This week on my BlogTalkRadio show Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul, I interviewed Australian (living in UK) musician, recording artist and composer John Levine of Alphamusic. John was a guest on an earlier episode in February, but he had some technical difficulties that prevented him from being able to dial in, and his interview was less than half the length of what it should have been. On that episode he spoke a bit about what led him to create “alpha music”, after watching his father live through a lifetime of stress-related diseases, only to die from them at the early age of 58.

On tonight’s show, John shared further insights into the mind-body-spirit connection. He explained a bit about the different waves in the brain, and how alpha waves can enable natural restoration of health and wellbeing. He explained a bit about how his Alphamusic which has been proven both anecdotally and scientifically to induce alpha waves in the brain, and how this results in a reduction of stress hormones, and an increased a feeling of relaxation, not dissimilar to a meditational state.

We played two samples of John’s music on the air. First was a short excerpt from his 1984 composition “The Silence of Peace”, which was played on a grand piano in a studio. John said the complete composition is 1 hour in length, and that the full relaxation benefits can be felt after listening to the piece for at least 15 minutes–he cautioned that it should not be played whilst driving! .

The second piece was “Gratitude”, which was a electro-acoustic composition from John’s 2007 album “Emerald Forest”. Played in a free-form ambient pastiche of various acoustic instruments blended with the occasional synthesiser, this composition has a markedly more complex feel to “Silence of Peace”, while still maintaining an open approach to musical structure. Of the air, John said that one of the salient features of Alphamusic is that you specifically cannot sing it or tap your toe to it. In other words, you cannot anticipate what is coming up, or repeat it, as there is no real structure. Still, there are simple melodic motifs (usually built around specific harmonic intervals) that keep it from being so abstract that it feels “avant garde” or discordant.

Now, I am not a scientist, but I did teach music technology and acoustics for many years. And I feel that it is this precise intension NOT to have structure that is what creates the alpha waves in the brain. Why? Very simply this: when we humans anticipate something, our brain gets very busy analysing and predicting. This anticipation keeps us in a heightened state of awareness, or a Beta state. While this is extremely useful for work, if we are in a continual state of heightened awareness, our bodies become over flooded with stress hormones. And the fact is, our minds and bodies will stay on alert whenever they perceive the need to be. However, when our senses detect something cannot be analysed or predicted, and there also appears to be no danger, the brain will eventually let go of the need to be on alert. And that is exactly what John says is the intent of the music-to lower the “fight or flight” reaction of the brain that increases stress hormones. There are no downbeats, no meters, no predictable phrases, no verses/choruses, etc. The music just “is”. And when the brain gets the message that everything just “is”, it allows itself to relax into an alpha state. It’s really very simple.

Tonight we could only play a few minutes of these substantial tracks, and John has more than a dozen albums available on his website. He sells many of them to holistic practitioners, teachers and medical professionals who use them to reduce anxiety, fear and stress in their clients, students and patients (dentists especially love John’s music!). Check out John’s complete repertoire at www.silenceofmusic.com.

AND…
you can receive a very special FR*EE Alphamusic gift from John Levine PLUS 25 other beautiful mind-body-spirit gifts
when you purchase my book
The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self before the end of April 2009. To find out how, go to http://tinyurl.com/lynn-bonus.

Links:

• Find John’s music on his website at: www.silenceofmusic.com
• Check out John’s radio show “John Levine’s Happy and Healthy Hour” on Cambridge radio 105 FM or on the Internet at www.happyandhealthyhour.com
• Follow John on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/alphamusic
• Meet John at a Global Wellness Circle evening in your area: www.global-wellness-circle.com

Listen to the show below:

 Subscribe to the podcast: 

Or browse through other episodes at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn

