Instrument made of ice (an ice horn) being played by a musician in a parka
Impact of Sound

Ice Music

by Emma Laurence

Terje Isungset is a pioneer and inventor of ice music. He creates his instruments—harps, drums, percussion, horns, and the iceophone (like a xylophone)—from blocks of harvested natural ice. He’s released 14 solo albums through his independent Norwegian record company and has toured internationally giving concerts with his Ice Quartet. Imagine being a roadie on that gig!

This ice concert, performed in the Arctic, was created in conjunction with Greenpeace to highlight the beauty of our oceans. It’s unlike anything you’ve heard: 

Instruments are crafted out of artic drift ice, sourced from and then returned to the sea. Glacial ice can be a thousand or a hundred thousand years old. Instrument-makers and musicians respect this ancient ice and that it has a sound of its own. 

American Ice sculptor Bill Covitz says ice vibrates the longest at -20 degrees, the best temperature for an ice concert. [See The Sound of Ice: Behind the Scenes Making Ocean Memories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEGgHf7G_-A&t=21s]

What can we learn about the collaboration of nature and human creativity from these artists?

Terje speaks of treating nature with respect and gentleness, just like the ice instruments, so it doesn’t break.

Ice cellist Ashild Brunvoll shares how nature has its own language. Ice instruments bring the sound of nature to human language, so people can understand. Nature gives us so much more than we can see.

As we enjoy a new year, some of us skiing on snow or making snow sculptures, we can pay attention to nature and connect in a deeper way. Perhaps we’ll even awaken to the music of ice.

That is living as music.

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Find Your Rhythm. Harmonize with your heart.

Split screen of jazz keyboardist and jazz drummer demonstrating call and response.
Impact of Sound

Call and Response

by Emma Laurence

Call and response is a form of musical dialogue where one instrument plays or sings a short phrase and another responds, creating a musical conversation. The answer may repeat or complement the call. Either way, it’s often a playful or soulful style of communication.

Check out this jazz example. Reginald Thomas (piano) and Alvin Atkinson (drums) demonstrate jazz style call and response with Duke Ellington’s “Perdido.” You won’t believe what the drummer can do!

Call and response began as a vocal technique with deep roots across cultures worldwide. Its ancient origins in building community span tribal, religious, and folk traditions. Its global breadth is stunning: West African ceremony, Native American ritual, Caribbean calypso, Cantonese opera, Celtic choral arrangements, Islamic Adhan*, and even the cultural welcoming protocol of the New Zealand Maori.

We may be most familiar with call and response in jazz, gospel, blues, or pop music. Think of B.B. King’s The Thrill is Gone when the guitar responds to his voice with a mournful melody. Or Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline where the audience can’t help but respond with bum, bum, bum.

Call and response is profoundly and quintessentially human. Why?

I believe we all, at some point in our lives, call out. We may call for help in a moment of deep despair, or call out from the rooftops in joyful sharing of great news. Either way, we want to be answered. It’s why crisis centers and hotlines exist, why we gather in celebration at milestone events, and why ghosting is such a devastating experience. No one wants to be ignored.

In daily life, we call out through our goals, our dreams, and our conversations with others. Answers come in the form of life experiences and personal interactions. We may not always like the responses we get. But we can be more aware of what we’re calling out for and, maybe more importantly, how we can answer the calls of others.

That is living as music.

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*Adhan is the Muslim call to prayer. Listeners mostly respond by saying the same words.

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Find Your Rhythm. Harmonize with your heart.

Close up of the sun with an audio bar across showing that the sun sings, makes sound.
Impact of Sound

The Sun Sings

by Emma Laurence

Are you as surprised as I am to learn that the sun “sings”? I know scientific instruments detect and monitor sounds in the universe all the time. Yet, I never thought of the sun having sound. 

Through a process called data sonification, heliophysicists use NASA satellites like audio recorders to listen to the sun’s electromagnetics. It took NASA 300 hours to make this 1-minute raw audio. Their telescope took video every 12 seconds of invisible UV light. 

Take a listen and see if you find resonance here, as the sun sings:

A simple sound can give us a way to probe inside our life-giving star and better understand its deeper layers. How cool is that?

