Dear Friends,
We're thrilled to have the wonderful Mark Korven playing with us on
his unique and fabulous Sarello (cello and sarangi combined). for our
next Music Meditation in Toronto
please join us February 24th @ The Inner Garden
tickets are $10@ the door and available on a limited seating basis, if you wish to reserve tickets in advance please RSVP
please enjoy our healing music mantra, a token for your love & support, & a blessed reminder of how simple it can be to find peace.
please right click ( or control click for you mac-peeps) and hit save to download a wallpaper-sized version
if you would like a high-resolution version of this mantra,
please subscribe to our healing music memoirs.
( at the top right hand of this pretty-page )
you may then right click to save/download the below, and print to enjoy <3
In Ireland, I played at some wonderful healing events that Jackie O'Keefe (lovely spiritual leader) helped to set up in both Dublin and Galway. I loved everyplace I played but one of the most powerful was at the Spirit Centre in Galway. The centre is on a little island right in the middle of the town called Nun's Island. The group that gathered was very magical, one fellow drove from across Ireland! (not so far really)
I am mostly Irish by descent and something very ancient, ancestral came through that night in the music.
Then for big fun I would recommend to anyone going to Ireland to visit Bridgit's Garden just outside of Galway. I played there in a beautiful round thatched hut and after the Music Meditation I sat in the bog log throne...I felt like the Queen of the Pixies!
We had a wonderful road trip across Ireland. Thanks to Joanne, (my friend since I was 4 ) for driving. We were on one of the most difficult highways to drive in Europe, but also one of the most gorgeous. We travelled to as many Megalithic Burial Sites as we could manage and I offered a Music Meditation at all of them.
...we visited many smaller sites off the beaten path and were often the only ones there.
I also played at Glendalough, such beautiful ancient ruins and an inspiring spiritual site.
On an earlier trip to Ireland I had visited Glendalough and also to a nearby German cemetery and knew I would return and play at both spots.
The German cemetery is one of the most peaceful and beautiful cemeteries I have ever been to. During the Second World War the German boys who died were buried here and this is now a bit of Germany in Ireland.
This cemetery is nearby the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, a wonderful and peaceful spot that offers a healing centre for the country. The church there has a particularly peaceful feeling and we made a stop there for me to play and offer a meditation for peace.
- copyright 2011 debbie danbrook an except from healing music memoirs
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The trip to Rwanda just materialized. I had heard about the Genocide Memorial years ago from Catriona and had felt a pull to go and offer a Music Meditation there but Africa seemed so far away, so many shots and immunizations to take….. When I heard that the first folk festival in Kigali (the capital of Rwanda) was being planned and if I played there I could combine that event with a Music Meditation at the Memorial, I figured I could go to Africa on the way to Ireland! Luckily I decided in my heart that I was meant to go before I checked on a map and saw that it was a bit further then I had anticipated.
Rwanda was totally unexpected for me - this is really surprising but it reminded me of Japan in so many ways. The people are very kind and reserved; their demeanour is very much like the Japanese. The aesthetic is also often similar; sometimes I would see a garden and feel like I was in Japan. Some of the beautiful countryside was also similar to the Japanese landscape. And of course both peoples have experienced huge grief and managed to carry on and rebuild.
Playing at the Genocide Memorial was one of the most powerful Music Meditations of my life. It wasn't painful, it felt peaceful but also with huge energy moving through me at the same time. Again, similar to during the trip to Japan, I felt a multitude of souls but this time all arrayed behind me and part of the energy that was coming through with the music. It was profound and beautiful and I am so glad I went to Africa and offered this Music Meditation. 2011 was the year to do it for sure and it was also the year for me to experience this connection between Japan and Rwanda.
