Leela Music Newsletter, February 2008

Michael Stribling
Leela Music, BMI
Newsletter, February 2008

Here's an overview of what you'll find in this issue:

• Musical Memos
• Spiritually Speaking
• Points to Ponder / In Other News
• And the Winner Is ...

***MUSICAL MEMOS***

This past month, Another Day in Paradise remained in the #2 spot on the New Age Reporter Top 100 List, for the second month in a row. That makes three consecutive months in the top five. Pretty gratifying.

Out of the Darkness, Into the Light is a finalist in two categories of the NAR 2007 Lifestyle Music Awards. The winners will be announced on March 8.

Work on the new projects is continuing. Whether or not we complete things in time to make a June release date is uncertain at the moment. But hey, the fun is in the process!

***SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING***

The Power of Music

Most people have heard the expression, "Music hath power to soothe the savage beast." In the Old Testament of the Bible, David played his harp to calm King Saul when "an evil spirit came upon him." Caretakers still sing lullabies to little ones to settle them in for the night. There is an expanding market for music that helps us relax and reduce stress, and it's often used in yoga, massage, hypnosis, etc. All of these examples speak to the power that music has to soothe and calm the human spirit.

Besides calming us down, music can also enliven and inspire. Whether it's bagpipes or bugles, music has rallied troops throughout history and inspired courage in the heat of battle. Sometimes, music can inspire patriotism or religious zeal. It can enhance brain development in young children, as evidenced by the Mozart Effect. The right music can enhance a romantic encounter or sexual experience. It can serve as a catalyst or gateway to nonordinary states of consciousness, as with holotropic breathwork or drumming circles. And, sad to say, some music can actually desynchronize brain hemispheres, causing physiological harm, not to mention agitating those who listen to it.

Besides moving the spirit, music can also entrain the mind, or actually induce particular brainwave patterns. Years ago, researchers learned that advanced spiritual devotees achieved slower brainwave patterns, reflecting their deep state of meditation. Any music that induces slower brainwave patterns helps people enter more easily into those meditative states.

In a sense, music is like food; some of it is healthy, while some of it isn't. In our culture, it may be argued that, like the food we eat, much of the musical fare may not be all that healthy for us. And so, for music as with food, to be healthy, avoid the junk and seek more nourishing fare.

For many of us, the need is to slow down and center ourselves rather than add any more stimulation to our lives. This is where "new age" (or whatever we might call it) music can be helpful. This is the music that I focus on, both as a composer and a listener. I have to admit that I often listen to the music that I compose because of the way I feel when I listen to it.

Music has tremendous power to influence mood and consciousness. What styles of music do you listen to? How does that music make you feel? Is it helping you grow? Does it make you feel more serene, centered, loving, calm? Is it inviting you to seek higher levels of awareness? Think about it. Music is not an accessory; it is an essential component of life.

My mission, and the mission of Leela Music, is to help others in their journey toward wholeness through the gift of music, by creating works that inspire and uplift the human spirit.

Enjoy the power of music.

***POINTS TO PONDER / IN OTHER NEWS***

People over 35 should all be dead (part 1)

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the '40s, '50s, '60s, or even maybe the early '70s probably shouldn't have survived.

• Our baby cribs were covered with brightly colored lead-based paint and most of our pillows, bedspreads, and wallpapers didn't match.


• We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets (not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking).


• As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Remember kissing the dashboard, just in case you had to eat it?


• Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.


• All four of you piled into the front seat of a convertible was the only way to go, especially when you were sitting on daddy's lap.


• We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors!


• We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.


• We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this!


• We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.


• We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day.


• No cell phones. We didn't need them. Mom trusted us that we would stay where we said we were going and didn't feel the need to check up on us or track us down.


• We did NOT have Play Stations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, video games, 99 channels on cable, videotape (not to mention DVD!) movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms. We used our imagination.

to be continued ...

**AND THE WINNER IS ... ***

Every issue, I give away a free CD (autographed, of course :-). If you're on the mailing list, you're automatically entered in every drawing. This month, the winner is Gina Faretta. Congratulations!

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That's it for this issue. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you liked, or didn't like, in this issue, and any recommendations or requests you have for future editions.

Thank you for your support. Please invite your friends to visit my website and sign the guestbook. Oh yeah, it's okay to order some CDs, too! They make wonderful gifts :-).

I also have a page on MySpace.com. Have a look and join the list of friends at www.myspace.com/leelamusic

I wish you peace, joy, and love.

Namasté,

Michael Stribling
www.leela-music.com

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