Your New Song
In 8 Weeks
Who
Do you feel hesitant and even somewhat apprehensive about returning to “normal” after the experience of COVID in the last year?
Does your heart sink when hearing your friends or family talk about doing things in person again?
Are you still processing your experience from last year and are unsure of how to move forward?
Maybe you had a very difficult and trying time and experienced losses during this past year, as so many have, and are wondering how to return to the world with your grief.
Or even though you felt depressed at the start of the pandemic, you got used to a different routine, and are now experiencing apprehension about returning to normal.
Or you always liked being more sequestered and found you liked how the world felt more quiet, and now you are being pushed or called to engage with the world outside.
Why do you feel as you do?
Sometimes when we don’t feel ready to transition into a new reality is because there is something which we have not had a sense of closure.
sense of closure could mean acknowledging everything that the year meant to you, it could mean letting go, or accepting what was difficult.
It could also mean just the acknowledgement of something ending and welcoming what is new.
Why (My story)
My name is Armando and I help people like you find and express who they truly are in the world, in any arena.
Transitioning into the flow of life, from standing outside of this river while seeing everyone floating by, is something I have been familiar with since I was a child.
I suffered from chronic bronchitis and I still remember the evening before the day I knew I was to return to school, the feeling of a pit in my stomach, the familiar twisting in my chest, as if something bitter had been released into my heart I would not know to call “anxiety” until later in life.
I survived going back to school but I grew up in a way, addicted to these feelings, until I realized it was difficult to imagine being someone who did not have them.
To overcome that anxiety, I embarked into a deep study of a number of personal growth processes and traditions and discovered a multitude of ways in which to overcome fear and anxiety when confronting changes.
I started to work as a social worker, helping people navigate difficult changes in life. I taught mindfulness meditation, Nonviolent Communication, and other tools I discovered.
Over time I began to understand that the way to embrace change is much like one of my greatest passions in life: music.
First, I began to understand, as a teacher how much help was music at a practical level. When teaching meditation, I found many people saying “meditation is not for me”. They would say “it is too boring” or “I can’t sit still”. However, when I played music as I guided meditations, people resistant to meditating, with music they easily and effortlessly entered meditative states.
Second, as I reflected in the years in which I studied music, I found music was also a teacher for many things in life:
First of all, you are yourself when your heart is open. Music is a language of the heart, and when we are in fear, our hearts are separated from life.
Making music, singing, or even listening to music, is always an act of self connection.
When we sing, play an instrument, or listen to music we are deeply present or “in the flow”.Our brain functions in a completely different way, as if we had a different brain. This is because music involves the heart and transforms, in a literal way, our emotional and mental state, into our natural state. How we would be if we were connected and present.
Even though, as a child, I went to school regardless of my fear (I was forced to, or in my mind, I had no other option), my fear still came with me, and I experienced school from a place of separation. In other words, my heart was not in it.
I had no one to guide me into embracing my return to school with my heart.
How different would my experience have been if my fear had dissipated once I came back to school, and learned to enjoy the present?
Second, being present means living from the present while acknowledging the past and future.
When you listening or play music you are in the flow, aware of what came before, and anticipating what comes after, yet you are fully in the present. To truly make music or listen to music, you cannot carry anything with you nor can you be sure of what comes next, even if your mind anticipates you are always surprised.
Third, I can transform my experience.
Music transforms: think of scenes of movies, what would they be without the soundtrack. There is a feeling or flavor that music brings that truly transforms the moment. Whatever is happening, it depends how you embrace, or what music you play, in terms of how you embrace that moment. Is it a terrible moment, or is it an inspiring one? You decide.
Finally it has taught me the importance of enjoyment
My inclination was always that of suffering, no pain, no gain. With music it can’t be like that, because if you are not enjoying making music, in the moment, then you are not making music. Pleasure is a part of music by it’s very definition. If you give yourself to music, you are giving yourself to enjoyment.
It is the same with life, if you give yourself to ife, you will find enjoyment in that surrender.
How will this series help you?
This series will help you uncover your deeper values and integrate them into the new post-covid life.
Why would you want to do that? The experience of the world under covid was that of quieting, and slowing down. This can be an opportunity to return to life, not only surviving the pain, or running after missed pleasures.
Running after pleasures and away from pain will always bring suffering because there is no way of knowing what life has in store.
If you take this opportunity and make it a life defining moment for you, you can return to a new normal, where you are more of you, in your work, in your relationships, and in your community.
When you listen, people talk about finding themselves when they can be themselves. Dolly Parton famously said “Find who you are and do more of that” That is because when you find who you are life is a playground. You attract the right people, the right job, the right life, for you.
Not taking this opportunity will make it less likely you will grow and change for the better. Also, the world is changing even if we don’t. That means that your old ways of doing things and being, overcome by fear of the future, anger at the past or at the present, will become unsustainable.
Now is the time to change, because this year presented you with a priceless opportunity to change your perspective.
How would your life look like if you walked with deeper joy and peace than what you had before this year?
How could it be to transcend your trepidation, fear, and anxiety, and instead uncover the deepest values of this past year and bring them into reality?
