Heart Math

On the practice of heart centered awareness.

I have just finished my first module of the Music for Healing and Transition certification (https://www.mhtp.org/) and I wanted to share a few reflections from the journey thus far.

One of the things that really struck me was how natural and right it felt to participate in discussions and sharing of music and improvisation as related to an act of service, as if I’ve been training my whole life for this, and just didn’t realize that this was the destination. Not only does it feel like coming home again to play piano, but I could feel all of the energy of the fans and people who have been touched by my music over the years as a warm foundation of energy and support encouraging me to open up to a deeper relationship with myself as an instrument for something higher.

I struggled quite a bit in the days leading up to the first class, wondering if I was worthy to do this work, if I had the focus and the passion and the tenderness that would be required to hold a posture of the heart that would allow for healing music to come through me. Very quickly all those fears and doubts disappeared as we got into the actual training and specifics on how to center into heart awareness and shift focus from our own internal landscape to what is happening with the person we are there to offer healing music for. Sometimes all I need to do is get out of the way, and the answer is already present.

I think anyone who plays music has had the experience of their mind getting out of the way, and music from somewhere else was able to weave through them, reaching out and touching someone else. Whether on stage, in the studio, or playing for friends, this is always an incredible and intimate experience. Heart centered awareness is cultivating and curating that experience through specific exercises that encourage expansion of awareness beyond the self and allow a musician to tune in to what the other person needs. There are techniques taught here, and it’s not just musical techniques. Musical technique is the vehicle by which heart centered awareness can express itself.

I find myself more excited about music than I have been in a very long time, and eager to dig in deeper and learn and apply the data about which scales, modes, tempos and musical approaches can best serve a patient in a given scenario. The music I have written since completion of the first module already sounds and feels different, more emotionally resonant somehow, reminding me that the highest ideal is that I am the instrument being played. I feel driven with more passion to let go and allow healing to come through me. I find myself asking the question daily what it looks like to live a harmonic life, and wondering where this path will lead.

I imagine it will be somewhere unexpected and life changing.

On a side note, I’ll still trying to figure out how to pay for the next modules and books. Donations thus far covered the first module and a portable piano which is required to show I have an instrument which can be brought from room to room. Thank you for that, Im humbled and honored. If you feel drawn to this work, you can support directly here - https://gofund.me/e1021ee10 or share the GoFundMe with others who may resonate. Big love!