Music as Mindfulness

One simple way to find peace.
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The spring busy season has begun. Kids are in school plays and taking tests, spring break is giving some space at the same time less structure, and across most of America winter is still here even though Easter us upon us. The news has taken over many of our emotions, seeping into our schools, and causing us fear in places we had never thought before. It can be all overwhelming to say the least.

I was having one of those days a few weeks back. The weather was dark, there was some upset on the news, and some other upsets in my life. I was on the verge of dipping into darkness and fear. That’s when I decided to take control of the day and stop living in the reactions of other people’s dramas. I needed a pick me up and I needed one quick.
 
I shut off the screens, opened up the windows to breathe a breath of cold clean air, and turned on some music.
 
Within 2 songs I was dancing in the kitchen while doing dishes, arms raised, head bobbing. It felt sooo good! I lost all that noise of the day in the beat of the music and suddenly felt better.
 
The water on my hands as I rinsed a dish felt so smooth. The air felt calm. Life felt doable. I felt better. I felt peaceful, happy, balanced.
 
And that’s when I realized music itself can be used as mindfulness!
 
Do you ever remember that feeling? The lost in the world, cannot be distracted, lose yourself in the melody, memories flooding back, hair in the wind, listening to your favorite song feeling? That feeling is mindfulness! That feeling brings you to a place where you are fully in this present moment, not in anyone else’s drama or concerns or fears. You are free in that peaceful zone.
 
When I was little music was all around me. My grandfather was a jazz guitarist, both my parents played in a band, my aunts and uncles all played professionally. and they would gather in our home and play together. My brothers and I all took music lessons, two of them now work professionally as jazz musicians. My nieces and nephews all love and play and are learning music. As my niece once said when asked why everyone was singing in her family, “That’s just what we do in this house.”
 
Music is in my blood. It is the core of me. And yet? I am a writer and an artist. My days are spent thinking and dreaming and writing. I have not played or sang in years. The house is quiet here when I work.
 
After that day I realized I need more music in my life. I need more of that feeling. I need more of the connection, that joy, that emotion, that love of the sweetness of those notes flying through the air into my heart!
 
So my spring resolution is the same advice I gave the kids for The Melodies: “Turn off the TV and play a CD!”
 
Here’s to more music, joy, and peace in our lives!
 
- Jeannine (aka JP Starre)
 
* We will be starting a new Possibility Path and The Possibility Path  for Parents this June!! If you are ready to understand your children and your family at a deep level, feel more confident and prepared than you ever have before, and find direction in your life, then, schedule your free discovery call today with me!
 
@jeannineproulx  -  [email protected]
 
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PS - If you are looking for a great upbeat Mother’s or Father’s Day gift - my awesome brother John Proulx just came out with a new CD with song co-written and featuring Melissa Manchester - from the heart to yours!
 
You can get it here:  
https://www.amazon.com/Say-John-Proulx/dp/B079SMBF3Q
** And for all my LA Peeps!!!
You can see him live April 29th in Studio City!! I’ll be there in spirit. J
VITELLO'S RESTAURANT
4349 TUJUNGA AVE., STUDIO CITY, CA 91604 - T . 818 769 0905
 
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Aloha and much love as you continue on your day! Thanks for all your support of the mothers and children in this amazing world.
 
Supporting the amazing women who do the toughest job of caring for our most precious with balance and serenity.
www.mindfulnessmothers.com

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