Rebirth: A Ritual Release Experience

Music is a part of everything I do.

Meditation is also a part of everything I do.

I believe music and sound are the most healing components that are available to us in the world. Music is a language that everyone understands. Thousands of people who speak different languages can be sitting in an audience listening to the same piece of music and it can move all of their souls at once. That's how powerful music is and why it's a part of everything in my life.

Meditation is the thing that I wish more of the world would do. To me, meditation looks a lot of different ways. Sometimes I meditate while I’m seated on the floor cross legged. Sometimes it’s when I’m out in nature, walking among the trees. Sometimes I do moving meditations through dance or even running. I have even found myself meditating while chopping vegetables. There is no one right way to mediate. To me, meditation means being fully present; being completely intimate with the present moment as if that moment were your lover.

I have playlists for all of the different types of meditations that I have mentioned above, as I believe our mood calls for different feelings and music is an access point to be able to feel those feelings. Music can completely transform the way you feel in an instant. It can take you to the most beautiful places if you allow it to.

This particular playlist, I created several months ago for a course I teach called Rebirth and I created it based on my own personal meditation practice. This playlist was the first one I have ever brought into a course, even though I had been making playlists for myself for ages, and I had been bringing meditation into my courses and workshops for a while. I wanted to make the experience more intentional, rich, and special through this playlist which I created for a releasing ritual. The songs in this playlist were chosen specifically with the intention of slowing down the listener. Often, we can’t release our anxiety because we are moving so fast. This music can slow you down, and bring you to a place where your body, mind and spirit can release.

Each song takes you deep into a journey within the self to ignite you to just be. And it can be used for anything. It can be used to listen to to release tension from the body during a bath. It can be used during a writing meditation where you can write a release letter that perhaps you burn at the end. It can be used for a dance movement meditation. And, it can be used for all of these things together which is how I use it myself. If listened to from start to finish, it is a one hour and thirteen minute ritual. That's what I love about this particular playlist. It's used to bring someone back home. It is used to help someone re-birth themselves. Each song is carefully chosen with this in mind. I also really love exposing others to music and sounds that they may have never heard before.

I chose the name of the playlist because of the direction I saw it being used for - Release and Rebirth. When I created it, we were in the final days of 2020 to move into 2021, and I thought it would be perfect to release at the end of the year. I still use it each month as I feel I need to unwind and release anything that isn’t serving me and to bring me back to the truth of who I am. It takes you on a journey through different forms of meditation as you release and become rebirthed.

So let's begin on this journey to Rebirth (Zen Playlist).

The first song is Slow Down by Morcheeba. I picked this song because in this world we live in, everything is happening so fast with technology at our fingertips. I want to anchor in this idea of us taking our time and standing still. The first lyrics of this song talk about - when the day is done all you have to do is slow down. This track gives us permission to slow down. Not worrying about where we are going or how long it takes. Instead, slowly, sensually sliding into the present moment. We often forget to do this. We forget that we are even allowed to do this, and so it was important for me to have that reminder in the first song.

When I listen to it, I’m in the bathtub with the lights out and candles lit. It makes me feel complete; like this is what I was born to do in this moment and that there is nowhere else that I need to be. The sound of the guitar is so incredibly sexy, it sets the mood and is the foundation for the entire playlist. It plays such an important role, and it plays its role to perfection.

The second song is called How Do You Feel? by Vanessa Daou I love this as the second song because the first song gave us permission to slow down and from that space, this song gives us permission to ask ourselves how we are feeling. We forget to do that in the mad rush of life. She goes deep in the story of what I believe we silently all experience behind closed doors - feeling alone, isolated, and ashamed of our darker thoughts. She asks a lot of questions in these lyrics that remind us that we are not alone in those thoughts. She reminds us that we need to tell someone how we feel. She tells us that despite those feelings, we can still feel good when the day is done. There is so much comfort in this song and her voice is magnetic, moving and unique. I also love the organ playing in this song. It ignites a soul feeling deep inside. The lyrics keep us in the present moment and they are direct and assertive in reminding us that our feelings matter and that we get to feel good in our lives. To me, this song is a priceless reminder.

The third song on my zen playlist is called Caves Lit by Flame by Jamal Green. I like that there are no lyrics to this song, because it allows us to reflect on the deep questions that were asked in the last song. It's a reflection and integration time, which is important during meditation to expand our consciousness. It's also a time to see how much deeper we can go. To me, the title implies that I’m going deep into a cave within my being and I get to turn to the light of who I am to go there. I like the tempo changes in the song. When it slows down it makes me slow my breathing, and when I slow my breathing I feel as if I become even more calm and that's a gift.

The fourth song is called Fall Rain by Ryan Farish. His music is breathtaking and makes me feel so deeply. Again, there are no real lyrics here but there is some chanting. The chanting makes me feel divinely supported. The piano sounds so incredibly gorgeous, that sometimes it can bring tears to my eyes for how beautiful it sounds. This song allows my heart to open more and reminds me of all the beauty that we get to experience through music. It brings me back to gratitude for the simplicity of being able to live in a world where I can just press play and sound can invoke deep love within myself. By the time I get to this song on the playlist I normally find myself in a much lighter space in my body than before I started.

