00:00 Intro 06:23 Travis' Journey 12:20 Travis attacked by Dogs in a Monastery in Thailand! 17:00 Travis and Drew's humbly start their YouTube channel in a 350sq ft studio apartment! 21:00 Travis shares about surprises and insights about his Sound Healing Journey 25:00 Michael's Yoga Nidra, Samskaras and release of emotions in Sound Healing and Meditation 32:00 Travis' suggestions to how to experience an online Sound Healing 36:00 Sleep Vibrations and Chakra Vibrations launched 40:00 Existential...
May 14, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 19
I was so honored to be interviewed on McCall's podcast Falling Into Soul: An Exploration of Inner Alchemy on the subject of Burnout & Soul Renewal , a subject near and dear to my heart. Having burned out 3 times in my life, I knew this would be a deep dive and it was! She graciously agreed for me to post it on my youtube channel and included it on my own Musitations podcast since this was the third in our series of soulversations. In McCall's words for the episode: In this episode, Michael D...
Jun 11, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 18
For those who know Mark Nepo's work he needs no introduction. For those who are not yet familiar with his work, Mark Nepo has been called “one of the finest spiritual guides of our time,” “a consummate storyteller,” and “an eloquent spiritual teacher.” A bestselling author, he has published twenty-three books and recorded sixteen audio projects. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Recent work includes Surviving Storms (St. Martin’s Essentials, 2020) and Drinking from ...
Jan 09, 2023•55 min•Ep. 17
00:00 Intro 04:17 Letters to a Young Poet Inspiration 05:51 Rodin and Rilke’s Relationship 08:00 Rilke asks, “How should I live?” 09:22 Rodin’s Answer 11:51 Rilke’s quest for a Muse 14:29 Heart Work and Empathy 19:45 Creativity and Madness 21:12 Do we need demons to create? 26:00 Art and the Mystery of Being 27:45 Seeing with Awe and Wonder 30:37 Looking through Rilke’s Eyes 31:57 Letters and Poems 35:41 Art and the Survival of our Species 38:51 Art and Nature 39:02 Truth over Beauty? 39:17 Natu...
Jul 20, 2022•48 min•Ep. 16
Chris and I have been having musical soulversations for close to two decades. An accomplished film composer, conductor and musician based in LA, he has worked with Michael Bublé, Dr. Dre, Christina Aguilera and many others. More importantly, he has a deep and profound understanding and approach to the art and practice of creating music. We went through David Darling's Music for People apprenticeship together and share a similar love and passion for the art of improvisation. We dive into the firs...
Jun 11, 2022•54 min•Ep. 15
Thrilled to have my good friend, colleague and fellow Multi-Grammy® nominee Will Clipman on Musitations™ for the kick off of season 2! I have admired Will and his profound work in world music and percussion for more than 3 decades! It is such an honor and treat to have him on the show. Little did I know we had so much in common; both being published poets, devoted world music multi-instrumentalists and most importantly survivors of a near death experience - which is how we connected while collab...
Apr 30, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 14
I first met Felipe when he asked me to be part of a local PechaKucha, a fascinating form of storytelling that celebrates humanity. Felipe was the driving force and organizer for our local chapter. For those that don't know PechaKucha’s 20x20 presentation format allows each presenter 20 chosen images, each for 20 seconds. In other words, you've got 400 seconds to tell your story, with visuals guiding the way. PechaKucha means "chit chat" in Japanese and began in Tokyo in 2003, and since then it h...
Nov 05, 2021•58 min•Ep. 13
I am thrilled to have my good friend, fellow flutist Sherry Finzer on Musitations Episode 12! We've known each other close to a decade and share a love of the flute and a passion for bringing more healing, meditation and mindfulness into the world through music. Topics we explore: What led you from classical/jazz to more healing music? How do you use music as a meditation for yourself and others? What do you love most right now about your exploration of healing music? Can you tell us more about ...
Jul 02, 2021•56 min•Ep. 12
I so loved doing this podcast with one of my newest soul friends Susan Harper - a true moving storyteller, dream weaver and continuum teacher who opens portals to the vast space of creativity we all have within us! This last year, I became a huge fan of the work of Emilie Conrad. I spent most of COVID reading, re-reading, digesting and book marking her riveting autobiography "Life on Land," where she introduces how we all have aquatic origins. That book brought me in touch with Susan who I truly...