For me, when the human world becomes too chaotic, I try to understand deeper layers, too. I work at expanding my heart, and I seek a bigger picture. I remember that the sun shines the next morning despite the human drama playing out on earth. 

And I listen for a sound to uplift me—rain on the roof, my dearest friend’s voice or my cat’s purr, a beautiful singer. Learning that the sun creates music as it shines lifts me up with light and sound. 

I also discovered recently a kind of sunrise within me each morning, too. On any given day, the quality of light inside may be diffuse or bright, depending on what I dreamt the night before, how my body feels that morning, or what emotions show up. Like internal weather.

If we greet the day by opening to that light, that sound— from an outer or inner sun— will we gain in peace and confidence? Maybe our personal world would brighten, no matter what surrounds us.

Even seeking that place is living as music.

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Find Your Rhythm. Harmonize with your heart.

Hummingbird in flight near a feeder
Animal Story

Hummingbird Wings

by Emma Laurence

Have you ever been close enough to hear the sound of hummingbird wings? I found it magical.

Hummingbirds hover at an average rate of 80 wingbeats per second. With strong muscles, and rotating shoulder joints, their wings flutter in a figure 8 pattern. This allows them to move forward, backward, or pivot to the side.

Take a listen to this remarkable creature in flight. You’ll hear some chirps, too!

Who isn’t delighted by catching sight of a hummingbird? In some Indigenous cultures, this little bird is the symbol of joy and healing. In others, a sign of strength, endurance, beauty and harmony.

My husband and I often share our ‘highlight of the day’ right before we go to sleep. One night, after a day of many gifts—abundant organic produce from our local farm, excitement of my upcoming book launch, strength my husband is gaining from weight lifting—how remarkable that we both named our highlight as the hummingbirds at our feeder!

It’s good to celebrate life’s big events. And, on any given day, our peak experience might still be as tiny and miraculous as the sound of a hummingbird’s wings.

All we need to do is stay alert for the small joy that darts into our lives.

That is living as music.

Photo by Eric Brehm on Unsplash

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Find Your Rhythm. Harmonize with your heart.

Giraffe in motion in the wild
Animal Story

Giraffes Hum!

by Emma Laurence

I first learned that giraffes hum to one another from reading the historical novel West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. The novel fictionalizes a 1937 trek across the U.S.A., when two young giraffes arrived in New York harbor during a hurricane, barely alive, and were transported by make-shift rig to the San Diego Zoo. [A great adventure tale, highly recommended.]

Who knew that giraffes hum?
Click below to listen to this extraordinary nocturnal sound:

Giraffe in motion in the wild

In the novel, the young giraffes hum to comfort one another, to create safety, and to express a sense of contentment. The human characters are awe-struck when they experience this vibration firsthand.

I got to wondering if people who experience insomnia might benefit from learning the giraffes’ secret to comfort and peace. Many of us may listen to ocean waves or soft music as a way to relax into sleep. But what about making our own sound?

It turns out that humming isn’t just soothing. It stimulates the vagus nerve and signals the brain to calm down. It lowers our heart rate and blood pressure. Humming produces oxytocin, can release melatonin, and induces parasympathetic dominance.

Several research studies have been done on humming’s healing impact. In fact, a book called The Humming Effect dives deeply into the topic.

As we look for ways to calm our nervous system, quiet our minds, and balance our emotions, isn’t it heartening to know that we carry with us this simple sound technique? I’m trying it out.

Thank you, giraffes!
That is living as music.

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If you know someone who could benefit by reading this blog, please pass it along and make their day. 😃

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Find Your Rhythm. Harmonize with your heart.

Split screen—devastated coral reef on left; vital coral reef on right
Inspiration

Songs of a Coral Reef

by Emma Laurence

Around the world, marine biologists are doing awe-inspiring work to restore precious coral reefs through sound.

Sound is an indicator of vitality and essential for coral reef survival. A recording of healthy reef sounds played over compromised reefs in Australia, for example, doubled the fish population.

When an Indonesian reef was destroyed by a fishing practice using explosives, scientists replenished the underwater treasure—bringing back the coral larvae.

Watch and listen to this amazing transformation (1 min):

How cool is that?  