The fifth song is called Underwater Love by Jerome Isma-Ae. This song reminds me that there is so much to discover. Even the day I discovered this song, I was listening to new music to possibly add to the playlist, and I was reminded of how vast the world of art is; how if we are open, we can discover art in many forms, and this inspires us. It brings me back to this idea that in life we don’t even know what we may discover tomorrow that we will fall in love with, but that we know nothing about today. This brings such a feeling of hope. The title Underwater Love makes me think of the Ocean and all the interesting and unique sea creatures swimming around. This song ignites my imagination. Sometimes when I hear it I imagine myself as a mermaid below the sea swimming around and discovering all these new and amazing things. I feel as if I’m floating when I listen to it.

The sixth song Limitless by Will Eastman is a favorite of mine. I love the lyrics. It reminds me that the only boundaries that hold us back are the ones we create in our minds. This song makes me dream; it takes me on an adventure. I always see myself driving down the coast of somewhere beautiful when this song is on and I picture the sun shining and mountains and the ocean on the coast. I feel like I'm cruising on a beautiful drive in Hawaii where I used to live. I always smell tropical flowers when this song comes on and it transports me to the feeling of complete joy. It reminds me that the only moment that is important is now.

The seventh song Leave U Here by Sebastian Davidson makes me feel that same floating sensation that the fifth song created. That floating sensation is direct access to calm for me. This song makes me feel safe and open. It makes me feel like there's no real reason to rush and that I can just be here forever if I wanted to. There's nowhere to go and nothing to do; only listen to the vibes, play and be.

The eighth song; Marisi by Cantoma, really makes me want to move. It takes me into a moving meditation. Dance comes alive within my soul to this one. The guitar pulls something out of me that wants to be expressed. This song puts me under a spell and makes me want to just close my eyes and allow my body to move however it wants to. It's almost as if my body becomes another instrument that is being played in the song. It's an instant moving meditation activator. So sometimes this playlist I start in the bathtub then move into my room and dance, and I allow what wants to be to be.

The ninth song Relief by Flipside makes me want to stretch. So many times I will go from a dance to a light flow yoga with even some held yin poses. It's about giving my body the relief from working so hard all day. This song is very soothing to me and I find relief in it just like the title. It's a centering song for me.

The 10th song Relax by Blank and Jones is one of my favorites. I think it is because I’m in a really relaxed space by the time I get to it. Many times I will move from the flow yoga to a chocolate ritual for this one. I pull out my gratitude journal and write three things I’m grateful for and I will have my chocolates near. Since I have been doing these practices for years, I often know intuitively what comes next. So typically before the bath I have pulled my chocolates out of my fridge in case I feel compelled to do the chocolate ritual. This song makes me put my hands on my heart and sometimes say one of my very personal self-love affirmations over and over again. It helps me relax into who I am. And when I’m in this space it makes me think of self-love. Nothing says self-love more than a piece of chocolate and being fully there eating it with all of my senses. This song takes me into being able to receive. It's a euphoric experience.

For the 11th song, I bring Ryan Farish back again and his instrumental song Indian Summer. Here many times I will do a journaling meditation exercise and write down everything that I want to release that has been causing me any kind of tension. This song sounds incredibly delicious through headphones. It's really good for journaling. It helps me really focus with intent on the words I’m writing and what no longer needs to be a part of my life, day, week, or month. The piano is soothing. It totally warms my heart. The words flow out of me naturally as the song pulls them out of me. It's a natural progression.

The 12th song is Down Slow by Moby. I will typically read this journal entry outloud to this song. Since this song also has no lyrics it is the perfect background to do that. It's the letting go song for me. I get to connect to all I want to release one more time before I burn the page. Saying it outloud anchors it in more deeply. The song is short so sometimes I am still reading into the next song.

The 13th song is Angelic Voices by B Tribe. It's a lighter song than the last two and perfect after what was written to lighten it up a bit. I love the chanting in this song, as it brings me back into that remembrance of being divinely supported again. That's important for me and I hope that others feel that too when they listen to this playlist. We forget we have that connection to the divine to access at any moment. The guitar sound makes me smile. Typically by now I’m burning what I wrote over the toilet so I can flush it away. This song is all about feeling so much lighter and freer.

The 14th song is How Does It Feel by Chris Coco and it's such a great title for this space in this meditation practice ritual. I like the groovy sound which makes me feel like I've completely let go. It's super chill and a little bit playful. By the time I’m on this song I am typically lying down. It's complete rest time. The lyrics remind me that the state I am in is real, I’m there, I’ve let go of the weight of whatever was exhausting me and I am completely softened and unwound fully.

The 15th and final song is called Maja by Cantoma. I love her voice; it's captivating and ethereal. This song is a total vibe. It's alluring and takes me to a dream state, perfect as I am often ready for bed by this point. It makes me feel completely fulfilled. I feel so tranquil and serene when I listen to this. All the unique sounds within the song put me at total ease. This is when I have totally reached a state of zen. I feel uplifted and as if my cup has been completely filled back up.

I created this playlist specifically for day one of my course Rebirth which is a course that's designed to start on the Full Moon of every month. When I created it, it was based on my own meditation practice and my ritual journey of letting go, and I still do it myself on the full moon of every month, as that is a sacred time to release. That doesn’t mean that it cannot be used on other days as I have used it other days and am even listening to it right now while I write to get into the vibes. It is one of my favorites, and it takes me to zen as well as others who have listened to it, whether that involves following the complete ritual journey or doing their own meditative practice with it. That's the beauty of music and meditation. They get to be completely unique to each person's wishes. And that's how we enter a state of Rebirth from within.