Today's DailyOM Offerings...
August 18, 2011
Ameya
Brenda McMorrow
2010
A folk troubadour who toured outdoor music festivals as a solo singer-songwriter and played in bands exploring everything from jazz to bluegrass, Canadian-born Brenda McMorrow was a seasoned music veteran before finding spiritual awakening in the practice of yogic chant, the kirtan. Ameya (or boundless) is her joyously assured debut collection of classic kirtans, interpreted with her own seasoned rootsy style. While spiritually grounded to their core, her songs breathe deeply in a free, driving down the road in North America mellow-gold style; her warmly raspy, slightly nasal, sandy beach voice and acoustic guitar anchor the ancient yoga chants.
The tracks here are full of graceful attention to small details, filling headphones with rich sound thanks to acclaimed world music producer Ben Leinsbach (Jai Uttal and others). "Govinda Gopala" finds McMorrow's voice carrying a ghostly echo over her mellow, strummed acoustic guitar, gradually building up in intensity with bass and drums. "Ayodhya Vasi / Rama Rama" opens on smooth, ingratiating drones, welcoming you into its sacred aural space before settling into a guitar, bass, drums bit of rocking and rollicking mellowness. Contrasting the general sublime softness of the album, "He Ma" enlivens the set with a jubilant rhythm section and McMorrow's deliciously husky voice guilelessly inspiring one to sing and clap along.
As rich as it is with good feeling and Leinsbach's warm production space, Ameya depends on Brenda McMorrow's dusky voice and laid-back but earthy, present style, as beguiling, sensual, and sweet as you always imagined life could be. Ameya shows that these millennia-old kirtans are still relevant and very adaptable to the rhythms and emotional melodies we associate with adult-contemporary western pop music. When yogic chant and singer-songwriter talent merges in a nurturing voice like McMorrow's we all benefit. This wandering Canadian folk troubadour has found a home in the boundless flow of newly awakened spirit; the power and light is audible in her every breath on Ameya, and you, me, and the world are all invited to dance, meditate, sing along, or just drift in the flow of a happy, settled heart.
August 18, 2011
Choices Are Lessons
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
You might find it difficult to make decisions, which could prevent you from making any choices at all today. Being indecisive may be the result of your fear of failure, and you may feel that by doing nothing, you lessen your chances of making the wrong choice. Exploring your feelings of doubt today could help you break through your cautiousness. Perhaps you can think about all the outcomes of your decisions, ask yourself what the worst-case scenario would be, and how it could affect your life. You might consider not only the potential losses but also the helpful knowledge you would gain from the process. Changing your view of the situation to reflect new insights may help you realize that all of your choices can lead you to a positive outcome, since you can always gain a deeper understanding of life.
Overcoming our fear of the unknown helps us make decisions. Thinking about the worst thing that can happen is a scary process, but when we face our fear, the hold it has over us softens. Allowing ourselves to see our existence as a series of lessons to be learned rather than a set of perfectly executed decisions changes the nature of our lives. Instead of being paralyzed by indecision, we begin to relish the new experiences that come out of our choices. By viewing each decision you make as a chance to learn, change, and grow today, your choices will lead you to a new awareness of yourself and the world around you.
August 18, 2011
Claiming Our Feelings
Passive Aggressive Behavior
The way to end passive aggressive behavior on your part or others’ is with complete honesty and truth in any situation.
If you’ve ever found yourself repressing your anger and behaving in other ways to get your point across, you may be someone who is adept at engaging in passive-aggressive behavior. Although passive-aggressive behavior is recognized as a psychological disorder, it also describes the behavior that many people use to cope with confrontational situations. Such behavior has the outward appearance of being peaceful, yet it is really an attempt to express oneself in seemingly passive ways-usually without accepting responsibility for doing so. For example, someone who doesn’t want to attend an event with a partner might engage in behavior that causes them to be late or miss the event without ever admitting to their partner that they never wanted to go to the function at all. Procrastination, inefficiency, stubbornness, and sullenness are some of the many ways that anger can be expressed indirectly.
It is important not to judge ourselves when we engage in passive-aggressive behavior. You may want to consider that you are not owning your feelings or your expression by indirectly expressing yourself. Perhaps you are judging your feelings and needs as wrong-which is why you are expressing yourself indirectly. You also may be worried that others will judge you for feeling the way that you do. Remember that anger and every other emotion are never good or bad. They can, however, become toxic of you don’t express them in healthy and proactive ways. When we express ourselves directly, we are more likely to be heard by the other person. It also becomes easier for us to ask for and get what we want.
Once we learn to be honest with ourselves about our feelings, we can begin to directly express ourselves to others. By learning to express ourselves directly, we prevent misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and resentment from cropping up in our relationships. We also learn to communicate with others in healthy and productive ways. It is never too late to start working on ourselves and our behaviors, just take it one day at a time.