Jun 17, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 11
In episode 10 I'm thrilled to have the talented musician and author McCall Erickson back on Musitations™! I first read a quote 5 years ago by McCall that touched me deeply, “Soul work is not a high road. It's a deep fall into an unforgiving darkness that won't let you go until you find the song that sings you home.” It was a beautiful distillation of what I have found to be true on my own journey. In Episode 6 you can hear more about her book The Second Half of the Mountain: A guide to Personal ...
May 25, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 10
I was thrilled when my good friend and musical colleague from my Music for People days asked me to be on her wonderful Sounds of Healing Podcast. We decided to create a 'soulversation' for both of our podcasts as we dove into The Sounds of Mindful Living from the Heart which I have renamed Soundful Living from the Heart for our Musitations podcast episode 9! A particularly special, heartfelt part of this particularly soulversation is our sharing about our beloved teacher, friend, mentor and coll...
May 12, 2021•53 min•Ep. 9
Jonathan Best is a multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist who is devoted to helping the world transform through music. A true music gardener, Jonathan and I met while we were both going through a life changing program known as Music For People guided by our beloved teacher, friend and fellow musician David Darling. We had scheduled this session before David suddenly and unexpectedly took his last breath in his body just days before this episode was recorded. David's life and music touched and ins...
Jan 26, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 8
Bill Schulz (Chiz) has been my oldest and dearest soul brother and friend for the last 42 Earth years. He was the first one that awakened in me both the practice of meditation at the age of 16, and the first person I explored musitations and soulversations with. We have shared a love of using music as a form of inquiry into the nature of reality and being-at-large through our over 4 decades of friendship. Our love for exploring the stars, night sky, and the natural world equaled our love of crea...
Nov 03, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 7
In episode 6 I have the wonderful opportunity to have a deep soulversation with musician and author McCall Erickson. I first read a quote 4 years ago by McCall that touched me deeply, “Soul work is not a high road. It's a deep fall into an unforgiving darkness that won't let you go until you find the song that sings you home.” It was a beautiful distillation of what I have found to be true on my own journey. We explore her journey and her book The Second Half of the Mountain: A guide to Personal...
Sep 28, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 6
In this episode I have the unique opportunity to have a deep dive conversation with the author of Radical Wholeness: The Embodied Present and the Ordinary Grace of Being , Philip Sheperd. This profound book really touched me and gave expression to many of my own experiences of wholeness. Philip shares my love of creativity and the power of present moment awareness for helping us move from our head back into our bodies intelligence where we can ground ourselves in the wholeness of being. We also ...
Aug 02, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 5
Today is my paternal grandfather's spiritual birthday - the day he took is last breath 47 years ago. It is also the birthday of one of my dearest soul mentors who transitioned 13 years ago, Hugh Carter, whose soul name was Pilgrim - a deeply humble, wise and compassionate soul who taught me so much. Hugh was a musician, teacher, and life long minister of the soul. They both lived well into their 80's and were living, breathing symbols of humbly living from the heart while having a deep resilienc...
Apr 19, 2020•13 min•Ep. 4
In this episode Michael takes listeners into his micro-musitation practice: Three breaths to de-stress . It is a resonant breathing practice that calms the nervous system, reducing fear, anxiety and increasing blood flow. This also has been found to be very beneficial in boosting immunity and also help you in dealing with respiratory distress. Being Music is his brand of music that explores both what it means to live each moment as a note in the song of today, while also creating music that help...
Apr 10, 2020•18 min•Ep. 3
"Each moment is note in the song of today," is a line in a poem I wrote many years ago while going through a dark night of the soul. It was my attempt to stay with my experience of grief and despair, to feel my feelings all the way through until the grief and sadness cleansed me of all that was not essential and I found myself changed by the experience. As painful as times like these are that we are going through, it is a powerful opportunity to explore the pain and anguish that often we numb th...
Apr 02, 2020•14 min•Ep. 2
On this first episode of Musitations™ - Michael shares his Bill of Creative Rights. Modeled after his teacher, friend and improvisational musical mentor David Darling's Bill of Musical Rights, Michael shares about the creative crisis on the planet today. We all need a creative outlet to help us maneuver the rapids of modern life like never before given pandemics like the Corona Virus.
Mar 29, 2020•14 min•Ep. 1
