It is such a joy for me to announce the release of my final single of 2024: This Love. It will be officially streaming worldwide on 12/12.
In case you missed it I have released four singles prior to this one and all can be heard on my Bandcamp page or on all your favorite streaming platforms. You will see them below
8/8 Everything is Magic
9/9 Structure/Flow
10/10 Love is Happening
11/11 Cold Hard Stone
This final release of This Love on 12/12 is an offering of my heart to the world. I hope you will enjoy and share
These songs are a part of a larger project called 777, That I will be fully expressing and sharing in 2025. My retreat in Ireland in June at Creacon Wellness Retreat Center will also include the energy of this project. Please join me and give yourself the gift of Self-compassion and Joy.
If you would like to be me live join me at Dennisport Yoga on Dec. 21 for a Winter Solstice experience along with Leigh and Joanna.
May your December be filled with unexpected surprises of love, peace, joy, creativity and connection.
It’s July 1st and tomorrow I head out on an adventure to my two favorite I countrys: Ireland and Italy. Ireland has been one of my go to places for almost 20 years. After meeting spiritual teacher Derek O’Neill in NYC in 2005, I have been to Ireland and his family’s healing center almost every year since. Creacon Wellness Retreat is situated in New Ross, Wexford County and through all the changes over the years, it remains a most sacred place for me and many others.
After that little visit, I then take off into the great unknown for a meditation retreat on the island of Ischia with the Happiness Sangha. This is the reward I have given myself for making it through one of the most difficult years I have ever lived – not that too much bad stuff was happening externally – more like a perfect storm on the inside – almost like every loss, doubt, fear I ever had about myself as a human and a spiritual being was activated – speaking really loud internally. My only choice was to listen and love it all. oh Joy!
And that is the truth. Oh joy. This harrowing journey of self-reckoning, loss and healing invited me into an even deeper, more authentic expression of my true self and all the joy and sorrow that entails. (new music coming soon ;))
What helped me this past year and what has always helped me is practicing mantra. What is mantra, you may ask? In preparing to write this I looked up online the actual definitions of mantra – there were many. Here is one I resonate with:
From Deepak Chopra’s website: “In our westernized, modern-day spiritual practices the word “mantra” has become as mainstream as “intention.” But the two are actually quite different. The word mantra can be broken down into two parts: “man,” which means mind, and “tra,” which means transport or vehicle. In other words, a mantra is an instrument of the mind—a powerful sound or vibration that you can use to enter a deep state of meditation.
Like a seed planted with the intention of blossoming into a beautiful perennial, a mantra can be thought of as a seed for energizing an intention. Much in the same way you plant a flower seed, you plant mantras in the fertile soil of practice. You nurture them and over time they bear the fruit of your intention.
I have been using mantra and contemplative prayer my whole life. A mantra my mom used which was one of my first recordings is known as a prayer of loving kindness goes like this:
May I be at peace May my heart remain open May I awaken the to the light of my own true nature May I be healed May I be a source of healing for all beings
These mantras are in Sanskrit but mantras can also be in English and as simple as “I am loved and I am lovable” (see Chopra for lots of great teachings on mantras and meditation). I have a song called I am that I am, which many use like a mantra.
No matter what is happening in your life or in your mind, you can tune into mantras that help sustain and create what it is you truly want in your life. Tune into me, tune into to you, tune into whatever or whoever feels right and empowered.
When I return from this trip I will be offering one-on-one mantra healing sessions as well as group classes sharing more of what I have learned and practiced using mantra. Have a beautiful July and I will see you on the other side of my great adventure into Love, self-compassion and joy joy joy!
I am writing from Cincinnati, having settled in here for about a week. After all the traveling, it has been nice to land. Preperations are under way for the first ever Gaia’s Love Festival and I am beyond grateful to be here offering my music and supporting the vision of my friend Vivienne Gerard, There are still some tickets left, so if you resonate with the energy, be sure to register HERE.
Before I got to Cincinnati, I completed my journey through Canada, came over the border at Detroit, had a brief stop in Ann Arbor before arriving in Cincy. So let’s rewind a little.
Last place I mentioned was Brittania Beach in Ottawa, Ontario. What a cool spot. I met some wonderful sound and yoga practitioners and they have invited me back to play at their Bhakti in the Woods Celebration – maybe August of 2020. That would be fun. Here is a picture of Rebecca’s apartment and all her Gongs. No matter where I travel, the Universal Energies always make sure I am give the opportunity to retune myself as much as I like. I am so grateful for the many Beings on this planet using Sound to awaken and balance themselves and others. What a gift to be one who creates Conscious Sound.
