My twin brother, Kevin, also a fan of Pauline Oliveros’ music and philosophies, and I enrolled in the Deep Listening Annual Retreat at Lifebridge Sanctuary in High Falls, NY from July 29th to August 4th, 2007. This was Kevin’s second DL retreat, his first being at their usual Rose Mountain Retreat Center in New Mexico location.
I originally met Pauline Oliveros , legendary composer and creator of Deep Listening, in June 2005 at Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA) in New Smyrna, Florida. (This 2002 article from The Wire is an excellent introduction to her life and work.) Joining Pauline were her life-partner IONE and Heloise Gold.
This retreat was life-changing for me. It joined Sound, Emotion, Body, Meditation, Presence, Intellect, Spirit into a practice embraced in a loving community of creatives.
The following image is a scan of our itinerary:
This was the Model of retreats. Here I began learning and practicing Deep Listening from Pauline and IONE. Here – I first learned TaiChi and QiQong from Heloise Gold (I only knew Tai Kwon Do).
The above video demonstrates the beauty, depth, and mystery held by the combination of simple instructions and Deep Listeners called “LISTENING OUT LOUD.” The instructions are”Inhale Deeply. Exhale singing a note of your choice. Listen to the sounds around you and match your next note to one of them. On your next breath, make a note no one else is making. Repeat.
Deep Listening music has an analogy to swarming, common in nature where individuals follow simple rules and the group exhibits complex, coordinated behavior. There is no central command or authority. If birds leaves the group, the swarm still happens. Imagine you’re one of those birds, following the simple instructions of a Sonic Meditation – noone knows where it might go….!