aesthetics are a spiritual value.
When we become so focused on "achieving" we lose sight of the forest through the trees.

In my case, a beautiful tree donated it's life to alchemically transform itself into a frame drum.

Life is support. When we support one another, we support ourselves. Life supports us.

What role do aesthetics play in your life? How do you allow music and art to support you?

Mozart and Voices of Eden on CBS News

Do you believe everything you see on the news? Did you know that I sing and play Mozart? According to CBS television, evidently so.

If you watch this video (type in Music and Weight Gain in the search box watch), you'll see Sunita Staneslow - my healing harpist colleague with whom I work at Meir Hospital in our healing music project and I are both shown making music in the neonatal ward. You'll see me singing to babies, and working with mothers.

Only they're reporting about Mozart music. Evidently Voices of Eden music and Mozart are now being compared!

Music And Weight Gain
http://wcbstv.com/video/

Wondering how to use this blooper and misrespresentation on CBS's part to get the word out about Voices of Eden music and Miriam's Secret?

What ideas do you have for me? I am all ears...

Remaining Relaxed in the Midst of Change

How do you remain relaxed and focused in the midst of change? Perhaps it seems impossible? You know that experience of... take two steps forward, one back. Sometimes it might even feel like... two steps forward, three backwards...

It seems that the moment we commit to making a deep inner change, the deeper silt may come floating to the surface. Though we know we're moving ahead towards something good, instead of soaring, with wings outstretched, it may feel instead like falling into a deep bottomless pit.

Last week, I took my students to Tel Megiddo, the site of Armaggedon. Tel Megiddo is one of the more prominent archeological sites in the world, as it serves as the pinnacle of biblical archeology. In addition, it is one of the few places in the world where you can see thirty strata of different civilizations spanning some 10,000years. This alone is enough to put your worries in proportion :-)! This is the site where the prophetess Deborah sat court under the palm trees.


The round temple mound alone, shows 17 layers of civilization. It was a joy to play the bells there, to clear the energy prior to our descending deep in the belly of the earth, to reach the pure water of the well resting some 300 meters below the earth.



The sounds of the women singing on the way down were mysterious and awesome. It was dark.... until we got to the bottom. Water nymphs singing in the belly of the earth? Scary or inspiring? What do you think?

Healing Music for Premature Baby

Wordless singing has been medically proven to lower blood pressure, heart rate, increase focus and quality of sleep amongst neonates in the NICU unit. In this video clip, I am guiding a new mother to sing with her baby in the neonatal ward of Meir Hospital. This lovely mother, appropriately named Shira, which in Hebrew means "singing - song" has taken to singing along with the monitor beeping in order to lower her own level of stress. You can hear the music composed for the healing music research project.

I have also opened a new blog specifically for lullaby music: www.lullabymusicblog.com.

How do you calm yourself in the midst of the "beeping monitors" of daily life?

Desktop Altar, Anita Diamant & Miriam

On Anita Diamants blog: The Red Tent... and more... she posted a photo of the items on her desktop altar. This was in response to a query from a curious reader. At the end of her post, Anita asked: What is on your desktop altar?

So, I flipped open my trusty cell phone camera and clicked the photo above.
On my desktop altar (from right to left - as befits a Hebrew speaker :-)...

1) Clay statuette of Miriam that I made some seven years ago on a glorious vacation in the Sinai desert. This statuette, fashioned from simple clay mud found in Sinai, which I sealed with simple glue (now peeling), has chaperoned me through countless ancient healing music tours overseas. It's my number one touchstone.

2) An ancient pottery handle which I found in Tel Hazor - an sacred healing music site in northern Galillee. This provides me with something to hold onto... when I don't know where to go next. It provides me with lots of faith.

3) A small Egyptian tambourine. Provides me with the sound of music.

4 & 5) Another ancient pottery handle picked up on a recent visit to Tel Megiddo (Armageddon) and Tel Dor (Phoenician site next to Atlit). These were also important sites for ancient sacred healing music of the biblical prophetesses.

6) Finger cymbals. Hand made in Egypt, I use these to dissipate energy. When I need a break, I ring them. It reminds me of the music I recorded with them in the ancient water well of Zippori.

7) A small peace dove bookmarker gift handmade by a colleague of mine. It reminds me of the beauty of simple aesthetic found in Israel. It calms me.

8) Behind the Miriam statuette - my logo - that includes a statuette of Miriam found in Achziv in the Western Galilee, dating from the Helenistic period. The Hebrew says: Kolot Eden - Havaya Musikaleet Tehorah... which in English means...

Voices of Eden
Pure and Authentic Music Experience

What's on your desktop altar?

Next Top Spiritual Author Contest - Winning Round One

It is Saturday, or in Hebrew, Shabbat.

Shabbat comes from the Hebrew root letters: Shin-Bet-Taf. These letters share the same root of the verb "to sit". Shabbat is a time to contemplate the week passed.

