I sing for joy

As I came back this week from Paradhis festival (a nature inspired well-being movement, set within one of Cornwall’s largest and most beautiful natural parklands - Boconnoc Estate), I keep reflecting on this experience.

I went there mainly because it was blending 2 things I love and am highly interested in - wellness and nature, but also because it had a high potential of tapping into joy territory (a state of mind that I have high on my priority list this year). And it did not disappoint at all. It was indeed a magical and immersive experience into peace, joy and ease, into our very own identity. The one that shines through here and there to remind us who we really are.

But, it was more than that.

It keeps becoming clearer and clearer to me that the main theme of this experience, that I need to integrate, is related to finding my voice and using it. Somehow, among all the beautiful practices that I went for (yoga, meditation, cacao ceremonies, sound baths, dancing etc) the one topic I kept being drown to or "randomly" exposed to was involving my voice. I left the voice activation workshop (that I willingly attended and that pushed me totally outside my comfort zone) so empowered and so surprised to hear my own voice in a way that I did not hate it. I loved the idea that one of the teacher shared that all of us have a core soul frequency and envisioning a world in which we would sing to each other instead of speaking.

From this workshop onwards I "landed" in places and spaces that somehow created the environment for expressing my voice whether in a kirtan, chanting, jamming, humming and culminating with me attending a singing class (which I would have never done in a million years as I pretty much hated my voice my entire adult life). I said hated as to my surprise, I discovered a voice I did not know I had, which was ok and that actually sounded way much better than I remembered it. Funny, ain't? As if I am not listening to my own voice daily :) One thing I discovered though in the singing class is that I can't deal well with high notes and hence my voice is categorized as a low tone voice which is generally interpreted as serious and authoritative (which sounds quite familiar).

And the highlight of the singing class was that we ended it while singing a song called "I sing for joy" (of course :)) while walking around the space, gazing at each other and crying. I had no idea why I was crying but it felt unbelievably good and it was so nice to hear my own voice.

I can't not notice how experiences play out in our lives so that we are given the space and opportunity to address the blocking points that hold us back in our unfolding processes. Using my voice was (and still is but hopefully less) for me, a big self imposed hold-back which I was aware of, but have never done much about it. And yet the universe showed me in a very surprising way, in the middle of a festival in the woods, that it's a good moment to address it if I want to embrace authenticity and speak my truth.

And so, with this newly found voice of mine, I commit to no longer hold it back (as I did since early childhood), to let it be heard more often, to let it express my soul frequency, to let it get creative and be of service to myself and others. Dear God, use my voice.

Singing moment in the closing ceremony circle @Paradhis Festival