In this workshop,which took place at Merge in Downtown Iowa City, I saw this philosophy in action. Every activity that was conducted for the hour and a half long event incrementally pushed me more and more out of my comfort zone.

From picking up a complete stranger as I guided him through a visualization routine to telling a group of strangers a story where I overcame a personal obstacle, I constantly found myself in a position I’m typically reluctant to enter.

I literally had to tell a complete stranger to envision a ball of gold in his stomach, and shift it to a visualized halo above his head. After he did so, I was told to pick him up and see if he got lighter.

As weird and voodoo as it sounds, my doubtful notions diminished when I picked this nice man Trevor up and he seemed to be twenty pounds lighter. Probably sounds insane from an outside perspective, but I guess you can say it was a you had to be there moment.

As for knowledge, we discussed what it means to take risks, particularly in the creative process. We practiced mechanisms to help cope with risk taking, particularly breathing exercises. A big lesson I brought out of this workshop was how breathing plays such a pivotal role in calming the body in mind when in the face of taking risk.

Typically when you are at the risk of something, breathing becomes choppy, leading to your heart rate increasing and your body kicking into its fear instincts. As a result, we find ourselves extremely uncomfortable when in a position where we are working with the unknown.

To help cope with this anxiety, the workshop stresses to control your breathing. Instead of letting your fear control it, take deep belly breathes. For such a simple process, deep breathing has a profound effect.

As the workshop attendees each took their personal time to focus on lengthening their breaths and directing it to the stomach, it felt as if the air in the room got calmer.

The faces of the people around me got less tense, and an explicit paradigm shift occurred. Some voodoo mechanisms were practiced in this workshop, but there is no denying the magic they entail to the practitioner.

The pivotal lesson ingrained in this workshop is to always stay grounded in authenticity when taking risks, to sit with the emotion, and trust the process. I believe everyone has some sort of creative boundary they can push by taking risks, and this workshop instilled some knowledge as to how to make this happen in reality through personal experience.

The post Witching Hour: Risk-Taking and the Authentic Self @ Merge 10/21/17 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

I went into the Witching Hour workshop having the intent of having a relaxing, laid-back time. The description entailed laying on the ground with pillows and a blanket. What did I have to lose?

What I wasn’t expecting was the soul-cleansing, self-transcendent work I would be doing on myself. This workshop had me so deep in my feels, I thought I was never going to come out of them.

For the first fifteen minutes or so, the workshop instructor philosophized on how us humans go through our life journeys all fighting an internal war for peace.

We can’t seem to let go of hard experiences of the past, letting them linger in our present mind and taint our perspective. No matter how much pain it brings, we find ourselves clinging onto repressed memories and emotions instead of simply letting go.

The way he broke down the human condition and the suffering it entails definitely had me deep in reflection. He discussed the spectrum of emotion that life entails. The negative side of this spectrum consists of fear. He stressed how any negative emotion, thought process, or

perception we hold is all rooted in fear.

Since I will be graduating this semester and have been filled with a deep dread and anxiety of what the future holds, this struck a chord deep within me.

The claustrophobic and anxious emotions I’ve been experiencing, the stressful thoughts of finding a job, it all boils down to fear. Fear of the future, fear of the unknown, fear of screwing up, its the causation of all the suffering I find myself under.

It is through its opposing force of love, however, that this fear can be washed away. He stressed the importance of seeing everything as divine. Even though a person, experience, or emotion currently facing you may have a negative feeling connected to it, we must look for the silver lining in it all.

In addition to seeking guidance and insight through love and positivity, some individuals may turn to psychic readings as a way to gain clarity and perspective on their fears and anxieties. While some may be hesitant to try psychic readings due to skepticism or uncertainty, Get a Free Online Psychic Reading and it can be a great way to explore this practice without committing to a full session. By connecting with a trusted and experienced psychic, individuals can receive personalized insights and guidance on how to move forward with confidence and courage. Whether facing a difficult decision, a major life transition or simply seeking a deeper understanding of oneself and the world around us, psychic readings can offer a unique and valuable perspective on our fears and uncertainties.

At the end of the day, we are all still standing strong after all of the hardships we have faced in our past.

Through this workshop, he aimed to tune our collective mind to the all healing love frequency, and to come to peace with ourselves and the outside world. For the past 400 or so years, these giant bronze bells have been the door to the love dimension, getting used by spiritual healers and shamans across the globe.