Today I am sitting to contemplate the last several weeks completed of Round One of the Next Top Spiritual Authors Contest.

Approximately 3000 authors entered the contest... 250 would be chosen to go on to Round Two. The ultimate winner of this contest, sponsored by Hampton Roads Publishing, will receive a publishing contract. The voting deadline closed on May 3, with the announcement of the 250 winners to be made by Thursday, May 6.

A few days can seem like an eternity.

My task was to stay on purpose, inside and to keep a steady pace moving forward. Regardless of the results, I made a commitment to complete Miriam's Secret by the end of this year. If I didn't win this round, would I be courageous enough to follow through? If I did win, would I be willing to meet my fears and move forward?

The contests' creators' sent an email promotion of their own projects the day following the voting deadline. Some of the authors were outraged and complained bitterly. The contest creator sent an email in response.

The path to one's goal is filled with detours.

I enjoyed many inner detours on the path of my own response:

1) Reserving my own judgment on both sides of the issue in favor of deepening my sense of equinimity.

2) My willingness to notice my judgements as they arose. I filled out Judge Your Neighbor worksheets of The Work by Byron Katie, to set my thinking free.

I appreciated the angered emails, reflecting that competitive voice inside – "no" – "won't move ahead"... it's a small fine line... in this place one gets to be righteous and indignant.

3) Appreciation of how the contest creator addressed criticism head on AND stood up for himself transparently, e.g. "you'll find in the… (xyz places) written that we will send announcements... etc..."

I knew this when I signed on. I chose to sign on to use this platform as a support to get my OWN VOICE out there. What I appreciate seeing modeled is how people DO PLAY BIG.

Stretching beyond the comfort zone.

If you spend all your energy trying to dart the bullets, how will you ever move forward?

YUP, people will criticize you when you move ahead. People may even want to attack. Yet if you spend all your energy trying to appease "them", where will you have the energy to appease yourself?

Courage is having the discipline to stand by yourself in times of doubt.

Holistic winning requires several things:

1) Compassion. Criticism may sting. It's not a comfortable place to be.

2) Self Respect. Leaders are those who are willing to tread the unbeaten path.

3) Remaining Open... Especially in the face of a big OUCH; such as when others criticize us for moving ahead. Seeing how the contest creator responded gave me courage to keep my heart open.

I wrote a response thanking them for showing up, and opening the door for me to show up in a much bigger way as well. We all benefit! Taking the time to acknowledge them and me, publicly is a BIG CHANGE, for me. The shift is in the focus, not upon the physical action. I have decided to WIN.

WINNING starts and ends WITHIN.

Here's what I wrote the morning following the cutoff for Round One voting:

My experience inside of me is shifting. It is a big payoff.

I guess we are all so used to sitting in our comfortable habits - with the mediocre payoff of getting to be "right" about our beliefs. Staying as much as I can in the NOW moment. In the end, we don't have final control (although it's so nice to believe that we do :-)!

I am in LOVE. And I appreciate YOU.

WE WON ROUND ONE!

I credit the win to all of us. I acknowledge my response above as a major contributor.
Thank you to EVERY ONE OF YOU WHO VOTED!!!!

The next two weeks are for finishing the book proposal and uploading it to the contest site.
Voting for Round Two will begin May 24th.

Every one who votes receives a membership in the online healing and transformational music site, and also goes into a raffle to win a free Transformational Journey Intensive with me in Israel, where I will personally take you to Miriam's Well and Magdalene's Well.

Come visit on my facebook pages:

Miriam's Secret: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miriams-Secret-Midwiving-the-Birth-of-Your-Inner-Transformation/110869085621403

My personal page: www.facebook.com/elianagilad

Voices of Eden page

Next Top Spiritual Author Contest Update - Miriam's Secret

Here's an update from Tel Dor - at a major cool ancient Phonecian temple on the mediterranean coast. Please remember to watch this video with an authentic healing music meditation - with directions for a free eight step relaxation program. Learn more about Miriam's Secret...


Please vote and ">help reveal Miriam's Secret...

MIRIAM'S SECRET - MIDWIVING THE BIRTH OF YOUR INNER TRANSFORMATION

I am truly jazzed to have entered the Next Top Spiritual Author Contest sponsored by Hampton Roads Publishing. 2500 authors have entered this contest, which includes four rounds. The finalist wins a publishing contract for their book.

250 of the authors with the highest number of votes will go on to round two. I intend to be amonst them. Voting ends May 3. Please for for me here: http://www.NextTopAuthor.com/?aid=2961

Enjoy this clip to learn about my book - Miriam's Secret - Midwiving the Birth of Your Inner Transformation...



Thank you for voting for me, and sending this link to ten of your friends, and asking them to do the same.

