As our primary tool of communication, our voices are powerful beyond measure. 

The Vedic goddess of knowledge, learning and music – Saraswati – was known much earlier as Vac, the origin of our word ‘voice’.  We take the matter of speech for granted; it burbles through, from and around us all the time.  But if we stop to consider what we are actually doing when we form and project sounds and words, describing ourselves, the world and each other – we are using an instrument of indescribable power.

It is through our voices, and our hearing of our own voices, that we know ourselves.  I have watched videos of deaf children, hearing – through technology – the sound of their own voice for the first time, and seen how they immediately take up a new presence in themselves, and delight at the sound of the voices of those around them.

I love using my voice as part of Sound Therapy. The directness and immediacy of voicework is highly effective for clients.

Mantra

Mantra chanting as a transformational practice

Mantra chanting is a great way to establish a meditation practice; rather than sitting still trying not to think, chanting gives you something to do. Also, it is a defined practice – you start at number 1 and go through to number 108. It was how I got going with meditation, chanting being a recognized form of meditation practice.

I began chanting Buddhist mantra in 2013, and from the first day I did it, I have continued every day since. I became a Buddhist in early 2020 (I liked the practices so much I bought the religion!) and in late 2021 I was given permission by my Teacher – Taklung Matul Rinpoche – to incorporate the mantra of the Buddhist Goddess Green Tara into my work as a Sound Therapist.

It was essential for me to get permission and authorization for this, as I have unwavering respect for the practices and rules of Buddhism; if you’re going to do it, do it properly.

The mantra of Green Tara – Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha – has, after nearly nine years of daily chanting and at least half a million recitations, become part of me. They say that the body regenerates completely over a seven year cycle, so every cell of my body has the vibration of that mantra in it. Having been given permission to use this mantra in my professional Sound Therapy work is an indescribable honour.

Chanting, which has led to meditation, has, quite simply, transformed my life.

To help you get going with a daily mantra practice, I devised the 40 Day Practice Programme. Please see the dedicated page for details.