 NEXT ON
Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul

Wednesday 29 April
Ep15-Astrology, Numerology and Birth Order to Discover Your Life Purpose
6.30 PM UK time, 1.30 PM Eastern, 10.30 AM Pacific, 7.30 PM CET
Author and Personal Transformation Coach Lynn Serafinn hosts Conscious Living Communicator and author Michelle Payton, Ph.D. Michelle will be sharing a process she created called “Birth Mix Patterns” that combines Astrology, Numerology and Birth Order to connect with your unique personality patterns, to improve your relationships and discover clues of your underlying life purpose. Michelle will also be offering a short demo of Lynn’s Birth Mix Patterns right on the air, so you can see how easy and informative it is to do yourself, so be sure to have a pen and paper ready to take some useful tips!
Listen LIVE at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn/2009/04/29/Ep15-Astrology-Numerology-and-Birth-Order-to-Discover-Your-Life-Purpose
Listener questions: call at 646-727-3449 during broadcast (US number)

You can receive 26 special mind-body-spirit gifts
when you buy my book
The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self during the month of April 2009.
Find out how to get these beautiful gifts at:
http://www.give-receive-become-be.com/pages/bonus.html

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VIDEO NOTES:
Title: “Song of the Rose” from the book “The Garden of the Soul” by Lynn Serafinn
Description: Excerpt from the book “The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self” by Lynn Serafinn, as read by the author. While this substantial 400 page work is comprised primarily of narrative stories, each section of the book begins with a poem or “song” sung by one of the four flowers. This “song” is called “Song of the Rose: Maysong.” The Rose is the teacher of the “Principle of Giving”, which encompasses attributes such as passion, self-expression, boldness and life purpose. The Song of the Rose gives you a glimpse into the sensual undertones of the teachings of the Rose, who later takes the author on a journey through the stories of her own life, to explore her own connection to the many colours of passion, from the sacred to the profane. Set to an uplifting instrumental soundscape by London-based band Bleep Test, and illustrated with brilliantly captivating nature photography by Sheila Finkelstein, Lynn’s uniquely lyrical and rhythmic approach to reciting poetry evokes an understanding within the listener that goes far beyond the mere meanings of the words.

PRODUCTION NOTES:
Video, audio mix, poem and spoken word copyright 2009 Lynn Serafinn
Photography by Sheila Finkelstein, www.sheilafinkelstein.com
Song “Tilted” by Bleep Test, www.myspeace.com/bleeptestmusic

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Title: The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self
Author: Lynn Serafinn
Publisher: Bright Pen Books
ISBN13: 978-0-7552-1126-5
ASIN: 075521126X
Available from:

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/075521126X
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/075521126X

Authors online:
http://www.authorsonline.co.uk

Visit http://www.give-receive-become-be.com  for information and author bookings.

This video, including any portion of audio soundtrack and/or visual images, is for promotional purposes only and may not be sold. It may, however, be shared and posted on your site or blog without special permission, as long as it remains intact and you include these notes in your listing.

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Last week on my BlogTalkRadio show Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul, I interviewed internationally renowned musician, recording artist, singer and composer Sat Kartar Khalsa. Sat Kartar spoke about the link between sound and the spirit, and practical ways in which we can use sound meditation, such as mantra, singing and chanting, to access the Divine Self. Sat Kartar also shared two very heavenly treats from her albums on the air, so it was a true auditory delight.

Sat Kartar shared some delightful information about herself, including insight into her early “hippy” days and how she moved from taking drugs to chanting mantras, and how within the sound vibration she was able to get a permanent “high” without intoxicants. She also talked about how her “upside down lefty” guitar playing influences her creativity, and how she came to mesh a sample from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite” with an esoteric Indian mantra (which she shared with us on the air). Listeners sampled two delightful sound bytes from Sat Kartar’s albums, including her latest album “Flow”. Although we were only able to listen to a few minutes of each one, they really demonstrated the breadth (and “breath”) of Sat Kartar’s uplifting and enchanting style, and the undeniable purity of her captivating voice.

