Episode 137

Kick Up Your Heels!

Art by Patty Piotrowski

Hello Singer of Wellness!

All italicized words from "Kick Up Your Heels!" by me.

Sometimes you just gotta celebrate!

I love the light and lifted feeling Patty captured in her artwork for this week's episode... a song written in a moment of exhilaration and celebration, when I simply had to let go and be happy! Doesn't always come easy for me!!! 😀 How about you? Any of those, "If you're too happy, something bad will happen," gremlins whisper in your ear?

Kick up your heels and dance!

Saturday's celebration was such a treat for me... thank you to those of you who were able to come, those who sent messages of love and encouragement, and those who simply held us in your hearts with a smile at any point over the last weeks. If you feel sad that you missed it, please check below for various length videos to either get a quick sense, or watch the whole shebang!

Here are some of the numbers I shared on Saturday: (already out-of-date!)

• 562 subscribers -- you are the best!!!
• Better than 73% open rate -- more than double industry standard
• We're in the top 10-15% of podcasts based on 1st week download numbers!!! (10 or 15% depending whose stats you listen to, and podcast stats are a murky business anyway, so this is all a little sludgy...)
• 88 songleaders have contributed songs to make up 136 episodes as of Sat, Feb 24th!
• So far, 31 extended conversations with songsharers, where we’ve grappled with how to really access the power of song
• And 1 artist has created 137 individual paintings to date — one for each episode and one for the website header… Patty Piotrowski!

Spread your wings and lift your hands high!

Patty's gesture drawing during the 50k+ celebration...

As we were celebrating, the A Breath of Song retreat registration opened! Those who register in the month of February receive $50 off the program fee... click here for a comprehensive description, including registration info. We need 5 more participants for the retreat to run... since it's my first time to offer a retreat, I don't know if we'll get there or not, but I'm excited to see what happens. If you have any questions, send me an email and let's talk.

We also bid a regretful goodbye to Fiona Small, who has brought her amazing design eye, hot skills with video and social media, and attentiveness to detail to support A Breath of Song for over a year -- and we also celebrate with her the opportunities to dive deeper into the work that is calling her...

AND we warmly welcome Rebecca Csuy on board to bring her own combo of incisive clarity and tender empathy... more about Rebecca next week, as A Breath of Song unfolds.... thank you for being part of this unfolding!

Celebrating 51,000+ downloads!

45 seconds of sheer festivity!

Video montage created by Fiona Small 

A 5-min excerpt from the full celebration: A Breath of Song favorites 

selected by listeners signing up for the 50k celebration.

One of our songsharers, Katie Sontag, has released a songbook and an album! "Share the Journey" - episode #68 on "A Breath of Song" - is the first track on "For the Tender Hearted" and sheet music for the song is featured in the songbook! The songbook of 21 original songs consists of musical notation, lyrics, original artwork, the song's origin story and teaching tips.
To purchase her songbook and album, you can visit her website https://katiesontag.com or her bandcamp https://katiesontag.bandcamp.com/

Wendy Luella Perkins is a fountain of short, soulful singing meditation songs, a few of which are in the A Breath of Song library -- episode 34 and a conversation with songs liberally sprinkled through for episode 35. She has been designing a beautiful, innovative project to make her songs available to many while also allowing her work to support her living expenses. I was so happy to contribute to this project. Learn more here, or click the picture to watch the video (and hear two of her songs).

Why a gratitude jar?

Because reciprocity counts.
A gratitude jar allows us to receive from you--

and so you give to us who give A Breath of Song to you,
in a beautiful cycle of mutual tending.

Contribute on a one-time or recurring basis:
it's easy, reliable,
and deeply appreciated.

Other ways to give back to us? Of course!

Share, review, comment.
A world jam-packed with people
tuning in to themselves and each other would be
the best reciprocity imaginable.

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