The story

Hi, I’m Laura.

My path towards sound healing was not singular, but a convergence of many paths.

I started as a singer and an actress.

I have a music and theatre background, years-long experience with yoga and a forever interest in the natural world, the creative path, artistic expression and spiritual growth. When I became a mom, questions of how I was balancing my (our) time, values and well-being became a higher priority than they ever were before. The need for concepts that I had a learned as a part of my artistic and spiritual education - namely, deep listening and observation, quality of presence and attention - became much more real and important. But, I was also becoming more acutely aware of how making it through every-day life often pushed me in opposition to those qualities.

In my training, much was focused on becoming sensitive. Becoming more sensitive to sounds and environments. Allowing for rhythms of ebb and flow, sounds and silence. Noting subtle changes in yourself based on circumstance - and being able to pick up on these subtle changes in others. Observing, noting, responding without judging or shutting down. Remaining open and adapting moment by moment rather than racing for a pre-determined outcome. Doing this requires a heightened focus, but also a receptivity. An ability to be quiet, still and to sense. To step outside of our ego’s needs to judge, jump to a conclusion, or have the solution. But just to be in communion with energies other than our own - and remain curious about the marvelous chemistries and “aliveness” that come from this dance.

Spent a lot of time in fast-paced, competitive, process and results-heavy environments.

Although I’ve found (now more than ever) that the skills I learned in my artistic training are outstanding (fundamental, even, at building healthy growing relationships with yourself and others) — too often they are dismissed. Often, people are taught to ignore their sensitivity rather than embrace it. Particularly in the workplace where many spend an overwhelming majority time. We’re conditioned to sweep uncomfortable thoughts and feelings under the rug. We’re compelled to move faster, multitask more, ignore ‘inconveniences’ that distract from the job to be done, habits and status quo. We’re encouraged to pay attention only to tangible figures and forms and disregard intangibles that slow down ‘progress’ or contradict a long-held routine. Even if these ‘intangibles’ may save us from costly mistakes, or having to start over. We feel guilt and shame if we’re not relentlessly ‘performing’ or striving to be #1.

And so, we’re used to numbing or drowning-out any feelings of disturbance until we are quite out of sync. The old saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” applies. Often, we don’t look, listen or care until something falls apart, finally demanding that we stop, pay attention - and hope we can put it back together.

The seeker in me wanted to find a new way.

It’s easy to get caught in the inertia of this driving momentum - and then to disconnect from yourself and what holds the most meaning for you. I wanted to break the cycle of disconnection and find a different way of being for myself and my child. Something that felt less habit-centered and find something more value-centered. The huge pause of COVID opened a door. I’d long been interested in a graduate program at the University of Wales in Ecology and Spirituality but could not move to Europe. Because of the new COVID protocols the program was now available fully online to students anywhere in the world. This program provided the paradigm shift I needed. It helped create a spectacular bridge between the seeming chasm of priorities I experienced in the artistic sphere and those of typical daily life. The areas I got to study: consciousness, quantum physics, environmental philosophy and earth-based cultures gave tangible language and scientific weight to what had previously seemed intangible concepts.

Although the scientific disciplines were different, they all seemed to reflect the importance of the same fundamental concepts emphasized in my artistic training: quality of attention and presence, harmony and integration, and inter-relationship. They explored the direct, tangible interplay between the quality and harmony of our energy (our physical health, thoughts, feelings) and the unfolding energy of the great universal whole. How we affect it and how it affects us in every thought, word and deed.

I’d loved this Lao Tzu quote for a long time: “Watch your thoughts, for they become your words. Watch your words for they become your deeds. Watch your deeds for they become your habits. Watch your habits for they become your character. Watch your character for it becomes your destiny.” I’d always found it profound - as most simple truths are. But now - I thought about this quote through the lens of what I was learning. The evidence seemed to show direct relationship between the quality of our thoughts and lived experience. The power of our thoughts, perspectives - or quality of consciousness - to shift and change what was happening in and around us. And the responsibility that takes.

Suddenly, slowing down the pace to become more conscious of how I was engaging with all aspects of my life, no longer felt like I was ‘falling behind’ or ‘failing,’ but instead that I was reconnecting and integrating my highest responsibilities and values in a very real and direct way. The intangibles were no longer ‘nice-to-haves’ only to be dabbled in when the ‘important’ work of the day was finished. They BECAME the important work. They ARE the imperative.