And captivating, she truly is. I myself have been amongst Sat Kartar’s fans from the moment I met her in 1994. Since then, she has been a close personal friend of mine, so this show was a real privilege for me. But I also know about her integrity as a musician, and her creativity in the studio, for I worked with Sat Kartar when she was the vocalist on a track called “Imagine! Deeply Hypnotic Mix” by our band “Overlords of the UFO”. I believe it was her deliciously smooth voice and passionate harmonies that helped to propel the progressive b-side of that vinyl-only release to be called “Weird by wicked” by Mixmag, and shoot to the top of the trance DJ charts in 1994. You can hear a short snippet of that track, and Sat Kartar’s vocals, on the closing music to my radio show every week. Later, in 1999, she went on to record two more tracks with us on an EP entitled “Transcendental Overdrive”. Both of these are currently out of print, but stay tuned as there is chance you just might see them re-released later in 2009.

But you don’t have to wait until then to hear Sat Kartar’s vocals. Her delicious albums “Flow” and “Listen” are available both on Amazon, and these, along with other back-catalogue, are also available on her website at www.satkartarmusic.com. You can also purchase “Flow” and “Listen” right here on The Garden of the Soul Gift Shop.

AND… you can receive a very special FR*EE mantra meditation gift from Sat Kartar when you purchase my book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self on Tuesday 7 April. To find out how, just click HERE.

 Read more about Sat Kartar on her website at: www.satkartarmusic.com

Listen to the show now:

Subscribe to this podcast here:

NEXT ON
Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul
Wednesday 18 March

Ep09- Food as a Pathway to the Spirit
6.30 PM UK time, 2.30 PM Eastern, 11.30 AM Pacific, 7.30 PM CET

Author and Personal Transformation Coach Lynn Serafinn hosts British Naturopathic and Nutritional Therapist, Fran Stockley. Fran will be talking about how we can use food to deepen our spiritual connection. She will also share three principles for using food to open up both our “cells” and our “Selves” on a practical level so we can become open and more receptive to receiving guidance from the divine.

Listen LIVE at www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn
Listener questions: call at 646-727-3449 during broadcast (US number)

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P.S.: If you like this video, PLEASE leave a comment, AND it would be great if you could go to YouTube and post your comments and give it a rating. The direct link to the video on YouTube is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB2TjSangR8

AND… don’t forget to sign up for out Amazon Launch countdown,
so you can receive 25 very special mind-body-spirit gifts
when you buy the book on 7 April.
To sign up and find out more click HERE.

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I simple HAD to post this in my blog because: a) I love this song and every time I listen to it I feel happy; b) this guy’s voice is so crystal clear it is simply angelic and c) it is an amazing example of creating from other. The actual song is only 3 minutes long, and look at how he someone manages to hold the room for over 8 minutes, working with his fellow musician and the audience. Talk about reading the space! I simply love it.

Enjoy!

If this doesn’t appear correctly on your screen, you can view it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYhrYHmUPn0

 The Garden of the Soul Amazon Launch Countdown has started! Check out all the great gifts you can receive
when you buy the book at: 
http://www.give-receive-become-be.com/pages/bonus.html

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So along comes Wednesday and I log on to my switchboard for the show. John had agreed to call in at least 5 minutes before air time to touch base before we went live. But 5 min before the start of the show, there was still no one on the guest line. I watched the countdown… 4 min, 3, 2, 1… Suddenly I’m live on the air. The theme music plays. Still no guest. Yikes!

When I was trained in Leadership, we learned that a real leader is supposed to be able to throw out “the plan” when needed, and create something from anything… or nothing, as the case may be. Well, all I had was the title of the show, and little old me. No back-up plan whatsoever.

Hmmm… I thought. So what can I create from this?

Ok, so after the theme music died down, I do my usual spiel to start. I talk about last week’s show, and even the week before. Still no guest. Hmm… we are already 3 minutes into the show. So, I go ahead and introduce my guest anyway, but am completely transparent and tell the audience he’s not there, if you can believe that! I tell them I am just going to talk about the topic anyway, trusting he’ll show up.

TALK?? On what? I ask myself …This is supposed to be an INTERVIEW.”