Regardless of your spiritual views or religious affiliation, you can’t help but feel the power of these gongs. For 45 minutes, I laid back on the Englert Theatre stage, and let these sounds reverberate through my body and mind. If we’re being real here, I completely lost track of time and where I was because I was so washed away by these resonant sounds.

It seemed like a 15 minute experience at tops, and I was literally soaring through my mind and imagination like a madman. It may have been because I was tired and a bit hungover, but that is of course besides the point.

I couldn’t help but feel spiritually cleansed walking out of the Englert theater after this workshop, feeling much lighter on my feet and with a fresh, healthier perspective.

The post Witching Hour : Doorway to Intuition: Gong Bath and Sound Healing Meditation @ Englert Theatre 10/21/2017 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Now imagine this feeling haunting you endlessly since you were working off a PC that was broke as hell and died on you every 30 minutes. Even worse, picture this happening to you in the corner of your parents’ basement as you’re trying to complete and drop your fire mixtape on SoundCloud.

Although the last part is probably completely irrelevant to your experience, there is one person out there that had to live through this tragedy. Kaytranada, or formally known in his basement home as Louis Kevin Celestin, is a Haitian born producer and DJ who was raised in Montreal after he moved there as an infant. Most notoriously known for his debut studio album 99.9%, this man saw his music dreams come alive from a piss-poor PC in a dark corner of his parents’ basement.

It was from a very young age that Kay’s life was consumed by the world of music. Introduced to the art through his dad spinning Michael Jackson and Bob Marley albums in his living room, Kay took a quick obsession to music, looking to get his hands on it in anyway possible. By the time he was only 14 years old, he started producing and mixing his own music.

It hasn’t been a straight path to the top for the dude, as he has fought through the trials and tribulations of a starving artist. Constantly finding himself at a crossroad between following his musical passion or his parents’ demands, Kaytranada decided to take the high road early on.

He recalls in a Complex interview conducted late September (full interview below) the moment he chose to follow his path of passion. Caught in a decision between fulfilling his mother’s wishes of finishing school and touring Europe, he bet all odds against himself and headed across the pond to show his art to the world. Needless to say, he took the road less traveled and hasn’t looked back since.

Within a few years of making this life-changing decision, Kay’s music transcended. Starting from having a Soundcloud presence rooted in his parent’s basement, he soon found himself walking with the stars. Within a few years, he was rewarded the Polaris Music Prize for his debut studio album 99.9% and was collaborating with widely known artists such as Anderson .Paak, Syd, and Vic Mensa. To top it all off, 99.9% was recorded in the basement in which it all began. Somehow, this dude made living in your parents’ basement look cool. Mad props.

Rated as a 8.0 on Pitchfork, Kay’s debut studio 99.9% album embodies a sound that is explicitly unorthodox. Containing drum tracks that are constantly shifting gears and warping, the album produces a sonic vibe that has your ears thrown off by his unique approach to music.

As for structure, the album is an outskirt from typical hip hop or pop projects. One noticable structural element the album contains is songs that are pure instrumentals, something rarely or never found in popular music. By creating songs with this style, his music leaves an abundance of space to let your mind do the work and fill in the lyrical blanks with your personal stream of thought.

Despite his out-of-the box elements, Kaytranada defines himself in the music world through his disco-dance and hip-hop driven elements. In his synth infused track “You’re the One (feat Syd)”, Kay paints a 70’s dance floor type of vibe that makes it impossible not to move to the free flowing groove.

He also lays down some hip-hop influenced, drum driven beats that leave a smooth landing strip for rap artists such as Anderson .Paak and Vic Mensa to drop some fiery vocals over. By fusing these two elements into his style, he contains a sound that can fit multitudes of scenes, ranging from a pre-game to chilling on a beach.

Outside of his great success achieved through his debut studio album, Kaytranada has been touring the world performing at big name festivals such as Lollapalooza, Sasquatch! Music Festival, and Coachella.  For only being 25 years of age, he has already left a lasting imprint in the music world and has been slowly recognized by big producers such as Pharrell Williams.

Looking back at where his music has brought him, Kaytranada was asked for a piece of advice to be given to hungry artists trying to figure out their path.

“If you feel like you’re doing your thing don’t let nobody talk down on you…if you feel driven in your heart and you love what you do more than anything else man just go for it no matter what it is…deep down in your heart you know what you want.”

Coming from a dude who’s dream began taking shape in a broken PC in his parents’ basement, Kaytranada is a walking reflection of these words of wisdom.

The full-length interview with Complex can be found below.

The post Artist Bio: Kaytranada appeared first on KRUI Radio.