The Next Top Spiritual Author

I am writing this post to announce that I have entered The Next Top Spiritual Author Contest - it's a great step for me, as I have been preparing my book - Miriam's Secret - Empowering Your Voice Within You, or, Healthy Bonding with Your Inner Mother and Child. Those are a few of the tentative subtitles.

I will be blogging about this process - first hand.

Gotta run now. Will write more later.

How do you stay on purpose when going through change?

With spring in the air, it's a time of rebirth. I love that spacious feeling of having the space and time to consider change and choose new direction.

Yet rebirth, like transformation, doesn't come without it's pain and pressure. Saying "yes" to one direction, means saying "no" to another. Others may not like it. Perhaps it will upset the apple cart.

How do you stay on purpose when going through change?

How do you respond to family, friends or colleagues who get stirred up by your transformation in process?

In his book "Real Magic", author Wayne Dyer shares how he has personally learned to avoid slings and arrows that come his way in his public pursuits. He has trained himself to ignore others' opinions and stay on purpose. His focus is upon his inner mission to help improve other people's lives and sticking with it, regardless of the outcome. Ironically, he shares as he is more on purpose, his speaking and communication flow.

I got very inspired by reading his words again after many years. My heart has been directing me to serve in a bigger way and share my talents through creative means. My intent is to help people more authentically express themselves. As I make inner changes, I meet up with more of my own inner slings and arrows and learn to make peace with them.


When you’re in turmoil, how do you connect to and express your inner voice of peace? Like when you’re in the turmoil part?

Scott Johnson, Director of the Positive Music Association, who I interviewed for the Educational Home Study System:
FINDING INNER PEACE IN TROUBLED TIMES - Transformational Interviews with 7 Living Peace Makers had this to say:

"I try to think my way around stuff and it doesn’t seem to work. I think you just have to be present with it. I’ll give you an example of how music has helped me. I had my own graphic design business for 12 years out of my home. Last year I took a day job in a new industry. I was miserable for the first eight or nine months of it. While it didn't feed my soul, it fed the family and that’s important.

During that time I wrote a song from that experience called "Get Me Out of Here". It’s a great blues song... To be able to express myself constructively without damaging others or things, or polluting the world - sitting down at the piano and writing about it and singing it, helped me deal with and move through it. The song has a lot of emotion behind it and makes me feel good when I sing it now."

I love how Scott alchemically transformed his misery through music, providing himself and others with a powerful source for self nurturing.

The other interviews in the home study course share other inspiring stories from the trenches: meeting life and death issues, million dollar debt, relationship conflict, challenges with children, coping with depression, managing conflict with equanimity, patience, kindness and compassion.

I am following my heart's guidance to offer this very special interview series at a "Name Your Own Price" through April 30, 2010. There are absolutely no strings attached. I am including the bonuses and a money back guarantee as well.

Like Wayne Dyer, I am simply doing what I know to be the right thing - showing up in a bigger way for me while truly hoping to contribute to improve the lives of others and doing divine work.

So grateful!

Birth Music - for abundant good

Spring is quickly approaching... with it... an abundance of flowers, colors and the rebirth of life and goodness. To this end, I have decided to begin giving away all of my music.

I believe that doing this will bring more good into my life, and in an exponential way, into the life of others.

For those of you interested in birthing good into your own life, whether this be related to birth of a baby in your family, or whether the birth be of another kind, please allow me to invite you to a gift of healing music and allow the sounds and rhythm to midwive the birth of your own good.



Email Marketing You Can Trust

Healing Nature and Music

Last week, two students of mine, Eshel Rozio and Birgit Reshef and I made a pilgrimage to Tel Kadesh in the upper Galilee, home to an ancient temple as well as an amazing pistachio tree which was uprooted by a bomb which blasted it open during the war in 2006.

The incredible thing is, the blast, seemed to free the shape of a female body. Could it be the spirit of the Asherah - female divinity of ancient Hebrew tradition?

We let nature do the singing. This video is uncut, unedited... imperfectly human. Our vulnerable voices, allowing nature to sing through us.

What do you receive from listening to this? Can you see the feminine figure of the tree? Can't wait to hear from you.

It has nothing to do with you

Tony Parsons - well, if you call that one by a name - really will blow your mind...

Ancient Egypt and Ancient Israel reunite

I am feeling so satisfied to discover that the Egyptian press has published the article I wrote about the Voices of Eden healing music research project.

Kudos to Bikya Masr and to the Daily News Egypt both for publishing the article about Israeli and Palestinian women making peace through Healing Lullaby Music.

The whole point of my initiating this research project was to reconnect the two ancient civilizations of Israel and Egypt. There were times during which the healers of both places used voice, sound and rhythm as a natural healer. A big use of it was in childbirth and lullaby music.

I am humbled to learn that a new connection has been remade through this small but powerful gesture of good will.

