I decided to include more writing of my experiences as a musician and the practices in my life. Just a quick background:

I started practicing yoga in 1997 because of Michael Hewett, an amazing guitarist/composer who is also a yoga teacher. (check out his music)
Eventually, in 2004 I trained to be a yoga teacher with Matthew Cohen, an excellent teacher from Cali who encouraged awareness of breath in combination with the yoga movements. He also introduced Tai Qi exercises into the Hatha (Flow) yoga we were practicing.
I also began occasionally taking 5 Element Qi Gong classes in the park with a great teacher, Liu Shifu. The practice, in combination of hanging out with a ninja, as well as a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) doctor (who was my roommate for a few years) began to heighten my awareness of my body, my emotions, my energy, and I began sensing in a much more acute way. (is it because I’m cute that it’s acute?)
I also studied with Max Strom, one of my absolutely favorite teachers. His emphasis on breath was so profound that it changed me forever. When I teach now, I am always reminding students to breathe, because this is what circulates our energy.
Additionally, I have been attending 5 element courses (daoist theory) sponsored by the Yoga Yard, where I teach in Beijing, taught by spiritual acupuncturist Cameron Tukapua (I think of her as a shaman). The 5 elements is all about following the natural path. It is fascinating and absolutely acurate. The body’s meridians are flowing channels of energy. They can be in balance, congested or depleted, and all affect each other. The practices that I do physically help to balance my body’s meridians, creating good health. This is one reason why massage in Asia is more common and affordable, because it promotes good health in the meridians, and when one maintains good natural balance, there is no dis ease.

So this brings me here. Still practicing, still exploring, meditating and of course, performing, creating and expressing music.

Yesterday something big happened in my throat. I did a yoga practice that included breathwork (very intense exhaling while saying HA-EEE starting slowly, then speeding it up and maintaining it), and an active exhale iyengar sun salutation (my friend Meilan suggested it the day before), that you do continuously 7 to 10 times, giving a movement for each inhale or exhale. She explained that it raises the heart rate, but the breath does not accelerate, so you don’t feel breathless when you finish, but man, the heart is fastly beating, and I could feel my energy zinging and wide in my torso.

Then I did a yin yoga pose for 10 minutes, and got up in to shoulderstand for 5 minutes. For those of you who don’t know, Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand) is considered the mother of all yoga poses. Upside down, your blood flow reverses, down it goes towards the throat, where many lymph-nodes reside. The blood pressure on the neck massages the glands, stimulating your lymphatic system, which boosts your immune system. Upside down, all of your organs hang in a way they usually do not. So it’s kinda like turning a snowglobe upside down. This pose also stimulates the chakra system (7 balls of energy that start at the root, belly button, solar plexus, heart, throat, 3rd eye, crown), especially the solar plexus, which is related to our intuition and “gut” feeling.

After the practice, I decided to begin recording my new material. While I was recording the 3rd song, the front of my chest opened up by my throat, and my voice changed. Profound change actually. Before, when I would go for the higher notes, I could get them, but there was a missing “sincerity” from my chest. As I sang yesterday, my voice found it’s home and the resonation and power of singing got soooo big and round. I could control my vocal runs and riffs with such accuracy I couldn’t believe it at first. I thought I already had control, but this …

Emotionally and mentally, I feel at ease in myself. My psychic sensitivities are in tune, and I feel at one with my life path. I trust the path, and walk into the unknown in a more aligned, aware state of mind. Yay.

I truly believe that along with alot of mental work I’ve been doing on myself, combined with this physical practice, my throat chakra has opened up much more, and it has completely affected my voice in such a positive way. Yesterday, I recorded 1 song for about 6 hours, not finding that perfect take yet. But my voice is not tired at all, and it was in a higher key than I originally wrote it in.  You might think, gosh, after recording a song for 6 hours and not getting the take you wanted, that must be frustrating. But really, for me, it was such a joy just to experiment with this new power, control, awareness in my voice, that I don’t mind at all.

Namaste (the highest in me bows to the highest in you)

new york city
august 2010

Jess Sings Spike Hill, Brooklyn

hot child in the city. that’s me. and hot is definitely a description that suits this time of the year. dear lord, summertime in new york city is very much like baking in a concrete oven. even the parks are smoldering. the first few days were stunning weather. cool and sunny, with clouds shape shifting across the sky in the wind. i think just for old times sake, new york is giving me some real good august heat. fortunately for me, i am just visiting.

i have been meeting up with new and old friends, mostly all musicians, from berklee, from china. the world gets smaller and smaller. it’s been so cool to see such high caliber players, to hang and jam with super-joy-filled songwriters, to communicate and share in the language of music. fun.

the other night i saw the Boston Boys, which is Eric Robertson (the writer, singer & badass mandolin player) + guitar (Stash), sax, bass & drums (Nick Falk). super good. like watching bluegrass/jazz on mdma. ha ha. really. and jamming with them later on a rooftop racks up with many of my superb memories.

i went to a jazz jam session in astoria sunday night. i sang two songs, and everyone enjoyed. i think it’s the light in which i am singing that warms rigidity and soothes alot of people’s heart chakras.

i am extremely grateful to my way of living. being able to practice awareness in my yoga/movement/meditation, and practicing it all with life is a way to set the mind free of all the cacaphony that bombards us from the outside as well as the stomping grounds of our minds. the mind likes to be busy in thought, and the practice calms this mental square dance so that the heart can express itself with out the taint of ego-centered blah blah blah. what i notice in new york city among the musicians (who are all excellent in their craft) is a dissatisfaction in the over life they are living. not all * of course,  but there is this mentality that new york is hard, the economy is down, and people aren’t interested in coming out. another belief is that there is a lack of community in the music being created because it is so hard to retain players for a project because everyone is doing the make-money hustle. i see that nyc has many many benefits, and i see the downside. beijing doesn’t have as many high caliber musicians, but it does have a healthy way of existing for the creative musician. it’s been good for me, all these years there. i am able now to project this way of life to no matter where i live. world, here i come.

stay tuned for more bloggin.

relistening to the mixes right now. feels better in some, in others i hear mistakes that i need to correct. so the recording continues on. time passes, it’s colder now. blue skies, sunlight coming thru the south window. a bird tweeterdee-ing.

just trying to remember all the brightness in this process, as the negative is minute and easily quelled with a few deep breaths. i had to teach 2 yoga classes last night in a row, and i really enjoyed being able to focus on something that wasn’t recording. breathing deep for 4 hours will align a human. feeling better.

so i’ll keep updating. my gig on thursday next week the 22nd is still happening at yugong yishan. it will be fun. federico is back, sebastian is new, and that means we will have a really fresh live show. who knows what jokes zac will tell, or if we can get him to teach us the muppet dance again. only one way to find out. show up! keep listening to the tracks on this little widget thingydoodle on the right. i am eventually gonna start selling my tunes on itunes, and i will begin recording a weekly podcast on songwriting featuring how i write or what i am working on. that’s gonna be uber fun.