Ecoacoustics can monitor and revitalize marine ecosystems through broadcasting healthy sounds. [Read more on the Caribbean revitalization in the Royal Society Open Science journal.]

What can we learn from these songs of the deep?

Perhaps we ask ourselves, what part of my world, deep inside, needs healing or replenishing?

And as a way to revitalize, we find the music that brings that depleted part back to life.

Think of it as creating a playlist for personal thriving. Soothing sounds from nature, favorite love songs, or original compositions (improvised and otherwise) might reach into that deep, deserted place.

So might the simple sound of our own heartbeat.

Ecoacoustics teaches us how, just like sound’s regenerating impact on life-giving oceans, we can be renewed.

That is living as music.

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If you’d like help to replenish your world, take a look at this.

If this kind of global musical impact inspires you, please subscribe for future quick stories!

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Find Your Rhythm. Harmonize with your heart.


Burnout Support

Until You Can Exit, Embrace the Pace

by Emma Laurence

If you’re burned out at work but can’t exit yet, embrace the pace and navigate your environment in a healthier way.

You may know your job is unsustainable. The pressure is too intense, or leadership is not aligned with your values. You wonder if you’ve outgrown what once seemed an ideal opportunity.

You’ve contemplated, or even begun crafting, an exit plan.

But for financial or other reasons, it’s just not wise to leave right now. You can feel the timing is off and, much as you want to move on, you have to finish the cycle.

At the same time, you’re tired of feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and a victim of your negative work environment. You want be in the driver’s seat until you reach that exit ramp.

Rather than resist the current chaos or dwell on your despair, consider this short-term approach with a long-term benefit:

Today, you can begin learning to master your personal pace—a skill that will serve you no matter where you go next.

A Common Challenge

Learning how to gear up your physical, emotional, and mental energy is challenging!

Maybe you’ve had a lovely weekend or vacation. You’ve gotten some rest, enjoyed what lights you up, spent time with those you love. Now you need to shift into high gear for a demanding work week.

A common trajectory is: spiral downward into Sunday anxiety, struggle with a restless night, lean into caffeine and sugar the next morning, and hope for the best. 😃

Highly-skilled and well-meaning workers often live in inner conflict, struggling with a job that doesn’t fit. Even with the best intentions, a burnout lifestyle seems hard to avoid.

However, using your creativity to remain in alignment with your rhythm is a key practice for life beyond burnout.

Why not start learning now?

Embrace the Pace with Creativity

A client with high emotional intelligence recently shared her need for a “harder shell” at work. Without closing her heart down, she wants protection from the intense pressure—including productivity demands, office politics, and other peoples’ worries.

As a coach, I often use the words my clients speak to help them design and test out an imaginative technique. This is a powerful way to take charge of our inner state in tense environments.

Creativity and playfulness ease stress. So, we get curious: what has a harder shell? A turtle, a medieval soldier, a mollusk. What provides protection? Bones encase the spinal cord; thick stone walls safeguard a castle; a bodyguard provides security and prevents threats.

See where we’re going here? Give it a try.

Picture yourself putting on a kind of protective gear. Step into a suit of armor or visualize a bodyguard standing beside you. I’ve imagined a black jaguar walking beside me, or sitting in sphinx position near my desk. The image serves as a reminder that I’m not alone in times of need.

Your conscious practice of imagination is key to lowering your stress level and taking charge of the situation, allowing you to remain intact in a fast-paced environment.

Literally craft what you need. Strength? Imagine yourself lifting weights. Courage? See yourself facing your nemesis without blinking. Endurance? Feel yourself smile at the end of a day as you finish work with energy to spare.

I know this is easier said than done. It’s in daily practice that victory is won.

If You Have to Wear a Mask

If you feel the need to wear a mask, to be someone different to survive at work, take a tip from theater. Until you find the workplace where you can be yourself, consciously create a character.

A client of mine had to fill in for her boss at a meeting—an usual request in her company. Her boss got along well with his colleagues, and she felt she wasn’t good enough to represent the department.

To overcome her fear, I helped her create a character she was excited to play. This character (really a version of herself) was completely confident, at ease meeting new people and speaking up in the group.

She dressed a little differently that day—slightly taller shoes, added a scarf—wearing a bit of a costume. Courageously, she stepped in to that confident role, wondering if she could pull it off.