From Brittania Beach, I made my way to the Algonquin National Park, stayed at an air BnB in in Whitney, ON just at the edge of the east entrance to the park, hiked and swam my way through the park and then landed at my Friday Jim Grant’s home for a couple days. What a gift this time was. I joked I was going to write a blog called “How mosquitoes are enlightening me”, but will save that for another time.
For now here are some pics of the beautiful land I was blessed to experience. I sang the Algonquin Water Song often. You can hear it at the beginning of my song I am the Ocean. Or watch this extraordinary video of the Grandmothers. listen to the sound as you look at the pictures.
love seeing these
Being with Jim and Betz and fellow friends Ellen and her family was truly nourishing and inspiring. From fresh baked breads (check out The Oxtongue Baker), to ice cold micro brew on the dock, to beautiful deep conversations about why we are here and how best we can become our truest and most peaceful selves.
aaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuummmmmmm
Thank you Jim and Betz and all at Chape Inn. I hope to be back soon.
From there I made my way to Toronto for a night. It was incredibly hot that day – remember that crazy heat wave that was everywhere, so I mostly walked around a lot drenched in sweat. I did have a wonderful conversation with a local bartender, originally from Hawaii, who wanted to buy me a shot because he was so enjoying our conversation. He told me our time together helped him feel much better about Americans. I am happy to serve. 😉
From there I drove through some beautiful farmland of Canada, spent a couple days in the Niagara-On-the-Lake area, mostly resting and staying cool. This place made me a little home sick for the Cape, I must admit. Around this time I was really longing for magical swim in Barnstable Harbor.
And then off into the absolutely sweltering heat of the tunnel from Windsor, ON to Detroit Michigan. What an experience!
There was a LOT of traffic and I was asked many many questions as I re-entered the US. I realized after the fact, that the nice man just couldn’t quiet understand why I was driving so much and travelling by myself as a woman. sigh.
He literally said to me, “Next time you should bring a friend.” I told him I had my music.
Pretty sure this was like driving to the Cape on a Saturday around noon. OOPS!!
After that somewhat annoying journey through the tunnel and over the border, I arrived at a most magical air BnB in Ann Arbor Michigan. The funny thing is when I arrived there was no power in much of the city. Remember that crazy weather….
The good news was I had a grand piano just steps from where I was sleeping. What a treat! I even wrote a few tunes. I had forgotten how inspiring it was to write on a grand piano. so fun!
My final leg landed me in Cincinnati on Sunday night staying with my friend Tera for a few days, then another friend Alice in Northern Kentucky, and then eventually landing at Viv’s on Thursday. We all enjoyed a super fun house concert on Friday, celebrating the Galactic New Year and completing the celebrations of my new album 12 Rebirth.
While I was with Tera, we made a trip to see Serpent Mound. Very cool.
Serpent Mound
It has been wonderful reconnecting and hanging by the pool with Viv and her family, allowing myself to recharge and move a little slower after all that driving and traveling. And I had another wonderful experience with gongs, not soon after I arrived, again feeling the grace and gratitude for how healing sound is always present in my vicinity, kind of like Magic.
Now, I am enjoying the energy build to Saturday and performing at Gaia’s Love Festival. To learn more about this festival and how it evolved from Viv’s book One Day Gaia’s Gifts, visit her website.
While driving around Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, there are many bridges. It seems no matter where I go, I end up on some highway and crossing some part of the river somewhere. This had me thinking about bridges this morning.
View of Cincinnati from Kentucky
Right now, I feel like I am halfway across a bridge. I can still see where I came from – the known place I had been living in and being me, as well as the place I am going – a little less known and unclear. What is it like to be half way across a bridge? How do we trust we can keep going and not turn back towards what is familiar?
Imagine if the bridge wasn’t solid. Like in that scene from A Wrinkle in Time, where the staircase only appears when she takes a step into what looks like nothing.
This is where we are now. At least that’s what if feels like to me.
Tomorrow is a new moon and mercury goes direct.. Then we head into what is known as the Lion’s Gate energetically.
There have been many moments in which I half found myself throughout my human journey halfway across a bridge. The last time I felt this much excitement and unknown at the same time was the summer of 2009, before I moved to Egypt.
The Sun rising at the Pyramids in Giza on 11/11/2009
hmmmmmmmm.
In past moments, I have not always had the courage to take the full leap into the unknown and see what happens. This time, however, I have never felt so ready or so joyful to keep walking step by step allowing the bridge – the LIGHT BRIDGE – to appear moment by moment.
Alicia Mathewson 