Girl Power

There is power in vulnerability, sensitivity and emotion. This video came to my email box as I wrote in my journal about a dream, reconciling deep conviction with deep insecurity. Stop denying yourself from being who you are:

Validation - This will put a smile on your face :-)

This is an absolutely imaginative and beautiful expression of authentic voice. It brought a huge smile to me this morning and I hope it will to you too:



I wonder what went on in your mind as you watched?

Sacred Holiday Music Concert in Nazareth - Christmas Eve

RARE HOLIDAY MUSIC CONCERT

Christmas Eve – 20:00 – 24.12.09
Fauzi Azar Inn - Old City Nazareth


Join us for magical musical journey of heavenly song, sacred holiday music chants, ethereal harp and biblical percussion. This special holiday program illuminates the power of the voice, rhythm and harp as a natural healer such was used in ancient times.

Biblical frame drums are used to ground the body, sacred texts to soothe and relax the listener. In the ancient approach to music, the artist and audience are both actively involved in the musical experience.

This unique concert provides a genuine experience of holy music from the holy land.
Voices of Eden music has medically researched three times and found to lower blood pressure, heart rate, increase focus and quality of sleep.

Students of the Ancient Healing & Transformational Music course, based upon the research performed on this music, will participate in the concert as well.

Fauzi Azar Inn – Charming Guest House in the Ancient Quarter of Nazareth, which Mapa – the leading press has called, "the Dream Guest House", "One of the Best Finds", and "Simply Wonderful"…

Healing harpist, Sunita Staneslow and I have developed this healing music concert geared towards busy, overly stressed people wanting to reconnect to their inner calm and the sacred in life, while connecting intimately with their family as well. Watch this clip to get a feel for the program:



Price: 35 NIS. Limited Seating available. Reservations a must.
Directions: How to get to Fauzi Azar here. Tel: 054-4322352

Reserve Your Space Now:


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New Lullaby Music Blog

A new year is on the horizon, along with a new life. Babies are coming out of my ears, my eyes and coming deeply into my heart.

It's a joy to be returning to the land of lullaby music. Last week, I returned to the Meir Hospital neonatal ward to sing for the babies, worked with a group of new mothers to help them sing to their babies, and this morning, presented to a group of 22 health care professionals to teach them about the therapeutic uses of Voices of Eden music.

The interest grows. So, I opened a new lullaby music blog which will be dedicated to lullaby music, mother music, and everything connected to help new mothers and health professionals use music for healing purposes.

The point is to build a generation of healthy babies. This can add a clear soothing drop of water to the creation of a healthy world.

Trying out new behaviour may feel weird, yet it allows you to expand and move forward.

Calm Music Lullaby from Ancient Times

I just love this lullaby video which shows native culture from the Far Eastern Chuckchi tribe. It shows humour, humanity, and features wordless singing and frame drum :-)!!!



What do you think; can drums actually calm baby?

Sound Creates Matter

This is a fantastic video which shows how sound applied to particles, creates matter. Imagine how your intention, which is your voice expressing itself silently, affects your entire body!


Vibration Creates Form

This video is PUBLIC DOMAIN. Share it freely. Tiny particles of sand are strewn on a smooth disk and subjected to vibrations being passed into the surface, they immediately begin to take form and arrange into a multitude of geometrically perfect designs. ...
Share

Rosh HaShana Music from Israel

09-09-09 Transformational Music Meditation

This is a special music meditation - recorded today: 09-09-09 at 09:09.


It's 100% natural, authentic, unplanned, unrehearsed and recorded on the spot, while focusing upon the pomegranate tree outside my window, lilting beautifully in the radiant sunshine in the backyard.



Wordless vocals and an ancient frame drum in a Galilee garden... for you to connect to your own inner garden of Eden.

Please enjoy a gift of healing music. I wonder what kind of effect it will have upon you? Please post a comment and let me know... Download it for free here:







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Healing Musician in the Tradition of Miriam - Over 100 years old

Thanks to Rowan Storm who posted another video on the Women Frame Drummers list on facebook, I did a search on youtube and was mesmerized to find this video of the healing musician and living legend - Bi Kidude. Her voice is smooth, clear, fresh, and without taint of egotism.

Bi Kidude is over 100 years old. She is a singer and drummer from Zanzibar, and it is amazing to listen to the clarity of her voice, and the heart beat of her drum.

How do you feel when you listen to the quality of her voice? What is it that you experience?

Coming out of the cave

This blog is about authenticity. How do you stay authentic when whenyou are going through a major inner shift?

Do you retreat and stay away from others, hoping to gain clarity through your own inquiry? Or perhaps you find yourself speaking to friends and associates more than ever, hoping that the conversation will shed some light on the dark path of inner gestation.





