Sound Healing At Grace Cathedral Kicks Off For 2018!!
By Courtney Alex Aldor
On Friday night at Grace Cathedral, something magical happened: I arrived early. Yes, totally by accident, I showed up to the ever-popular, super-sold out Grace Cathedral sound healing event about 2 hours before it started. Surprisingly, there were already people there with pillows, mats, and blankets in tow, and so I grabbed a coveted spot in line. Soon, I struck up a conversation with the woman behind me, and soon found out she was down on her luck. She’d lost a relationship, a great apartment lease, and was facing financial uncertainty. As she told me her story, it sounded familiar. And that’s because I had been in a similar situation months earlier, with the giant rug of life pulled out from under me. But as I stood there, sincerely hopeful and excited, I grew somewhat proud not just at how far I’d come, but at the magic of being able to share it with another. And while I couldn’t offer her much advice in the way of what to do, I knew with 100% certainty that she had all the answers, and when I told her so, her face lit up because she believed it, she believed in herself.
And as we both made our way into the church for a totally non-denominational ceremony, I remembered the true meaning of gathering in places such as these. With its beautiful vaulted ceilings and ethereal lights, there's a sense that the sky’s the limit. With its capacity for over a thousand community members, there’s a sense of purpose in togetherness. And as Loriel Starr, Marco Ferrero, Celine Rezvani, and Xenia Giolli began to ring their gongs in breath-taking unison - ‘the sound of everything’ as we were told by band-leader Guy Douglas - I felt compelled to get up and walk through the sound, to take in the beauty of a space filled with 1300 resting souls seeking peace. And as I made my way through the darkness, down rows of pews, a large gong cried out and I felt the energy of a fear I'd held onto for quite some time creep up in my heart and whirl out my back, so I could leave it behind for good. And I took solace in the fact that my new friend quite possibly felt the same.
As a writer for SF Yoga Mag and a truly privileged human, I get to attend a lot of these events, but the feeling of peace and harmony at this one was truly special. Led by Guy Douglas, the space was filled with musicians on gongs, crystal and Tibetan singing bowls, flutes, didgeridoo, Celtic harp, monochord, vibraphone and so much more. Thank you to Elizabeth G'Sell {vocals}, Loriel Starr {gong}, Wendy Tahara {harp}, Lydia Hwang {monochord}, Athene Eisenhardt {didgeridoo}, Marco Ferrero, Celine Rezvani + Xenia Giolli {gong}, Simona Asinovski {crystal singing bowls} and Dan Neville {vibraphone}. As the first of many of such events for 2018, the future sounds like heaven!
To find out where the next Sound Meditation is, visit soundmeditationsf.com.
