Musings, Dreams, and Other Inner Thoughts

Snow Moon, Savasana Sound, & the Telluride Beaver Pond - February 22, 2024

Ahhh, it has been quite awhile since I have posted! 2023 proved to be a difficult year for me to accomplish ANYTHING musically productive. The universe kept whispering, "Wait! Rest! Its not the right time yet!" as each desired wish, no matter how small, seemed to be constantly put on hold the whole year through. Now, since January 2024, I feel like everything I have wanted to accomplish has happened easily, swiftly, without blockage. Finally, everything is arriving in perfect timing, including this single which I had held grand plans to release a year ago! 

There is a story to this song and why it was named the Snow Moon. Originally, this song was composed on my hundred and two year old Clark Celtic harp on the actual night of the Snow Moon back in 2017. Sometime in the wee hours of that morning at around 3 am, I was wide awake, and so decided to do some creative improvising when the bones of this song started to form. This particular Snow Moon was unusual in that the Comet 45P was at its closest flying by Earth while a penumbral lunar eclipse was also happening at the same time. The energy of all three events kept me up. As such, I worked for about an hour or so, made some recordings, and went back to bed once I tired. At some point later on, I revisited the recordings I had made, modified a few things, and completed the song, 

Up in the San Francisco Bay Area a year later, I was playing with some musician friends of mine to do sound healings as well as to work on my music. I was rehearsing with Lydia Hwang and Alan Yip when Lydia came home one day with a lute harp from this amazing music store in Berkeley called Lark In the Morning. With this new instrument, we loved the idea of having two different harps playing together, so Lydia composed an accompanying melody to mine. Alan added in my delicate Japanese cast iron wind chimes in the background and with that, the song felt complete. Our group, Savasana Sound, was holding regular weekly rehearsals at that point so it was so fun to experiment and play, have meals together, and to eventually do a few recordings together. We were able to record enough music for two albums in our short amount of time together of 18 months, and I am delighted to finally be able to share our music this year. You will get a chance to hear more music from us and read more about both Lydia and Alan in my future blogs this year. 

And what is the Telluride Beaver Pond, you ask? While we were there for the end of 2022, the local pond froze over in early December. Naturally, Max Cooper, one of our more rugged, high-altitude acclimated Colorado friends, was beyond thrilled with this news and decided to use his homemade bicycle-zamboni on the Beaver Pond so that his teenage daughter could play hockey outside with her friends. My partner Chris caught wind of this news, raced down to the pond to see him do it, and then brought me and our three year old over to watch. I casually mentioned that the pond would make an amazing photo with the harp on it, so Max went back down that night after dark to further zamboni the pond so that it would be beautiful for our morning shoot! Thank you Max! 

So Happy Snow Moon to you all. Embrace the present moment, and find peace & beauty in the stillness of winter. May this full moon bring in bright beginnings of joy, love, and abundance for this new year. I hope you'll enjoy listening to our new single.

xo

Wendy

Autumn Gratitude On the Eve of My Album Release - Oct 20, 2022 

 

Today, on the eve of my album release, I have so much to be grateful for that I wanted to express in words what my heart needs to say.

I have been spending the last couple of weeks in beautiful Telluride, CO, and it has been a much needed break from the hubbub of LA. It's been so healing to my soul to walk down the river trail everyday and listen to the water babbling, the birds singing, the gold and amber leaves rustling, all while breathing in the crisp fresh autumn air. I feel refreshed and relaxed, as though I can spread my wings, breathe a bit deeper (despite the high altitude!), and feel a sense of balance coming back into my normally busy life.

For those that know, or may not know, this album, When The Heart Sings, has been a long project. These songs were created in the aftermath of an unexpected divorce that I felt intuitively had to happen. I had gotten multiple strong nudges from the Universe that were impossible for me to ignore so I listened to my gut and went forward, all while trying to shut my logical brain out as I suddenly began making choices that I never in my life thought I would be making.

Composing and performing these songs were a way for me to mend my own heart as I tried to make sense of the huge life changes that I had created for myself as I let go my marriage, my very full private piano studio, my friends, as well as Charleston, SC, the town that I had grown to love in the almost 12 years that I had lived there. I moved cross country to settle in Los Angeles which was no easy feat, but I continued to believe, trust, and listen whenever the Universe spoke to me. I kept composing and performing in those first few years I was in LA as I was learning to navigate the city, and I was so surprised, and so incredibly lucky as many kind, generous, and empathetic angels came forward to help me in ways I needed help at that time.

This album is dedicated to all those individuals who helped me in my time of need. They encouraged, supported, and inspired me to focus on my music and keep working. Without them, (and you know who you are!) this album would never have gotten made. I am extremely grateful to be lifelong friends with so many of these loved ones. So from the depths of my heart, THANK YOU!!!!!

Sending much love to each and every one of you! Please enjoy the album. I can only hope that it will help heal your heart and give you a bit of peace in your lives as it has given me.

XO

Wendy

Homemade Decaf Yogi Tea Recipe - March 24. 2022 

 

After the final vibrations of sound waft away into the air, and attendees slowly start to awaken back into their bodies, I often offer homemade Yogi Tea at my events at Marrakesh House to ground back into this Earth and reality. As many of my events occur in the evenings, I make a decaf version of the traditional Yogi Tea that many kundalini yoginis and yogis enjoy. I've decided to include it here for those of you who are interested in making it at home since I have had so many guests ask for the recipe! This makes enough for 8 cups of tea, so make it in a moderately big pot. Your kitchen will smell terrific! 

Ingredients 

32 whole green cardamon pods (slightly crushed under a rolling pin to open them up) 

8 whole cinnamon sticks 

24 whole cloves 

48 whole black peppercorns 

8 slices of fresh ginger (does not need to be peeled) 

4 tea bags of ginger tea 

10 cups of water 

Whole milk or any other plant based milk to taste 

Local honey, to taste 

Instructions 

Drop in all the herbs except the tea bags, milk, and honey, and bring the water to a boil in a pot. 

Once boiling, turn down the heat to low and simmer for 40 minutes. 

After 40 minutes, turn the heat off and drop in the tea bags for about 5 minutes. I usually tie them to a wooden spoon and let the spoon rest on the pot so that I can take them out easily. 

If you'd like, you can strain the tea into a large teapot but I usually just leave the herbs in and let everyone serve themselves right out of the pot with a big soup spoon into a teacup or mug. Add milk and honey to taste. 

For a slightly naughtier version, skip the milk and honey and use a bit of condensed milk to sweeten your cup. 

For a caffeinated version, use 2 bags of black Golden Assam tea instead of the 4 bags of ginger tea. The black tea actually helps all the medicinal elements of the herbs work better together, but if you are about to go to sleep, I highly recommend the decaf version. To get the full medicinal effects, do the black tea version with milk and honey. 

Yogi tea is known for boosting the immune and nervous systems, relieving depression, and increasing mental clarity and circulation. In addition, it is antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, energizing, purifies the blood, aids digestion, and contains a high amount of antioxidants. 

It is the perfect nourishing cup of love for your body before heading home to bed! Enjoy!