I find it difficult to speak to others. It seems like everything I say is up for question. A word may come out of my mouth, and then a voice inside asks, "Is that what you really mean?" I notice that while the words may ring fine, there is a deeper meaning, beyond the words, floating in a pond, deep inside. I am diving, deeper and deeper, trying to get to the bottom of the pool.





My tendency is to want to stay in my cave, until I see the light of day, then come out of hiding. I also realize that seeing the light of day can only come when I walk outside.





What am I trying to say? I am reaching out to you. Just sending a hug. Whatever it is that you are going through, so am I. I am with you.



Where in your life are you in your cave right now? What is the shift you find yourself going through? What is the one little step you could take right now in expressing yourself, which would be an act of self kindness, and also an expression of your perfectly imperfect humaness?





Please post, so we can connect together and see what transpires.

Bobby McFerrin Dances the Pentatonic Scale

Bobby McFerrin is one of the people I admire most - he is in the highest service to the Music. I had the great fortune to sing with him live on stage during his tour to Israel a few years before Voices of Eden music underwent the surgical knife of medical research. He was the first person I dared share my intent to sing without words, and to create a healing music choir which would create health and harmony with others for the highest good. His support and encouragement has provided me with confidence to move forward.

Now comes this delightful video of him teaching the power of the pentatonic scale at the World Science Festival. The Pentatonic scale has deep healing impact and has been consciously used all around the world, from ancient times until today.

I have watched it several times already and plan to watch it again. Watch and enjoy the dance:

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

Did you sing along? How does this scale impact you?

Can World Music Heal the World?

Cultural journalist Aiyushman Dutta of the Assam Times brilliantly writes:

"More than just a healing force, music is a tool which can be used for greater understanding between different cultures around the world. As modernisation and technology makes inroads into each and every aspect of our lives and the entire world becomes one small little village, music is the very medium which can help bind people and their hearts together with each other. For it is the only form of communication, a language transcending borders, that speaks to us all as equals in the most profound way."

How does music from different cultures around the world affect you? Is it healing for you? Does some of it grate on your nerves? Does it take you travelling to an alternate space?

What is your experience?

Inner peace or Running Away

One reader answered a question I asked to prepare for an interview series I am preparing with living masters of everyday peace... What is your number one question about living peacefully in troubled times?

Her response: How do you know if you are living peacefully or running away from something deeper inside - that you're not facing?

Great question!!!! This will be included. What's your top three questions?

Echoes of Music Peace

A Big Question: "When will they ever make peace in the Middle East?"

An Honest Answer: They are - NOW!

Israeli and Palestinian composers Eliana Gilad and Wisam Gibran are doing just that. This clip was recorded during a concert held in the inspiring 200 year old Arab Mansion, renovated into a lovely Inn and peace center in Nazareth - the Fauzi Azar Inn

Music Peace in Jerusalem Hug

Sunday, saw Jerusalem in a harmonious light, as White Eagle and the Grandmother drum, joined by a growing multitude of Israelis, Palestinians and trailblazers from Europe and the US who joined us in Jerusalem for the third annual Hug Around Jerusalem.



This year was special in that we were part of the Live H2o concert, inspired by Dr. Masaru Emoto and Dr. Leonard Horowitz. White Eagle began with twenty minutes of a slow and repetitive heart beat. Following, I provided a wordless heart voice, tuned to the frequency of 528 hertz, measured as the mathematical equivalent of equanimity.




A multitude then joined in with the drum beat, garnering the swell of a wave of voices, which would be joined by multitudes of people in thirty other venues around the world. The event was broadcast live over the internet.



I will post the link, as soon as it is up on the internet. Subscribe to this blog on the upper right hand corner, and you will receive an automatic notice when the blog gets updated.


The conscious use of sound can penetrate matter. This is how the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, in ancient times. Today, in Jerusalem, sound was used in a conscious way to heal the rubble - rebuilding a home for all, beginning in our own hearts. I invite you to a refreshing drink of musical peace from Jerusalem. Sit down, relax, and enjoy listening here.

Flutes Offer Clues to Stone-Age Music

At least 35,000 years ago, in the depths of the last ice age, the sound of music filled a cave in what is now southwestern Germany, the same place and time early Homo sapiens were also carving the oldest known examples of figurative art in the world.

Music and sculpture — expressions of artistic creativity, it seems — were emerging in tandem among some of the first modern humans when they began spreading through Europe or soon thereafter.

Read more here.

Love to Water - Live H2o - Jerusalem Hug - June 21

This Cosmic Melody was originally composed in 1999 when Barbara Marx Hubbard sent me a prototype of the Attuner (tuned to the vibratory rate of the earths rotation), that we were to use during a turn of the millenium sound healing event in Israel (prior to YK2 & the Intifada).

Everything in it's own time... now there's the wonderful Live H2o worldwide concert and Hug Around Jerusalem where I have the good fortune to be performing with Grandmother Drum, White Eagle and thousands of other wonderful hearts whom together will start the nine minutes of "AH" heart sound... from Jerusalem, all around the world. For those of you who read Hebrew, the Israel site is here.