It worked! She introduced herself to people she hadn’t met and spoke up to share ideas. Through this persona, she engaged an aspect of herself that she hadn’t been able to access.

Stepping into a role you’ve created puts you in charge. You know you’re playing a game. You stay in integrity with yourself—the version of “you” that can master every possible situation.

Your Exit Ramp

Creative techniques allow you to finish out a work cycle on your own terms. It’s grueling to resent the energy demands required. So be playful, laugh about it, and love yourself through to the end.

Sooner than later, your clearly-marked exit will appear. You’ll be done. You’ll welcome the pause that transitions you to a fully sustainable, inspired life beyond burnout.

The Beyond Burnout Playbook (free and downloadable) gives you five keys to crossing that threshold at your own pace. Burnout isn’t all bad! Learn how to shift your perspective, try out some exercises, and have fun with the process.

If you’d like help planning your exit strategy and creating a life beyond burnout, I’m here with a free Clarity Conversation.

And if someone you know wants to make a change at work, please forward this blog. There’s always a way beyond burnout!
💜Emma

Photo by Sammy Wong on Unsplash

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Sam the Eagle Muppet as News Anchor. An example of how to play with your powerful chyron!
Burnout Support

Play With Your Powerful Chyron

by Emma Laurence

When we’re burned out, it’s natural to start thinking we’ve failed. Self-defeating messages run like a chyron scrolling the bottom of our mind screen. They gain momentum on every pass.

And just like a chyron, these messages can be easy to tune out. But the mind accepts and absorbs them whether or not we’re aware of our self-judgment.

For example, if we’re internally scrolling, “Exhaustion, overwhelm, and burnout prove that I’m a failure,” we do ourselves a great disservice.

Blaming ourselves for not being able to keep up, to compete, or to fit in—whether in a workplace or social space—roadblocks our individual, precious evolution.

What’s Your Chyron?

So, pause and pay attention for a moment. What’s your powerful chyron today? If it needs tweaking, try playing with an uplifting headline.

My favorite place to start is with a technique borrowed from my actor training— Stanislavsky’s the Magic If. The phrase, “But what if I’m not a failure?” frees my imagination to seek new thoughts.

Have fun with your chyron! Set it scrolling across your inner screen and test the power of your choice. Whatever you set up for the mind to play with, it will.

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Here’s more help with burnout recovery. And here’s the free Beyond Burnout Playbook to get started on your own.

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Image source: https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Sam_the_Eagle?file=WGFNews.jpg

sweet dog resting on couch
Burnout Support

Learning How to Rest

by Emma Laurence

We all know how important it is to get enough rest. Not just sleep, which can be restful or fitful, but a deep restoration that comes from releasing tensions, worries, and concerns. Is there a process for learning how to rest that deeply?

Without rest, I find myself restless. A kind of low-grade buzz or anxiety creeps in, telling me the world is too overwhelming a place for me to find peace. The harshest news stories can capture my attention.

At that moment, I must remember that I’m in charge of my mental and emotional state. I need to turn off input, let go of chaos, fear or aggression and invite calm, quiet and rest.

Here’s a three-step process I found effective in reaching a deeper restful state. I’d love to hear what works for you.

One: Preparing for Rest

Many of us seem to need permission to rest. Isn’t that shocking? Maybe we feel irresponsible taking time to rejuvenate. A friend living abroad once reflected on American culture. He said it’s like living in perpetual springtime where new things always have to be breaking ground. Right?

For me, preparing for rest is essential. I can gear up as fast as a Porsche, but slowing down is much more challenging. I have to consciously choose to gear down.

Now, I drive a standard transmission car. So as an exercise when sitting or lying down to rest, I close my eyes and picture myself downshifting. I feel the car slow to a crawl. This quiets my revved up internal engine in preparation for rest or sleep.

Certain low-key activities serve a similar purpose, downshifting me from high activity to quietude. Cooking decelerates me because I double the estimated time recommended for any recipe.

Curiously, my husband gears down watching well made action TV shows (with aliens, of course). He tolerates fight scenes that cause my muscles to grip.

This preparation step simply acknowledges the need for a transition time from high to low rhythm. We each have our way to begin.

