Waking Lullabies
Photo by Juliana Murphy
A waking lullaby is a song I carry with me to soothe and uplift. It tends to induce a deep sense of relaxation while I’m awake and going about my activities, especially when I sing it out loud and invite its vibration into my body. It may be a song I sing to myself, to Nature, or to the humans and beings around me.
In my experience thus far, these songs are not so much written as received. Most, if not all, arrive fully-formed in my awareness, and many are delivered into the state for which they are medicine. For example, a song called “Spacious Time,” arrived as I was rushing frantically against an immoveable deadline.
“I have all the time I need
Plenty of spacious time ...”
As I began to sing the fragments of words and melody that were coming in, time seemed to magically expand, and I did, indeed, have all the time I needed.*
It later occurred to me that while magic was almost certainly involved, it didn’t hurt that I was able to drop into a state of flow by relaxing amidst the activity. Out of the head, into the body. It sounds so simple, but this is not something that comes naturally to me.
The key to a waking lullaby is the relaxation, not the “continue-to-push-at-an-unsustainable-level-while-also-relaxing” bit. That second part need only ever come out in extreme emergencies. 99% of the time, the world will keep turning if I don’t do the thing. Make that 100% of the time. 100% of the time, the world will keep turning if I don’t do the thing I absolutely believe I have to do at the expense of my health and sanity.**
It turns out that these little songs help me both in those rare emergencies when I agree to kick in the afterburner AND in all the other times when I need to be reminded that the world will, in fact, keep on turning if I stop and take a breath. They help me to drop into my body and to plant seeds of calm, stillness, and peace. They give my busy mind a friend to play with. They enable my body to engage and be delighted, to fully feel the emotions that are present and alive. I once heard someone say, “Singing gives you all the benefits of meditation, without having to sit still or be quiet.” So…there you have it.
I’ve created this space to archive and share these waking lullabies as they arrive and are recorded, as well as other medicine, circle, and ceremony songs that have been coming in over the past couple of years. You can find the stories behind the songs, as well as the teaching tracks here:
*Magical expansion of time not guaranteed. Results may vary.
**Generally speaking, your health and sanity are not a form of payment that the forces of nature require or even want. That notion is a not-so-charming gift from our culture that is ripe for a hard pass.