Anyway, I took the topic of the show, “Using Creativity to Heal the Self” and just started “winging it”. I started talking about my own journey of creativity and how it helped heal me (or not). I ended up talking about my own creative process in writing the book (at least part of it). I spoke about how I let go of control of the need to create and allowed things to just evolve, and how this actually opened up not only my creativity, but allowed me to “heal” from many wounds from the past. I spoke about how different characters appeared for my book, how I “allowed” the characters to write the stories, and how this bought me to a deeper understanding of the story I was writing. I spoke about my story “Learning to Breathe” (part of the section on the “Iris” in The Garden of the Soul) where I wrote about my mother’s death. I spoke about my character “Crow”, who was inspired by an actual crow who came to my window one morning about 2 years ago, and prompted the flow and meaning of the story. I spoke about how Crow asked me questions to which I didn’t premeditate the answers, and how I simply allowed the conversation to unfold in the book. I spoke about the wisdom and the healing this kind of organic creative process brought me regarding many pivotal events in my life, such as my mother’s death.

Then, just as I was “sort of” making a point, and with a whole 14 minutes left to the show, my guest John Levine finally shows up. Apparently, he had been trying to call in for half an hour but couldn’t get through to the call (bless him!). But, as fate would have it, he came in right at a moment when I was just completing the idea of “allowing” things to evolve naturally (but where I would have gone after that, don’t ask me!), so I just sort of used the moment to create from whatever showed up and said something like, “We’re going to be creative right now and allow this moment to happen exactly as it is.”

Now, one would think that this is probably a host’s worst nightmare. It’s like all those dreams where you are pushed out on stage without ever having had a rehearsal (ever have those?). But you know what? I felt perfectly calm. I was well aware that I probably babbled my silly head off for 16 minutes. But I didn’t care. I felt connected in some WEIRD way, and simply remained open and fully transparent. Now, I find this a very strange thing to have done, and regardless of how “good” the babble ended up being (hahaha… I haven’t listened to it yet! Maybe YOU could listen to it and let me know!), I still feel pretty proud that I was able to hold the room for 16 minutes solo, and actually stay somehow on the topic of the show.

Even though we only had 16 minutes, we managed to have just enough time for John to briefly tell how he first embarked on his journey to producing Alpha music. He spoke a little bit about how being the witness to his father’s lifetime of stress-related illnesses compelled him to find answers to the mind-body-spirit connection, which ultimately led him to use his musical talents to create music that can alter the alpha waves in the brain to restore health and wellbeing to listeners. He told me about his secret desire to record an album in the Taj Mahal some day. Paul Horn did that in the 70s on his album Inside, but all he had was a flute. Bringing in a grand piano would undoubtedly be a little bit more challenging! Unfortunately, we only had time for a small excerpt of one of John’s track on the air, but if you go to his site  at  www.silenceofmusic.com, he’s got loads of clips for your to hear. Of course, I will have John on the show again sometime soon. He’s a lovely person with a great story and a MASSIVE repertoire of Alpha wave inducing music. So and I really want to have the chance to present him properly on another show.

By the way, John will be appearing LIVE here in Bedford at our Global Wellness Circle evening this Monday 16 February at the Park Road West Church Hall, just off Roff Avenue. CLICK HERE for full details, or visit http://www.global-wellness-circle.com and click “events”.

So the question is, I wonder why the Universe wished this to happen? I trust I shall find out eventually.

But I must admit, I now have a real appreciation for the role of a co-host!

Be SURE to check out John’s site at http://www.silenceofmusic.com. He has a MASSIVE amount of music there, and you can here samples online.

Warm wishes,
Lynn

P.S.: Have a listen to my own creative process while I was creating from chaos:

AND it would be great if you gave it a little heart to mark it as your favourite! It will help me get higher in the ratings.

OR… subscribe the podast HERE:

P.P.S.: Next week’s guest is Royal Amber Rojas who has an amazing story of survival to tell! Make SURE you all tune in on Wed 18 Feb at 6.30 PM UK time to hear her incredible story on the air. You can listen to the show online at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn, either live OR “on demand”.

P.P.P.S.: Come on over and join Amber, me and lots of other colourful people on my new social network “The Garden of the Soul” at http://gardenofthesoul.ning.com

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