Jewish Cat Makes Music

I had the good fortune yesterday of a visit from my next door neighbor - Or. She wanted to play the piano. My cat Punkie was mesmerized by the sounds - he started to play with her. As you can see in the photo, she was startled.

He kept watching as she played - and touched the keys.

Feline music! PURRRRRR........

Jonathan Goldman & Len Horowitz - Live H2o - June 10

Please tune in June 10th, Wednesday, at 12 noon US Eastern Time, to www.healthylife.net when Jonathan Goldman interviews
Dr. Leonard G. Horowitz - an internationally known authority in the overlapping fields of public health, behavioral science, emerging diseases, and natural healing.

Dr. Horowitz received his doctorate from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and has taught at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. His published works several American best-sellers: Emerging Viruses: AIDS & Ebola-Nature, Accident or Intentional?, Healing Celebrations: Miraculous Recoveries Through Ancient Scripture, Natural Medicine and Modern Science, and DNA: Pirates of the Sacred Spiral. In the field of sound, Len's contribution to Healing Codes for the Biological Apocalypse introduced the concept of an ancient series of solfeggio frequencies.

In addition to his other work, Len has been engaged in the creation of a worldwide sound event, H2O: Concert for the Living Water. This will be a week-end long event taking place over the Summer Solstice Week-end, This 72 hour educational, musical, and multi-cultural event also features an unprecedented interactive Internet broadcast that will engage a chorus of 144,000 voices united to advanced the cause of lasting peace on earth, world health, and universal prosperity.

This Global Sound Healing event will culminate on June 21st at 5 PM Pacific Time with a Global Tone of Healing and Love directed into the oceans, lakes, rivers and streams fo the world. This powerful prayer and chant begins with a 9 minute global chorus, then make sits way westward around the word, joined by representatives from all major religions and Native cultures. For more information on this "Love Water Experiment", please click on Live H20.

Len is a fascinating speaker. Among the topics we'll talk about are sacred sound, the solfeggio frequencies, the effects of sound on water, the power of intentionalized sound to shift global consciousness and much more.

I know this June 10th show with Dr. Len Horowitz will be an extraordinary experience that you won't want to miss.

Please tune in June 10th for this extraordinary show. And please join us on for the H2O Concert for the Living Water- especially from Jerusalem where we will be singing by the HOly of Holies. I have the honor of being the mistress of ceremonies - for the live broadcast.

Prophetess Miriam

If eye's could truly see.... Here are a few photos of water paintings inspired by the biblical prophetess Miriam which I painted last year:






The prophetess Miriam helped the Israelites when they lost courage. Her music would soothe them, and calm their nerves. Her drum would ground them. She was known to help people to remain steady, and trust in their voice, when things looked troublesome.

Creative Problem Solving with Your Voice

Sound is everywhere. Music is sound. Your voice is sound and you can use it to creatively solve many problems in everyday life.

As we vibrate, we are releasing pure energy and
intention through us from inner voice to outer voice. This week, I offer you the gift of a vibrational cleansing bath.

Tomorrow (Tuesday), I'll be discussing five benefits of the conscious use of voice and music for creative problem solving, encouraging people to center themselves in these profound peaceful principles of Ancient Healing and Transformational Music.

Here are the details to be with us on the F.R.E.E. W.E.B.I.N.A.R.

Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Time: 1 pm Eastern/ 11 am Mountain/ 10 am Pacific/18:00 GMT
Cost: None, as this is our loving gift to you
Duration: One-hour (aka 60 minutes)

Click here to register for Tuesday's F.R.E.E. Webinar

Yes, the event will be recorded so you can have access to it later. The only requirement is registration so we may communicate with you (e.g., you'll receive a courtesy reminder two hours beforehand).



I'll be offering some more special goodies for the telecourse beginning on June 2nd

Yearning for Authenticity

There is something immensely important related to experiencing the yearning to give voice to what is inside your heart. Connect to your yearning and you've connected to the seed of your authenticity.

The purpose of the Authentic Voice course is to help people connect to their inner yearning and to provide a space for them to express their authenticity in a safe and connected way. The course starts on June 7. Find out about it here.

I love you

Just received this in my email box, and it struck a chord:

Admit something:

Everyone you see, you say to them, "Love me."

Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise someone would call the cops.

Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect.

Why not become the one who lives with a full moon in each eye

that is always saying,

with that sweet moon language,

what every other eye in this world is dying to hear?

- Hafiz

I love you. There. I said it. I mean it.

Secret Ancient Keys to Authentic & Transformational Communication

Does Your Voice Get Stuck When You Need to Share Your Heart the Most?

I have been busy getting ready for my upcoming Secret Keys to Authentic and Transformational Communication telecourse which will begin June 7. You can learn more about it here.