How would your life look? Would you be still in the same job? Hold the same dreams?
In this class we will look at:
1 Tunning Up - Tune in to your true or higher self regardless of any feeling you might be experiencing. Anxiety, anger, or fear. I will show you a number of approaches to transform debilitating and difficult emotions that don’t allow you to truly be yourself.
2 Know your song, with this change of perspective, you have an opportunity to deeply know yourself and who you are. Some people call it a purpose, or deeper values. But we each bring our uniqueness, depending on your make up and your nature. When an instrument plays a note, you are hearing a unique combination of harmonics that give that particular sound, what is called "timber." You have a unique timber, and a unique song to bring.
3 Sing it! Once you know your song, it is important to have a plan, how are you going to bring it, to express it? Otherwise you will be captured by the same routines of the world, that calls you deeper and deeper into forgetting yourself.
I look forward to seeing you in this series and return to life with a New Song.
To register click the link below
If you are not able to register now but would still receive information about other events or classes in the future.
Do you feel hesitant and even somewhat apprehensive about returning to “normal” after the experience of COVID in the last year?
Does your heart sink when hearing your friends or family talk about doing things in person again?
Are you still processing your experience from last year and are unsure of how to move forward?
Maybe you had a very difficult and trying time and experienced losses during this past year, as so many have, and are wondering how to return to the world with your grief.
Or even though you felt depressed at the start of the pandemic, you got used to a different routine, and are now experiencing apprehension about returning to normal.
Or you always liked being more sequestered and found you liked how the world felt more quiet, and now you are being pushed or called to engage with the world outside.
Why do you feel as you do?
Sometimes when we don’t feel ready to transition into a new reality is because there is something which we have not had a sense of closure.
sense of closure could mean acknowledging everything that the year meant to you, it could mean letting go, or accepting what was difficult.
It could also mean just the acknowledgement of something ending and welcoming what is new.
Why (My story)
My name is Armando and I help people like you find and express who they truly are in the world, in any arena.
Transitioning into the flow of life, from standing outside of this river while seeing everyone floating by, is something I have been familiar with since I was a child.
I suffered from chronic bronchitis and I still remember the evening before the day I knew I was to return to school, the feeling of a pit in my stomach, the familiar twisting in my chest, as if something bitter had been released into my heart I would not know to call “anxiety” until later in life.
I survived going back to school but I grew up in a way, addicted to these feelings, until I realized it was difficult to imagine being someone who did not have them.
To overcome that anxiety, I embarked into a deep study of a number of personal growth processes and traditions and discovered a multitude of ways in which to overcome fear and anxiety when confronting changes.
I started to work as a social worker, helping people navigate difficult changes in life. I taught mindfulness meditation, Nonviolent Communication, and other tools I discovered.
Over time I began to understand that the way to embrace change is much like one of my greatest passions in life: music.
First, I began to understand, as a teacher how much help was music at a practical level. When teaching meditation, I found many people saying “meditation is not for me”. They would say “it is too boring” or “I can’t sit still”. However, when I played music as I guided meditations, people resistant to meditating, with music they easily and effortlessly entered meditative states.
Second, as I reflected in the years in which I studied music, I found music was also a teacher for many things in life:
First of all, you are yourself when your heart is open. Music is a language of the heart, and when we are in fear, our hearts are separated from life.
Making music, singing, or even listening to music, is always an act of self connection.
When we sing, play an instrument, or listen to music we are deeply present or “in the flow”.Our brain functions in a completely different way, as if we had a different brain. This is because music involves the heart and transforms, in a literal way, our emotional and mental state, into our natural state. How we would be if we were connected and present.
Even though, as a child, I went to school regardless of my fear (I was forced to, or in my mind, I had no other option), my fear still came with me, and I experienced school from a place of separation. In other words, my heart was not in it.
I had no one to guide me into embracing my return to school with my heart.
How different would my experience have been if my fear had dissipated once I came back to school, and learned to enjoy the present?
Second, being present means living from the present while acknowledging the past and future.
When you listening or play music you are in the flow, aware of what came before, and anticipating what comes after, yet you are fully in the present. To truly make music or listen to music, you cannot carry anything with you nor can you be sure of what comes next, even if your mind anticipates you are always surprised.
Third, I can transform my experience.
Music transforms: think of scenes of movies, what would they be without the soundtrack. There is a feeling or flavor that music brings that truly transforms the moment. Whatever is happening, it depends how you embrace, or what music you play, in terms of how you embrace that moment. Is it a terrible moment, or is it an inspiring one? You decide.
Finally it has taught me the importance of enjoyment
My inclination was always that of suffering, no pain, no gain. With music it can’t be like that, because if you are not enjoying making music, in the moment, then you are not making music. Pleasure is a part of music by it’s very definition. If you give yourself to music, you are giving yourself to enjoyment.
It is the same with life, if you give yourself to ife, you will find enjoyment in that surrender.
How will this series help you?
This series will help you uncover your deeper values and integrate them into the new post-covid life.
Why would you want to do that? The experience of the world under covid was that of quieting, and slowing down. This can be an opportunity to return to life, not only surviving the pain, or running after missed pleasures.
