Creativity And Self Healing

An episode of my 'You-Ni-Verse' podcast, about creativity and its role in healing our self. I discuss one of my songs, Saraswati, and my process in creating this song. I talk about how to connect deeply to your own bliss doing whatever it is that you love, helps you to transcend negative self beliefs and see them for what they are: phantoms of the past still haunting you in the present. I hope you find this useful for connecting deeper to your own bliss, which is essentially a meditative state.

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

This is Akasha and you're listening to The Universe Podcast,

A place where I share with you different tools,

Tips and techniques to help you deepen your inner connection and find inner peace.

So hello and welcome to episode four of series three of The Universe Podcast.

Today I am really excited to let you know that my universe album is here.

So this is an album of six songs that have been recorded in Bali in the years 2015 and 2020.

All written by me and arranged and produced by me with the help of my producer Ruben Blasthik Samyor in Malaysia.

So I wanted to share with you a few snippets of some of these songs today and just talk to you a little bit about the process of songwriting and song creation for any of you out there who are also involved in this or interested in creating your own songs.

And I think this process is quite similar to any artistic process so I think it will also be relevant to you if you're creating other things like writing or painting.

So the first song I want to share with you is called Saraswati and Saraswati is the god goddess of wisdom,

Knowledge,

Education and the creative arts in the Hindu pantheon of gods.

So she's a pretty popular one to sing about for any of the mantra chanting people.

So in Kirtan sessions,

So Kirtan is a practice where people sing together guided by a leader,

Usually mantra songs style songs are quite repetitive songs which are designed to get you in touch with your higher self and beyond the thinking mind for anyone who hasn't been to a Kirtan.

So I was lucky enough last year in 2020 to be invited to share mantras with Kevin James,

He's quite a well known singer songwriter in this field of Kirtan around the world and he just happened to be quarantined right next to me where I live up in North Bali.

So he started some Kirtan chanting evenings at sunset,

We would sit in front of the sea in this beautiful North Bali coast,

It's black sand beaches there because it's volcanic and we would sing songs as the sun was going down twice a week.

So after one of these singing sessions I came home and I was just thinking about some ideas for new songs that could come to me and I listened to a mantra by Krishna Das who is another very well known Kirtan leader from the US and I listened to his Saraswati mantra and I was really touched by the melody and the energy of Krishna Das and as I was listening to this,

This song came to me or this version of this Saraswati mantra came to me.

So the Krishna Das mantra or his interpretation of this Saraswati mantra is the one that I've based the mantra on which is embedded in this song but I tell a bit of a story in the beginning,

In the middle and at the end of this song and it's a story just about how we can tune into goddesses.

So from the Hindu pantheon there's a whole host of goddesses that we can call upon if we need help in any areas of our lives and of course this will depend if you believe in the idea of gods and goddesses and maybe you don't but for me they just signify really I guess idealized versions of ourselves.

So the versions of ourselves which are free from our human foibles of judgment,

Fear,

Worry,

Shame,

Restlessness,

Sadness,

All of these things I just understand gods and goddesses to be manifestations of the divine within us so just parts,

The idea is that they're a part of us which are free from all the human feelings.

So I'll just share with you the beginning of this Saraswati mantra or Saraswati song which is I think it's number,

I think it's the last song actually on my universe album so the sixth song.

We were sitting by the water listening to the sea I was talking to your daughter and she said this to me I came here to sing I came here to dance but I can't find my music I can't find my band will you help me find my way through will you walk with me when I'm feeling blue will you show me how to find my band will you talk with me will you be my friend.

So that's just the beginning of this Saraswati song where I introduce this idea of this person who really knows that they want to sing and want to dance but for some reason they just cannot quite take that step to do that thing that they so want to do and it's because there's kind of an inner fear or a misalignment with their higher self and a lack of trust in that energy that's coming through which is the energy of wanting to sing and dance.

So that really is relevant to the whole theme of this universe podcast which is all about aligning with your true self so aligning with your higher self and allowing that energy to come through and allowing yourself to do whatever it is that you want to do.

So in this case in the song what might be the things that are blocking this person from singing her song and doing her thing and that might be just as simple as not having received enough encouragement as a child from either her parents or her teachers not having received enough positive reinforcement of her own talents and of her own gifts so she is still not really believing in herself still doubting that what she has to offer is a worthy gift to offer still afraid perhaps of rejection if she were to do this thing that her soul is calling her to do.

And what is there to do here if this is you in this situation what I would do would be just to ask yourself is there really anything to be afraid of is there anything real to be afraid of apart from perhaps people's opinions which you can't control anyway people's judgments which you can't control anyway apart from the possibility of receiving any kind of negative judgment or opinion is there anything real here to be afraid of or is it all just phantoms in the mind and then also it would be really worthwhile to dig a little deeper and do some inner child work with yourself to see if there's a lack of self-worth there or a lack of self-belief that might have been a seed that was planted a long time ago and to see if you can find that seed and just take it out in whatever way is possible for you and deep meditation is a really good way of doing this first of seeing that seed and then slowly erasing it.

So I'll just play you a bit more of this track and this what comes up next is also a part of this process so singing also accesses the depth of our consciousness and helps us to channel our true voice our true expression and helps us to go beyond the mind and into a place where our creative energy is free-flowing and we have lost all these ideas of unworthiness that might be behind these fears.

So Joseph Campbell of the Hero's Journey is famous for saying follow your bliss this is the guide your bliss is your signpost for where you need to go in your life it's your path so I'm sure you have an activity in your life so maybe singing it maybe dancing it maybe drawing it maybe gardening maybe playing tennis doing the accounts anything it's very unique and individual to every single person but you have an activity where if you are fully engaged in this activity you are this activity takes you to a place beyond the mind so you're it takes you to a place of meditation without you having to consciously meditate it takes you there because the energy of joy and bliss which is activated within you elevates your consciousness and elevates your mental state and then just naturally all these ideas of unworthiness and lack of belief in the self and fear of the future so of outcomes of whatever it is that you want to do just naturally fall away because the beauty and power of this also following your bliss is it takes you deep into the present moment where there is no fear of the future because there is no future you just are actively and joyously engaged in your blissful activity so I wasn't really sure what was the exact topic of today's podcast except that I wanted to share some of my songs from the universe album and I think it's clear that the topic from this for this podcast is really about creativity and accessing your creative flow states and how that can really uplift you and take you in to your bliss and and help you to really find what it is that most lights you up and most activates you in life and hopefully follow that more and more and more each day so that's the message I want to leave you with today I said talk to the Debbie's they are there for you tell them all your troubles tell them your truth they will help you when you lost your way they are there for you every night and day that made me Lakshmi deva Radha Kali Durga Mira Bhaima Aum Aayi Sarvaswati Nama Sarvaswati Nama Ase Ram Aayi Sarvaswati Nama Aum Aayi Sarvaswati Nama Aum Ase Ram Aayi Sarvaswati Nama Aum Aayi Sarvaswati Nama Aum Aayi Sarvaswati Nama Aum Aayi Sarvaswati Nama Aum Aayi Sarvaswati Nama Aum Aayi Sarvaswati Sarvaswati Sarvaswati Nama We were sitting by the water listening to the sea I was talking to your daughter and she said this to me I was frightened,

Fearing alone inside I didn't know how to find my light Thank you for helping me to see that I am strong and I'm always free Thank you for showing me the way and how to feel safe in my arms Thank you for listening Keep following the wisdom of your heart and the whisperings of your soul Because these will always lead you in the right direction