Pilgrimage Studio

Tag: Energy

  • Music Therapy

    Music Therapy

    Rhythm and Movement

    It seems that many milestones in our lives include music. We pick songs for weddings and funerals, for meditations and worship. Music can reflect different cultures and eras. It can match our mood or pick it up off the floor. From birth to death, music is a memorable part of our life.

    Music, used as an alternative and complimentary health modality, is the systematic method of using music or sound to help with relaxation and encourage changes in behavior and emotions.

    Due to water crystal photography, music is not only heard, it can be seen as well. Studying the shapes and patterns made by sound vibrations is called Cymatics. Because of cymatics, we can see how strongly sound vibrations affect water, and since our bodies are mainly composed of water, we can also see how music can have a deep effect on our bodies.

    One use of music therapy is for rhythmic movement, which helps with agility, coordination, balance, joint mobility, strength, gait consistency, range of motion and breathing patterns. Not to mention, mood elevation and motivation along with the social aspect associated with dancing.

    The Maple Leaf Rag was one of Scott Joplin’s most famous ragtime pieces earning him the title, “King of Ragtime”.

    American Music Therapy Association (AMTA)

    Spirituality, Health, and Healing. An Integrative Approach, 2nd Edition. By Caroline Young and Cyndie Koopsen

    First published on the 12th day of January, 2021

    © Pilgrimage Studio

  • Today’s Shot 75

    Today’s Shot 75

    Ray of Light

    Sumter National Forest

    At times, as I’ve aimed the camera, I think I know what I’ve captured… then looking later, I know I didn’t truly see at all. Not then.

    Mantra Practice

    Tidal force is what causes high and low tides. It is the side closest to the moon that pushes the inflows and draws the outflows with the moon’s gravitational pull. Just as, with each planet, there is an energetic effect. I have always been interested in how this affects us as people. More, I wondered if there were mantras for the planets 🪐 which help us navigate the energetic currents that tug at our own lives.

    Mercury has been the talk of late, being in retrograde (appearing to move backwards). I find that working in Mercury’s energy (which has been associated with communications of all kinds) with my voice and words, has been interesting to me. It is intentional thought, throat chakra in action, words and sound – all combined – focused towards those very things: Mercury and communications. The idea is, that these types of mantras help to sooth or smooth-out the natural energies that are at play in our lives. It is helpful to know your birth chart if you’d like to pin-point a specific issue along with its planetary associations.

    You can chant with mala beads 108 times. Or perhaps, set aside a certain amount of time and make it a part of your meditation practice.

    Mercury Mantra / Budh

    Note: as I heard it explained, the sound “Bood – Ha” is not the same as Buddha.

    Om Budhaya Namaha

    Om Bood-hah-yah Nahm-ah-ha

    In his book, “Mantra, Sacred Words of Power”, Thomas Ashley-Farrand says, “Attention is energy. Intention qualifies attention.”

    Whether you pray, dance, sing, drum, or chant mantras… what kind of attention is your intention qualifying?

  • Today’s Shot 72

    Today’s Shot 72

    Peering Through the Moss

    Bluffton, SC 2019

    Energy, Stress, and Adaptogens

    Early in 2019, I was struggling with energy and I came across a product called TianChi. It makes a drink which you take on an empty stomach in the morning. I took this every morning (It didn’t take this long to see the effects, but I continued taking it!) for a month and a half, and I was off and running again with as much energy as I’d ever had. The adaptogens found in this formula are: Shizandra, Rhodiola, Reishi Mushroom, Ashwaganda and Eluthero.

    This formula was created by Master Tonic Chinese Herbalist, Roger Drummer and his formula can be found at HerbWorks.com

  • Music Therapy 4

    Music Therapy 4

    by Thela Foxgood

    Present Moment

    During this weekend’s drumming class, I realized that riding on the waves of rhythm could take me wherever I wanted to be.

    Instead, what happens so often with drumming, is that I’m not focused on the past or future… but on the present moment; the “right here” and “right now.”

    bodhrán /ˈbôrən/ noun

    [pronounced “BAOW-rawn”]

    A shallow, one-sided traditional Irish goat skin drum typically played with a short, two-headed drumstick.

    – origin Irish

     “A good drummer listens as much as he plays.” -Indian Proverb

     “The rhythm is in your blood.” -African Proverb

    Music Therapy 1

    Music Therapy 2

    Music Therapy 3

  • Mantra Shrine 1

    Mantra Shrine 1

    The Science of Healing Sound

    by Thela Foxgood

    I recently did a post on each of the 7 Chakras, including a seed sound mantra that can be chanted for each one. I decided to rewrite them, combining them into one post.

    There are different sounds, mantras, and ways of chanting depending on the tradition and person. I gathered my mantra information from the book Mantra, Sacred Words of Power– by Thomas Ashley-Farrand. I very much enjoyed my journey through his book and have since gathered a few more books on the topic of mantras.

    Healing Mantras

    Mantra Meditation for Creating Abundance

    Mantra Meditation for Attracting and Healing Relationships

    Along the way, I also got into Solfeggio frequencies.

    Solfeggio frequencies comprise the ancient 6-tone scale thought to have been used in sacred music, including Gregorian Chants.

    Each solfeggio tone is comprised of a frequency that brings balance to your energy centers and keeps your body, mind and spirit in harmony.

