Singing heals my heart

It wasn’t until I started singing that my heart began to heal.

I’m one of those people who’s taken every possible personal growth workshop imaginable, and tried every creative and therapeutic modality. I’ve taught in graduate schools of psychology and trained therapists. My PhD is in Psychology from the University of Chicago, and as a graduate student I received an Outstanding Research Award from the American Educational Research Association. My advisor was Mihaly Csikzentmihaly, founder of the field of Positive Psychology — we’ve co-authored some articles together. I lead workshops, teach in prestigious places and have done deep therapeutic work with hundreds of clients. Mihaly called my work “pioneering.”

And with all that training and experience, this is what I know is true: Real healing is simple.

The more complex we get, the more we’re in our heads. The more theoretical and analytical, the more we’re focusing on the problem and making it worse. Singing is a shift of energy. It’s a shift of direction and focus. It’s a shift of how we are looking.

When we sing, we shift who we are BEING. For once, we’re not trying to “get somewhere.” We just ARE.

Just like the work I do in Doorway sessions, healing happens organically when we shift our energy into a grounded, centered, connected place.

It’s as SIMPLE as that. (Yet oh-so-hard for many of us to do.)

When I sing from that place of pure ‘being-ness,’ a remarkable thing happens: I receive spontaneous flashes of myself at younger ages and I’m filled with love for that person. I feel myself loving and forgiving every hurt I ever had… every fear, terror, disappointment, shame, and sadness.

Deep loving, deep forgiving and deep acceptance… of ME. With all my flaws and insecurities.

Singing makes everything OK.

I’m not a great singer; this is not about being “good.” (Not surprisingly, judging ourselves or others doesn’t shift our energy.)

Singing is about opening my heart and simply immersing myself in joy.