Two: Sliding Deeper into Rest

Once we’ve begun to slow our pace, sliding into rest may require a willingness to let tensions go.

As an example, Yin yoga requires longer duration in each pose. The final corpse pose (yeah, great name) suggests a heaviness, a sinking into the support from the floor. [My favorite online yin yoga teacher is Brittany Timberlake of Timberlake Yoga]

Another way to slide deeper is through music. Humans are very susceptible and sensitive to sound. The backtrack playing inside an army tank is just as effective to the goal of destruction as a lullaby is to the intention of sleep. We need only explore a bit to find the sound that relaxes us.

As a kid at camp, I sang my bunkmates to sleep. I learned guitar at a young age to bring peace to a warlike environment. Chanting is a common spiritual practice to induce a restful state because external sounds are powerful in shifting our rhythm.

Would you like to experiment with these techniques or explore your own? Alternatively, you could live in a hammock. 😄

Three: The Profound Restful State

For those who crave the deepest dive, surrender into silence brings a whole new level of rest. I find this practice requires trust. What starts as silence becomes a tuning-in to my own internal music.

To reach this next level, I start by experiencing my thoughts as ocean waves that start out fierce and choppy. Gradually, as I watch the waves, I allow them to calm. Not by force, but by invitation.

Then, I gently listen for internal sounds. I often hear a buzzing like a high electrical wire, or music like a flute or woodwinds. I’m sure we’re unique in what we perceive when in this deeper place.

No matter what, I awaken profoundly refreshed.

Sustainable Living Through Rest

Learning how to rest is vital for sustainability in our times. Allowing for a gradual shift, like from bold color to pastel, may help us relax into the process. Then, we can slide more deeply by degrees into profound states of inner sound and silence. I’m ready for a nap just writing this.😄

If you’re inspired by reading these steps, please share with others. You may want to ask how they find rest. And if you’d like, leave comment below.

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Burnout Support

Beyond Burnout: Your Exit

by Emma Laurence

Burnout signals a need for realignment in how you do work. Yet, if you’re poised on the edge of leaving your job, you may be too crispy fried to even look at an exit strategy.

When you’re overwhelmed or exhausted, considering an exit is, in itself, an act of courage.

Maybe you feel you don’t have a choice. A vision or dream won’t let you go. Or, you can’t tolerate the pace or company culture of your day-to-day grind. What do you do then?

If you choose to surround yourself with support and take the big leap, this may help.

What to Expect in Phase One

Wouldn’t it be lovely if your transition lands you in a parallel reality—one where you enjoy your lucrative life’s work?

It’s not exactly magic, but a significant shift does happen when you leave a good-paying but ill-suited job for an uncertain future.

At first, it may feel like floating. You don’t quite know what to do with yourself. I notice with clients that this untethered feeling passes naturally and fairly quickly.

An essential step is setting a clear intention for joyful, sustainable work. Even if you don’t have a future vision yet, this simple focus can carry you for a while.

Your daily attention shifts. You spend time exploring new opportunities, tending previously neglected chores and relationships, or even recovering from burnout.

It’s OK to give yourself permission, space, and time for a smooth transition in this phase.

 A Beyond Burnout Exit Story

A brilliant Millennial, whom I’ll call Ruby, came to coaching burned out from her high-paying but soul-draining job in the tech industry. Her decision to be true to herself and leave her job ushered in transition phase one.

Ruby began to unwind and recover from burnout while making plans to move out of state. The move would provide a supportive community.

We began exploring her options in the non-profit sector and clarifying her long-term goals in writing and art. A part-time job more aligned with her values would fuel a full transformation to her life’s work.

Ruby is in phase one of her transition beyond burnout. She’s already so much happier! She shifted her pace and restructured daily life in harmony with her natural rhythm.

Finding joy, humor, and play again enlivened her sense of adventure.

Support to Exit

We often crave freedom when leaving a day job that no longer suits us. If that’s you, play with the possibility that you can gather support and exit. If you’d like to chat with someone about your options, I’m here for a free Clarity Conversation.

I love the Rumi quote, Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor.

Does it make you wonder what you’d do if you knew that to be true?

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Photo by Elliott Stallion on Unsplash