    Whale Medicine

    108

    A number considered sacred to yogis and in Buddhism and Hinduism, is the number 108.

    Mala

    I am currently making a mala. A wrist mala has 27 beads, a half mala has 54 beads and a full mala will have 108 beads. These are used to count mantras, prayers, chants, intentions or even to count breaths in meditations.

    You don’t have to be of any particular religion to work with mantras or to use mala beads.

    There are some mantras that are for specific belief systems or deities. There are some that are neutral. Or, you can also just make up your own.

    An example of a mantra that one could make up might be: “Thank You”

    •••

    You don’t have to have faith in mantras for them to work.

    If one did not believe that our planet earth existed, it would still exist, regardless. The result of the vibrations sent out by sound, and even thought, work regardless of faith or religion.

    So let’s chant!

    While I chant 108 beads, I like to visualize each color, starting at the energy center, and then spreading from there to fill my entire body.

    The 7th chakra, or crown chakra, is located at the top, and center, of your head. The color of the crown chakra is usually shown as violet, white or gold. Its element is spirit, and it includes all the senses and beyond. The solfeggio frequency that I’ve seen used the most often for this center is 963Hz, and a seed sound mantra for the root chakra, or Sahasrara, is silence.

    Affirmation ideas: I have the right to know my truth. I am open to divine wisdom.

    The 6th chakra, or third eye chakra, is in the middle of your forehead about an inch above the middle of your eyebrows. The color of the 6th chakra is indigo, its element is light or spirit, and its body sense is extra-sensory perception. The solfeggio frequency I’ve seen used the most often for this center is 852Hz, and a seed sound mantra for the third-eye, or Ajna, is OM.

    Affirmation ideas: I have the right to see my truth. I am intuitive.

    The 5th chakra, or throat chakra, is between the collar bone and larynx in the neck. The color of the 5th chakra is turquoise or sky-blue, its element refers to the upper part of the atmosphere, called ether (or sky), and its body sense is hearing. The solfeggio frequency I’ve seen used the most often for this center is 741Hz, and a seed sound mantra for the throat chakra, or Vishuddha, is HAM.

    Affirmation ideas: I have the right to speak my truth. I live with integrity.

    It is here, that we feel so deeply. The pain of grief. The power of love. We all know where our heart center is. It is the bridge that connects the lower three chakras to the higher three. Or in other words, it is the bridge between body and spirit.

    At the very center of our sternum, is our fourth chakra, or heart chakra. This is our emotional center. This chakra is most commonly linked to the color green or pink, its element is air, and the body sense is touch. The solfeggio frequency I’ve seen used the most often for this center is 639Hz, and a seed sound mantra for the heart center, or Anahata, is YAM.

    Affirmation ideas: I have the right to love and be loved. I can both give and receive.

    The third chakra, located between the navel and the bottom of the sternum, is the solar plexus. Its color is yellow, the element is fire, and the body sense is sight. The solfeggio frequency I’ve seen used the most often for this center is 528Hz, and a seed sound mantra for the solar plexus, or Manipura, is RAM.

    Affirmation ideas: I listen to my gut. I have the right of personal growth and expansion.

    The second chakra, above the pubic bone and below the navel, is the sacral chakra. Its color is orange, the element is water, and the body sense is taste. The solfeggio frequency I’ve seen used the most often for this center is 417Hz, and a seed sound mantra for the sacral chakra, or Svadhisthana, is VAM.

    Affirmation ideas: I embrace my sexuality. I respect and value my body.

    The first chakra, or root chakra, resides at the base of the spine. Its color is red, the element is earth, and its body sense is smell. The solfeggio frequency I’ve seen used the most often for this center is 396Hz, and a seed sound mantra for the root chakra, or Muladhara, is LAM.

    Affirmation ideas: I have the right of belonging. I am grounded and secure.

    Picture Credit: Happy Color App

  • Eagle Breath

    Eagle Breath

    by Beth Haley

    Dedicated to Periphas

    “Aetos Dios” means “Eagle of Zeus”

    As legends go, Aetos Dios was said to be Zeus’s companion on Mount Olympus. Today the eagle is depicted on Greek coins.

    One version of the story states that Zeus became jealous of the mortal king Periphas and wanted to destroy him. Apollon intervened, and instead, Zeus turned Periphas into an eagle.

    To me, the eagle represents keen vision, and I’d like to think that clearing my airway with some active eagle breaths, helps instill some eagle spirit into my day.

    In a space where you have room to extend and raise your arms, stand or sit with a tall spine. Start a long inhale with your belly. As the air fills your belly and moves up into your chest, begin to raise your arms, like wings, until you are reaching gently up over your head at the top of your breath. Feel your arms and spine lengthen as you reach. Hold the inhale for a few beats.

    Then exhale slowly, lowering your arms to your sides. Reach your finger tips gently down toward the earth. Feel your ribs lift and widen. Hold your exhale for a few beats.

    Repeat this cycle with deep, full breaths for as many repetitions as feels right to your body. I do ten cycles. You’ll find that your arms and breath will synchronize.

    This exercise increases my energy and is great to do in the morning to wake up and get moving toward the day ahead.

    Aetos Dios

    Go at your own pace and always practice in a way that is safe for you.

    The story of Zeus is considered a myth, but I love to imagine that myths are factual biographies of the gods copied down by scribes who were there at the time.

    Pixabay