There is a really cool early bird special until May 10. I am giving away free coaching sessions to help you gain clarity and confidence in communicating your heart when you need to most, without caving in.

In the meantime, please enjoy this minute music meditation:

Israel Independence Day - Al Naqba - Making Peace

Jewish & Palestinian Citizens of Israel Commemorate Yom HaAtzmaut - Al Naqba together to heal wounds of separation. The event, organized together by Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel began in 2002 and has continued to grow every year. This year, over 250 people participated.

Vocal Music Known and Unknown

This is one of the best vocal videos I have seen in a while. You'll know the music, but probably not the voices...

Miriam and Passover

I opened a new blog dedicated to Miriam and Passover: http://miriamscup.blogspot.com/
Please come and visit.

So in my own path to freeing myself from the inner slavery of taking myself too seriously, I took a walk in the beautiful Park City Utah snow and made a snow (well) woman. Well, should we say, in the spirit of Passover, snow Miriam :-)...

How did I get from Galilee to Utah? On a plane :-)... My brother is getting married this evening outside (!) with the snow capped mountains as a backdrop. Will be here through Sunday and then it's off to Los Angeles through the 12th.

Today was fun. The snow was all powdery and dry. Pristine. No one had yet walked upon the freshly fallen carpet of one of natures true beauties. I threw snowballs.

Lest you wonder if it ever snows in Israel? Yes. Here is a snow man... eh... snow Moses :-)??? from my Galilee village, taken last year.

What would you be willing to do today to free yourself of your own inner slavery? Chloe, the daughter of my new sister in law Jackie, is such a beautiful teacher of openness, sincerity and just plain whimsical fun at play. So grateful to learn from her and my other nieces and nephews. What teachers!

Miriam's Seder

Is this cool or what?!?! Ever wonder how the ancient Israelites sounded when they sang in praise having safely crossed over the miraculously parted seas?

Biblical Music Experience in Israel

The coins have been dropping over the last several days, as I have been getting clearer as to how to share the ancient music of the prophetess Miriam through Biblical Music tours.

One of my brother's colleagues, Jon Miller and his wife Jan were here in Israel with his wife to visit his son, who is spending a semester volunteering at Kibbutz Maagan Michael. I had the fortune of hosting them for a day in Galilee. We visited Tel Megiddo (also known as Armageddon), Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, Haifa and Caesaria. It was a blast to play music for them deep in the belly of the earth.

I told them the story of bringing my niece Julia to this very place on her Bat Mitzvah tour as it was the site of her Torah portion. I planned the itinerary around her haftorah (the portion of the bible that she would be reading for her ceremony). They said; "wow, you should do that as a business"!

Is three times a charm? It's the third time someone has said that to me over the last period of time.

What do you think? Take a look at the video and let me know.

Alternative Health Care

I just came across this study which goes to prove that people are taking more responsibility for taking care of themselves...

According to a US nationwide government study conducted in 2007 by The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), 38 percent of adults aged 18 and over, and almost 12 percent of children, aged 17 and under, used some form of complementary or alternative medicine.

This study marked the first time questions on children’s use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies were included as part of the National Health Interview Survey. The study included questions on 10 provider based therapies such as chiropractic and acupuncture, and 26 other therapies that do not require a provider such as herbal medications and meditation.

Because many of the therapies are self-administered or outside the province of conventional medicine, patients have often led their physicians toward a more integrated approach to healing. In order to effectively diagnose and treat illnesses, doctors need to be aware of their patients’ over-the-counter medications, diet supplements, eating habits , state of mind and exercise regimens. As they assess the whole individual they employ a “holistic” approach toward health care that often may include CAM therapies.

Read more here.

World's Oldest Rattle

This is a photo of an ancient rattle found in Galilee. Many types of percussive rattles were found in abundance in home altars in Galilee.

How were they used? Perhaps these rattles were used by the ancient Hebrews to shake up and loosen blocks to flow. It was a form of waking up energy. Perhaps the women used them to reduce anxiety and fear. Perhaps the percussion was used to wake up energy as well as to quiet it.

When energy is static, it gets stuck. We hold onto it and this creates stress.

When rhythm is played consciously, it can help increase more focus, as well as balance polarities in the body. You can hear this in the ancient hebrew vocal meditation.

The Well at Zippori

Yesterday I went to Zippori National Park, archaelogical site across from Nazareth, where it is said that Mary, Jesus' mother lived. It was a city of peace, where during Roman times, Jewish, Christian, and Pagan cultures lived in harmony side by side. I went to the ancient well and water system to record music for the Opening Space for Change event with Hilary Barrett on Sunday, Feb. 1. Etty Koriat, a fabulous woman, who is the archaeologist who discovered one of the most important mosaics at the site gave me a private tour. It was amazing.

