Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

The flying cloud, the frosty light:

The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new, 

Ring, happy bells, .....

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,

For those that here we see no more;

Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

Tennyson.

Bells accompany a person from the cradle to the grave. Their sound sings for joy when we are born and resounds gravely when we die. Bells are a transitional instrument. They remind us that we are going to move into a new state of mindfulness, a moment of transition from one dimension to the other.
We hear the bells in church ringing, cleansing the earth, the rivers, the trees and the air. Their silvery tones cleanse us. Preparing, purifying the moment. Helping a person to leave behind all that is not needed in the process of transition.
Bells announce the beginning and end of meditation. The commencement and fruition of worship.
This instrument has a significance in this transitional time, symbolised by the sacred geometric shape of Vesica Pisces. The movement of the ages from Pisces to Aquarius. Much change is happening in the stars and in our lives. Bells are a wonderful healing tool to cleanse and accompany that change!

In love with crystal ......

I think I am in love with my crystal bowls. Look how they glow in these pictures, they really have the most amazing presence about them.

We took these pictures in a beautiful bluebell wood, in Gloucestershire, where we hope to be soon doing an outside sound bath in a natural-formed rock amphitheatre - watch this space for dates.

Crystal bowls create a sine wave form of pure energy that travels through physical objects. The sound of a bowl can be carried up to a third of a mile away. The sound of these bowls in the woods was so powerful, there was a real cleansing feeling about it. It is thought that the quartz crystal of the bowl has an affinity with the crystalline structure of our bones - a calcium phosphate crystal called Apatite. The sine waves created vibrate the bodies cavities, which it is thought affects the crystalline structure of our bones, teeth, skull and much more. Through sympathetic vibration and entrainment, the sounds are retraining your system to vibrate to it's highest potential.

River Sounding

River Sounding - Bill Fontana 

I went to a wonderful exhibition this week in London called River Sounding. A sound installation that creates an acoustic journey through the hidden sound worlds of the River Thames.
The exhibition's creator, Bill Fontana is one of the world's leading sound artists. He installed the exhibition in the vaults of Somerset House, giving a very atmospheric appeal to the work. The Thames once flowed into Somerset House, which in itself is an architectural oasis in the heart of London, and well worth a visit.
I really recommend seeing this exhibition. It's unusual! I came away feeling how in an extremely visual society, we forget how much sound plays an important part in our everyday world. We are often taught that anything we can see and touch are the things that exists, that are true. This exhibition offers a conceptual alternative, reminiscent of Platonic philosophy, that anything the eye can see is a surface appearance, behind which is a complex matrix of substance and reality.

15th April - 31 May

Admission Free

Choirs Heal

How to sing in a choir and have fun!!!

Choirs are back in fashion. Why? Because they bring people together, they are great for your health, and are fantastic places to socialise.

Thanks to Gareth Malone, from 'The Choir is Back' BBC, choirs are showing how music can hold a fractured community together, as well as sparking confidence and life into people of all ages.

What about your health?
New scientific studies, as well as practise based projects are showing that singing helps the body in all sorts of ways. Deep breathing and voice sounding builds muscles, pumps the blood more effectively through the body, lowers blood pressure and stimulates the production of beta endorphin, a natural painkiller. Learning new music works the brain like learning a new language. Singing keeps you young and happy.
... and what about socialising?
Well, I have made many great friends through choir and singing, not to mention the love of my life!! Who knows who you might meet in a choir.
The best bit of all, I think about being in a choir, is it is the only time you get the opportuinity to be completely bathed in gorgeous sound and harmony. It sends shivers down my spine when the choir hits a chord and holds it. To be immersed in harmony like that is great for your health and your soul. Believe me, it is a wonderful experience.
Follow the links for some interesting reading:
BBC Choirs
Health and Choirs
Best New Age Choir

Harmoniya in February 2010

Photo from Stroud News and Journal

We had a great day on February 14th for World Sound Healing Day. My lovely sound healer friend and I gave a sound bath and guided meditation at the Cotswold Health Clinic in Stroud, Gloucestershire. We used crystal bowls, harp, voice and singing bowls.
I hope to do more of them in the future. We raised money for the Wildlife Trust, and did lots of healing and sent lots of love out to Gaia.
World Sound Healing Day has now been recognised by the Global Conciousness Project. noosphere.princeton.edu/

Have a resounding February. Try your own at home mini Sound Bath.....

• Lie in a comfortable place on your back with a throw over you, or in bed.

• Place some cleansed crystals around your body, or hold a heart crystal in your hand.

• Then calmly play an Om meditation CD, or powerful affirmation CD with chanting. (best results when using soundproof headphones)
  

• Allow the music to wash over you, and relax.