Sound Bath at the Writer's Retreat

A few months back, a mentor-friend asked about my willingness to facilitate a sound bath at an upcoming retreat, held by the American Assn. of Colleges and Universities. The week-long writer's retreat was to occur in March 2023, to benefit STEM faculty at historically Black universities. This gathering was right up my street; serving one of my favorite professional audiences, who would welcome a break from the week of intense focus required for their work.

This woman is not an official mentor, but an expert, an friend, a sounding board, a confidant, and an inspiration to me. I have watched her professional life since we met half-a-dozen years back, mostly on social media. She is a contemplative practitioner, and educator. Her proposal was that she would offer Reiki while I facilitated an hour-long sound bath for 40 or so participants from across the US. I received my invitation to participate a month ago and drove to Leesburg VA in late March. This is the largest group I have worked with since picking up my first singing bowl back in 1999.

 

It Went Really Well

After we setup the room a few hours early, I got a chance to snap this lovely pic with my
mentor, friend, and inspiration Be.Still.Move.

 

Today, that night-time sound bath is a few days in my rear-view mirror and I have  returned with a few lessons from it:

• First, I've not been using any of my other muscles besides my legs to walk (doctors orders while healing from February surgery), so the movement and gentle bending I undertook in that session made all my muscle systems sore...yikes
• Next, while many participants found it easy to drift into  sleep during or after my session, a few others told me that they had trouble quieting inner monologues. Be.Still.Move. gave me some valuable advice here, that will take me into my next sound sessions (especially with those coming to me from emotionally intense situations)...allow time for guided grounding
• Last, I arrived at the resort early, and spent a little time with the individuals that I'd serve later that same night. It was valuable to learn about them early, and even to chat with them the following day. I will always remember to make and value those moments of connection!
  

Rainbow yoga mats and educators. Image by Be.Still.Move.