Ancient Code

When I worked for CBS doing the voice overs for the 1992 Olympic Games broadcast to 60 million television viewers, I prayed to use my voice for a higher purpose.

Although I worked for CBS, I myself, had no television at home. I threw it out in 1989, with the goal of focusing my attention INWARD to the SOURCE of the broadcast.
The ancient healing and transformational music for relaxation that I compose today is the result of that listening. You can hear it at: www.cdbaby.com/all/musicpeace

This beautiful movie also proves that I am not alone. Watch it and be inspired:

The Well - Rhythms of Change from the Ancient World

This is a video from the ancient well at Tel Megiddo, also known as Armageddon. The rhythm of The Well is sung in the background, by... yours truly :-)...

It's hexagram 48 of the Yi Ching. On Feb. 1 & 8th, there'll be a major cool 2 part telecourse - Opening the Space for Change, to help you connect deep within yourself to your own well of inner wisdom.

You can learn more about it here.

***WIN A FREE TICKET*** to Opening the Space for Change

OK, this should be fun! Here's a simple contest to win a free ticket to 'Opening Space for Change': http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/spaceforchange.php - *including* thigh quality recordings of the two calls and specially composed music, so enter even if you can't be there on the day - Just write your answer to this question - "Why is it important to you to open a space for change?" - here on this wall: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=48821087006

If you have more than one answer, post them all!

We'll pick our favourite response and give its author free access to the calls and downloads.

Opening the Space for Change

Are distractions and anxieties starting to get in the way of your intuitive connection - just when you need it most?

Click here to find out more: http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/spaceforchange

It's a very powerful and rare two part telecourse that I have the great fortune of conducting with Hilary Barrett of http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk.

I have composed special music for it which was recorded in an ancient water well deep in the belly of the earth at Megiddo aka Armageddon

War or Peace? You Choose

Where have all the flowers gone?

How will we know how to live in peace if we do not know what it looks or feels like? None of us grew up with models of living in peace.

War and peace are flips sides of the same coin. They exist at the same time. I am committed to live an example of peace, by making it, even in war. I am not out to save the world. I am here to learn peace by living my life as responsibly as possible, no matter what is going on around me.

I have opened my home to my neighbors, whom two weeks ago, I did not know (not even one of them). We have decided to come together so that our children will learn something new.

Yesterday, instead of sitting in front of the television set, imbibing hatred and fear, we brought out whatever food was in the pantry and met at the corner park for a picnic.

No, it's not revolutionary. Strangers sitting in a park, sharing a meal. Not particularly dramatic.

Really? Which drama are you supporting with your focus???????


Look at these photos here.

Prayer for Israel and Gaza

Thanks for prayers of faith and peace that have been loading my email box. My heart is filled with such gratitude for having spent the last war in the midst of the blasting bombs without fleeing.

I am so grateful to have had the willingness to meet my own inner war, and discover all the little ways I was contributing to it, by throwing bombs in my own life.

Today, as the latest war roars, it is a blessing to be at peace inside. This is what I have to contribute. It is why I wrote Quiet in the Eye of the Storm - Living Peace in a War Zone, as the bombs blasted daily in and surrounding my Galilee village. Their is an free extraordinary vocal audial piece available on the site. You can EXPERIENCE the peace coming through the voice. It is extraordinary because that peace was recorded, as bombs were exploding.

If I can do it, you can too!!! Your voice makes a difference.

I would really appreciate your sharing this message with others.

The biggest way we contribute to peace of course, is by living it - one moment at a time.

Envisioning Peace - An alternative response to Gaza

I consider David Califa, who began www.ipeace.me a truly inspirational master of living peace in the middle east.

Today, he just forwarded a link to a post on the ipeace.me blog that is truly profound.

Read it here, and then let me know what you think? I left a very long comment on the page there about my experience during the 2006 war in the north, which resulted in Quiet in the Eye of the Storm

Alternative Response to Gaza - Light in the Darkness

War and peace exist at the same time. It's all what you focus upon. This is not to make light (pardon the pun), of the sorrowful bombs going off in Gaza. It is to show that there are alternative ways to live.

The people in the above picture, Jew and Arab alike, gathered in Galilee last night for the housewarming and opening of the Voices of Eden peace gardens and healing music center.

See more photos here.

Healing Meditation Music

I am so excited to have just completed this Healing Meditation Music video following an inspiration to start making them regularly.

What do you think? I need feedback to know what is most helpful to you.

Look forward to hearing from you, and wishing you much peace.

Happy Chanukah from Israel

I spent the second night of chanukah making this movie.
If you want to know what I have been up to these last six months, watch this short film and you'll find out.

Hope you will be inspired. The music is new stuff I recorded for the holidays a few weeks ago, in an ancient Galilee cave. Please give yourself a true gift of peace, and save yourself a last minute trip to the mall (cuz it's instantly downloadable and green for the environment).