Now the BEST thing ever. I climbed a mountain, went into the jungle and hung out with gorillas!!!!!!!! It was truly one of the neatest things I have ever done. I had no idea how fantastic it would be. The gorillas are just incredible, their eyes are so soulful. I loved every minute of being with them, we were just a few feet away and of course I had a fun encounter. I had my cute little pink camera and I was getting fabulous footage of the 500 pound silverback male (big) gorilla walking towards me. Then suddenly my camera is all juggled around as the guide picks me up by the shoulders and moves me over - I was in the gorilla's favourite spot I guess! The big guy flopped down on his back with a huge sigh of relaxation. Wow. Then one by one all the other gorillas, including the cutest little babies, came and cuddled together. I loved their hands and fingers. Folks have asked me if I was scared and I wasn't in the least. The only unnerving thing were the 'gorilla calming noises' the main guide made, weird grunting sounds, so that the gorillas would know where we were at all times. The really good thing about this gorilla visiting program is that they are now protected at all times and no longer killed by poachers. As we left a group of armed guards were there to keep the gorilla family safe.
some of the incredible video footage from Rwanda:
The Kigali Up Folk Festival was great! Congratulations to The Mighty Popo for arranging this wonderful event. We had a wee bit of rain (actually it poured buckets) and I played for groups of folks huddled under the tents. Everyone was so excited to hear my flute and to listen to my talks about Healing Music. Rwanda is a country on the upswing, lots of new construction, lots of new events and lots of positive, healing energy among the people.
- copyright debbie danbrook - an excerpt from the 2011 healing music memoirs
The first big trip was to Japan at the end of March. The tsunami disaster was such a shock and my heart felt frozen with the news.
I was in touch with my Japanese friends as soon as I could reach them and they were all well but the thought of the impending nuclear disaster was too horrible to fathom. My annual Japan Music Meditation tour was cancelled and I was wondering if I should still go. Everyday I read about the condition of the nuclear reactors and then one evening while eating at a traditional Japanese restaurant I just knew
I was being called to Japan. Two weeks after the disaster I arrived in Tokyo to an empty airport. Surreal is the word that kept coming to me throughout that trip. You know those super long corridors in airports
that have the moving sidewalks? I was walking with Steve in the semi-dark (electricity was being saved and so lights were very dim in public buildings) and we were the only people in the huge corridor.
Another very surreal scene were all the empty cherry blossom gardens.
The arrival of the cherry blossoms is a huge celebration in Japan and there are always festivals and events going on throughout the country and people taking a million pictures. This year the cherry blossoms were seen in silence. The whole country was in mourning and there was that hushed stillness you feel at a memorial or funeral.
My friends were so grateful I had come and I was so happy to see them all. Steve and I participated in a Healing Music and Dance Benefit for Japan. I was so grateful I could offer my music to help. It was a beautiful and poignant time for me at my temple there. During this trip I was also offering a small memorial at the temple for a loved one.
Because of the cancelled tour I arrived on a different day then originally planned - the one day in the year that all the paper offerings are burned in a big ceremony. There was incense smoke and ash everywhere and it was huge release of all the grief from the past year, including the grief from the tragedy.
I love my temple and I am so blessed to have the energy of this sacred site in my life.
My heart was ripped apart from the experiences from this trip. When I was travelling home in the plane I felt a multitude of souls moving
on. Time has healed my heart but of course I have been changed by this healing.
A big part of my heart is always in Japan and even more so after this year.
I have concluded my fundraising efforts for Japan and I would like to
thank all the friends who have donated their time, love, and funds to
help raise over $5,000. The money has been donated to my friend who is
a doctor and head of a hospital in Nagoya. Please go to my website and
click on the Japan section to read about his visit to help in the devastated areas.
- copyright - debbie danbrook an excerpt from the 2011 healing music memoirs a - .x
In Ireland, I played at some wonderful healing events that Jackie O'Keefe (lovely spiritual leader) helped to set up in both Dublin and Galway. I loved everyplace I played but one of the most powerful was at the Spirit Centre in Galway. The centre is on a little island right in the middle of the town called Nun's Island. The group that gathered was very magical, one fellow drove from across Ireland! (not so far really) 
Rwanda was totally unexpected for me - this is really surprising but it reminded me of Japan in so many ways. The people are very kind and reserved;
I was in the gorilla's favourite spot 
I was in touch with my Japanese friends as soon as I could reach them and they were all well but the thought of the impending nuclear disaster was too horrible to fathom. My annual Japan Music Meditation tour was cancelled and I was wondering if I should still go. Everyday I read about the condition of the nuclear reactors and then one evening while eating at a traditional Japanese restaurant I just knew
I was being called to Japan. Two weeks after the disaster I arrived in Tokyo to an empty airport. Surreal is the word that kept coming to me throughout that trip. You know those super long corridors in airports
