Some Life Preservers I Have Found

Well, there’s just no excuse for a whole month going by without a blog. Please forgive me.

I will say, much like you, life can be full of beginnings and endings, highs and lows…storms and calm. The end of the school year is always a transition for everyone. My kids finished Grade 5 and 7 and now they are in the middle of a dreamy summer…Lake Huron waves, cottage bonfires, bike rides, movies, late nights, books…my daughter is into editing on her iPad too and my son has joined the local gym. Before long, Michael and I will feel like we live with two adults. Sometimes it is already like that.

I’ve also started vocal coaching again which is a form of healing for me, and for my students. Using the body to become more you. I’m taking on only a few more students and capping it soon… to leave enough time for family and of course all the twists and turns that music will take. Speaking of which, a newsletter will go out soon about upcoming shows…I do hope you’ll come if you can. Nashville is already on sale, so scoot over to Events if you have not already!

With the planets all out of whack, ours especially, it’s a time of introspection.I’ve been really looking at myself and healing a few things that have kept me stepping into everything that I desire. Do you ever feel stuck? Well, I have felt STUCK in the last while…and you wouldn’t think I would with all the amazing highs I’ve experienced…the Def Leppard experience…the album coming out, all the touring. Like everyone else, there are always things that maybe are not so quick to heal or improve….and because I’m a lifelong truth seeker, I love decoding how to find the way through. At the same time, the wellness stuff can be its own addiction.

I will cut to the chase.

Instead of wallowing in it all, I want to share some things and books and apps that have been helping me lately…get unstuck.

INSIGHT TIMER: lately I’m using this app for LIVE yoga classes. I just see what’s coming up and I can follow along (without being filmed myself! bonus). Suzanne McCahill Perrine was the last yoga teacher I did a class with. She is based in Harrisonburg, VA and her class was amazing.

Because I am also a woman of science and I am fascinated by what happens to us in early childhood (I honestly think it is the key to understanding SO many difficulties in life, from addiction to relationship troubles) I have started this amazing course called Brain Story. Created by Oxford University and Alberta Family Wellness, this incredible free course is opening my eyes to so much of my own history and those around me.

The writing of Gloria Steinem has been rocking my world lately. When I feel adrift her calm, confident, funny demeanour in writing and podcasts has brought me so much peace. I am reading many of her books at the same time:

And finally, when all of life gets so sticky, you can sit in the mire, but I’ve tried…for the first time since learning how to relax for childbirth…self-hypnosis to get underneath the surface to address long-standing issues. This is hard. It’s a work in progress….but it’s proving to be more powerful than meditation. I hold the belief that the more brutal your issues and trauma are, and the more heavy the baggage, the more ruthless you must be with the unravelling, the healing, the opening. Hypnosis is starting to shift some things for me around self-worth, trust and fear. This book has been helpful in starting the whole process. I found out about Michelle Walters on the Aura app.

Before I sign off, I will share that we here in Canada had a horrible bit of news when Karen Bliss, a Billboard journalist reported about a former radio promoter I used to work with. She brought to light in her reporting allegations brought forth against him by artists of sexual assault and abuse over the past 15 years. This obliterated all of our worlds with how brutal the reporting was in its cantor and it left many of us shaken, especially those who had worked with him. I won’t mention his name here, I’ll just say that my heart has been broken (yet again) for the girls and women of this world. The only thing I could do as a means of alleviating my own sorrow over this was to offer some group coaching to women. To have us come together, in a safe space. If you are reading this and would like to participate, join me on August 25th at 11 am EDT for The Music IndustSHE, Meet Up 1. Please be aware this is open to women and non-binary only. It will be a Zoom, and you are welcome to come as you are, don’t worry about how you look or any of that. Just be you. Have your camera off and listen and have a tea if you want.

I love you all and thank you for letting me write you. You always make me feel I can say anything, sing anything.

I’ll be back in touch with a date for our next Zang. Hang onto the summer. I love you all.