Ameya
Brenda McMorrow
2010
A folk troubadour who toured outdoor music festivals as a solo singer-songwriter and played in bands exploring everything from jazz to bluegrass, Canadian-born Brenda McMorrow was a seasoned music veteran before finding spiritual awakening in the practice of yogic chant, the kirtan. Ameya (or boundless) is her joyously assured debut collection of classic kirtans, interpreted with her own seasoned rootsy style. While spiritually grounded to their core, her songs breathe deeply in a free, driving down the road in North America mellow-gold style; her warmly raspy, slightly nasal, sandy beach voice and acoustic guitar anchor the ancient yoga chants.
The tracks here are full of graceful attention to small details, filling headphones with rich sound thanks to acclaimed world music producer Ben Leinsbach (Jai Uttal and others). "Govinda Gopala" finds McMorrow's voice carrying a ghostly echo over her mellow, strummed acoustic guitar, gradually building up in intensity with bass and drums. "Ayodhya Vasi / Rama Rama" opens on smooth, ingratiating drones, welcoming you into its sacred aural space before settling into a guitar, bass, drums bit of rocking and rollicking mellowness. Contrasting the general sublime softness of the album, "He Ma" enlivens the set with a jubilant rhythm section and McMorrow's deliciously husky voice guilelessly inspiring one to sing and clap along.
As rich as it is with good feeling and Leinsbach's warm production space, Ameya depends on Brenda McMorrow's dusky voice and laid-back but earthy, present style, as beguiling, sensual, and sweet as you always imagined life could be. Ameya shows that these millennia-old kirtans are still relevant and very adaptable to the rhythms and emotional melodies we associate with adult-contemporary western pop music. When yogic chant and singer-songwriter talent merges in a nurturing voice like McMorrow's we all benefit. This wandering Canadian folk troubadour has found a home in the boundless flow of newly awakened spirit; the power and light is audible in her every breath on Ameya, and you, me, and the world are all invited to dance, meditate, sing along, or just drift in the flow of a happy, settled heart.
August 18, 2011
Choices Are Lessons
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
You might find it difficult to make decisions, which could prevent you from making any choices at all today. Being indecisive may be the result of your fear of failure, and you may feel that by doing nothing, you lessen your chances of making the wrong choice. Exploring your feelings of doubt today could help you break through your cautiousness. Perhaps you can think about all the outcomes of your decisions, ask yourself what the worst-case scenario would be, and how it could affect your life. You might consider not only the potential losses but also the helpful knowledge you would gain from the process. Changing your view of the situation to reflect new insights may help you realize that all of your choices can lead you to a positive outcome, since you can always gain a deeper understanding of life.
Overcoming our fear of the unknown helps us make decisions. Thinking about the worst thing that can happen is a scary process, but when we face our fear, the hold it has over us softens. Allowing ourselves to see our existence as a series of lessons to be learned rather than a set of perfectly executed decisions changes the nature of our lives. Instead of being paralyzed by indecision, we begin to relish the new experiences that come out of our choices. By viewing each decision you make as a chance to learn, change, and grow today, your choices will lead you to a new awareness of yourself and the world around you.
August 18, 2011
Claiming Our Feelings
Passive Aggressive Behavior
The way to end passive aggressive behavior on your part or others’ is with complete honesty and truth in any situation.
If you’ve ever found yourself repressing your anger and behaving in other ways to get your point across, you may be someone who is adept at engaging in passive-aggressive behavior. Although passive-aggressive behavior is recognized as a psychological disorder, it also describes the behavior that many people use to cope with confrontational situations. Such behavior has the outward appearance of being peaceful, yet it is really an attempt to express oneself in seemingly passive ways-usually without accepting responsibility for doing so. For example, someone who doesn’t want to attend an event with a partner might engage in behavior that causes them to be late or miss the event without ever admitting to their partner that they never wanted to go to the function at all. Procrastination, inefficiency, stubbornness, and sullenness are some of the many ways that anger can be expressed indirectly.
It is important not to judge ourselves when we engage in passive-aggressive behavior. You may want to consider that you are not owning your feelings or your expression by indirectly expressing yourself. Perhaps you are judging your feelings and needs as wrong-which is why you are expressing yourself indirectly. You also may be worried that others will judge you for feeling the way that you do. Remember that anger and every other emotion are never good or bad. They can, however, become toxic of you don’t express them in healthy and proactive ways. When we express ourselves directly, we are more likely to be heard by the other person. It also becomes easier for us to ask for and get what we want.
Once we learn to be honest with ourselves about our feelings, we can begin to directly express ourselves to others. By learning to express ourselves directly, we prevent misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and resentment from cropping up in our relationships. We also learn to communicate with others in healthy and productive ways. It is never too late to start working on ourselves and our behaviors, just take it one day at a time.