02/05/2026
I've been noticing my stress levels rising and falling depending on how much and how deeply I allow myself to be present in a natural environment. I have noticed how the effects of the pandemic have had lasting changes on peoples' ability/willingness to connect in diverse groups. There's a lot of "us and them" rhetoric happening- at lease maybe I'm noticing it more because I like to stay "informed" on global news.
I'm enjoying mostly the days in which I can give a sound/body work session or two and go for an aerobic walk or bike ride, and spend some time in silence, listening to trees and moss, birds and frogs.
I'm getting ready for a one day VocalEase workshop to share what I know and practice as an improvisational voice instructor, as a person who uses SOUND everyday as my anchor for self regulation and healing. I dance, I write, I dress up and create on the spot characters who authentically express the emotions and attitudes that I might find inappropriate or self indulgent in a public environment. It's a kind of method acting technique. (I was meant to go the a Method Acting school in 1982 but instead followed my beloved to Kyuquot for five years, where I was very dampened down, literally and figuratively.)
I have invited a small group of somatic practitioners, dancers, artists, poets and singers to join me in forming an Embodied Empowerment Collective and we are meeting monthly to practice our methods in PEOPLE'S PLAYSHOPS, and this poster is an invitation to you, if this resonates with your craving for creative interaction.
My deepest desire is to build trust, interdependence, and barrier melting compassion through artful practices that build resilience to hurtful human intentions, so that LOVE is interwoven, entwined through our mudras and chants, our creations and words- enshrining goodness in the mycelial network that makes us all ONE.
If you'd like to bring your creative goodness, grief and joy to us, please reach out. I can be contacted via email: jobirdmusic@gmail.com