Running after pleasures and away from pain will always bring suffering because there is no way of knowing what life has in store.
If you take this opportunity and make it a life defining moment for you, you can return to a new normal, where you are more of you, in your work, in your relationships, and in your community.
When you listen, people talk about finding themselves when they can be themselves. Dolly Parton famously said “Find who you are and do more of that” That is because when you find who you are life is a playground. You attract the right people, the right job, the right life, for you.
Not taking this opportunity will make it less likely you will grow and change for the better. Also, the world is changing even if we don’t. That means that your old ways of doing things and being, overcome by fear of the future, anger at the past or at the present, will become unsustainable.
Now is the time to change, because this year presented you with a priceless opportunity to change your perspective.
How would your life look like if you walked with deeper joy and peace than what you had before this year?
How could it be to transcend your trepidation, fear, and anxiety, and instead uncover the deepest values of this past year and bring them into reality?
How would your life look? Would you be still in the same job? Hold the same dreams?
In this class we will look at:
1 Tunning Up - Tune in to your true or higher self regardless of any feeling you might be experiencing. Anxiety, anger, or fear. I will show you a number of approaches to transform debilitating and difficult emotions that don’t allow you to truly be yourself.
2 Know your song, with this change of perspective, you have an opportunity to deeply know yourself and who you are. Some people call it a purpose, or deeper values. But we each bring our uniqueness, depending on your make up and your nature. When an instrument plays a note, you are hearing a unique combination of harmonics that give that particular sound, what is called "timber." You have a unique timber, and a unique song to bring.
3 Sing it! Once you know your song, it is important to have a plan, how are you going to bring it, to express it? Otherwise you will be captured by the same routines of the world, that calls you deeper and deeper into forgetting yourself.
I look forward to seeing you in this series and return to life with a New Song.
To register click the link below
If you are not able to register now but would still receive information about other events or classes in the future.
Music of Mindfulness
Working with Stress and Anxiety
Stress and Anxiety while a delibitating chronic condition, can also be a messanger of a deeper awakening into our true nature. Can we hear the message and find a deeper harmony and meaning in the world?
Join us for a three hour dive into transforming your own areas where you hold stress and anxiety.
Original songs and live music, meditations and tools to:
Time: 2pm to 5pm
Self investment: $40 and $50 at the door (day of the event)
Location: in and around Santa Cruz, CA
Join us for a three hour dive into transforming your own areas where you hold stress and anxiety.
Original songs and live music, meditations and tools to:
- Understand the causes, roots, and effects of our stress and anxiety
- Learn ways to self sooth and relax your nerves
- Experience a deeper harmony with yourself and the world
Time: 2pm to 5pm
Self investment: $40 and $50 at the door (day of the event)
Location: in and around Santa Cruz, CA
Music of Mindfulness
Working with Anger
Anger can be an empowering emotion, though it can also lead us to act in ways we may regret later. How can we use anger in an empowering way? Find the compassionate yet firm tone in your speech and actions.
Join us for a three hour dive into transforming your own areas where you hold anger and resentment. Original songs and live music, meditations and tools to:
Date: Saturday May 25th
Time: 2pm to 5pm
Self investment: $40 and $50 at the door (day of the event)
Location: in and around Santa Cruz, CA
To register please email armando@musicofmindfulness.com. You will receive information regarding location and payment method.
Join us for a three hour dive into transforming your own areas where you hold anger and resentment. Original songs and live music, meditations and tools to:
- * Understand the causes and effects of our anger
- * Transform anger into empowerment
- * Find harmony and peace with yourself and others
Date: Saturday May 25th
Time: 2pm to 5pm
Self investment: $40 and $50 at the door (day of the event)
Location: in and around Santa Cruz, CA
To register please email armando@musicofmindfulness.com. You will receive information regarding location and payment method.
Music of Mindfulness
Rock Your Relationship
Throughout this series of 3 workshops you will have the opportunity to dive deep into your own feelings and experience while learning and using tools to transform your relationships. We will be exploring the following subjects
Each workshop consists of a meditation, interactive and experiential practices, and ends with original music and contemplation.
The interactive and experiential practices are based on different approaches such as NVC, The Work of Byron Katie, Sedona Method, and others.
Bring a journal and writing utensil with you!
Armando Alcaraz helps people find inner peace in the midst of difficulties.
He has taught in the community and in jails in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties for the last several years. Armando draws wisdom from mindfulness, sound healing, and other contemporary processes to improve relationships and relieve suffering.
- Forgiving and Opening
- Communicating with Compassion
- Evolving with the Relationship
Each workshop consists of a meditation, interactive and experiential practices, and ends with original music and contemplation.
The interactive and experiential practices are based on different approaches such as NVC, The Work of Byron Katie, Sedona Method, and others.
Bring a journal and writing utensil with you!
Armando Alcaraz helps people find inner peace in the midst of difficulties.
He has taught in the community and in jails in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties for the last several years. Armando draws wisdom from mindfulness, sound healing, and other contemporary processes to improve relationships and relieve suffering.