16 - The Sound of Healing with Dawn Sagonias

In this episode of the Wellness in Asheville Podcast, host Travis Richardson sits down with Dawn Sagonias, a sound healing practitioner, biologist, and former massage therapist with 25+ years of experience. We explore the fascinating intersection of science, spirituality, and sound—and how vibrations can literally "massage your brain" for healing.

Dawn shares her unique journey from studying music and biology to becoming a certified sound healing practitioner with two retreat spaces in the Asheville area: The Sound Nest in Alexander and Inner Wolf Retreat Space in Mars Hill. We dive deep into the neuroscience of sound healing, how frequencies affect our biofield, the importance of practitioner intention, and why rest retreats are transforming women's nervous systems.

This conversation explores the biological mechanisms behind sound healing (from Emoto's water crystal research to neural pathway creation), how to remember calm after a session, and why regular practice helps create new patterns in the brain. Dawn discusses her science-backed approach influenced by researchers like Tom Kenyon, Joe Dispenza, and Eileen McKusick, plus practical ways to integrate healing into daily life.

Key Takeaways:

• How sound healing uses vibration to affect cellular water, organs, and the biofield
• The science behind neural pathway creation and why weekly sessions deepen healing
• How practitioner intention amplifies through sound.
• The connection between sound, brainwave states (theta), and nervous system reset
• Why rest retreats help women "remember how to rest" and shed accumulated stress
• Practical self-care techniques: meditation, chanting, time in nature, and setting boundaries with to-do lists
• The difference between peak experiences and sustainable integration

Timestamps:

00:00 – 03:00 | Introduction and welcome to Dawn Sawgonias
03:00 – 06:00 | Dawn's journey from music and biology to sound healing
06:00 – 11:00 | The neuroscience of sound: massaging the brain and resetting the nervous system
11:00 – 16:00 | How sound healing helps the body enter deep healing states
16:00 – 22:00 | The water crystal research of Dr. Emoto and intention transmission through sound
22:00 – 28:00 | Creating new neural pathways: why regular sessions matter for lasting change
28:00 – 33:00 | The biofield and how sound dissolves stuck energy pockets
33:00 – 38:00 | Balancing business with self-care: Dawn's MBA perspective on wellness entrepreneurship
38:00 – 43:00 | Rest retreats for women: witnessing transformation from stress to restoration
43:00 – 48:00 | Meditation tips for busy minds.
48:00 – 52:00 | Asheville as a historic wellness destination and Dawn's special 50% BOGO offer
52:00 – 53:00 | Closing thoughts and upcoming events

Episode Links:

• Be Well Asheville
• Be Well Asheville Podcast Archive
• Sound of a New Dawn
• Inner Wolf Retreat Space
• Robert Monroe Institute
• Dr. Masaru Emoto Water Research
• Eileen McKusick - Biofield Tuning

The Wellness in Asheville podcast is produced by Be Well Asheville, your local news source covering health + wellness news + events in Asheville. Get the latest at bewellasheville.com or follow @bewellasheville.

Transcript

The Sound of Healing

​[00:00:00] 

Speaker: Welcome to the Wellness in Asheville Podcast, where we shine a light on the people practices, and places that make this city one of the most inspiring wellness communities in the country. I'm your host, Travis Richardson, founder of Be Well Asheville, your local news source for health, wellness, and community events.

[00:01:00] [00:02:00] 

Speaker 10: Okay, so today we have Dawn SIUs here to talk about [00:03:00] all things related to sound healing and a lot more. Dawn, welcome to the show. 

Speaker 12: Thank you so much, Travis. It's such a delight to be here with you. 

Speaker 10: Yeah, it's nice to have you. I have benefited so much from the experiences that I've actually had at your space.

Uh, one of the first, actually the very first sound healing experiences I had was, was with you. And, um, I just wanted to say thank you right off the bat for being such an amazing practitioner and, um, and servant in the way that you are. 

Speaker 12: Thank you. I really appreciate that, and I'm so glad that was, I got to showcase sound healing to you for the first time that I think that's I important.

Absolutely. And that's, I'm glad to know that. Yeah. Absolute glad I met you. Hooked 

Speaker 10: you, you did. And then every time I, I see you even at the networking events, I'm like, okay, I just need to make a plan to go back out there, uh, to, uh, to experience it yet, yet again. Yes. 

Speaker 13: So tell me, 

Speaker 10: how [00:04:00] did you get into sound healing?

I mean, you've got such a, such a setup, uh, and you've got two locations that you practice out, right? I do. Tell me about that. 

Speaker 12: Yes. Uh, well, a little bit of my background as I find, um. Every sound practitioner is a little bit different, and so our, our personalities and background come through in our, in our practice too.

So I, I grew up here in Asheville and I, um, have been away for about 20 years and came back a few years ago and. So in, in growing up, I've, I have, I've studied music since I was a child and I've also also loved studying science and spirituality. So I feel like a lot of what I'm doing now is all of these coming together to into one.

And so early on I, in playing music and studying [00:05:00] music, I started thinking and feeling. How come I feel different ways when I hear different types of music. And so I worked with a music therapist to learn more about biofeedback and how to measure that with people. Do my own little science project on people.

Speaker 13: Nice, nice. 

Speaker 12: And um, measuring heart rate and blood pressure and while people listen to different types of music and sound. And then I went on to study biology and the brain and have a biology degree. And also have studied abroad a lot and learning about different cultures and spiritual traditions and, and then went to practice massage therapy for 25 years, which I saw a common theme with everyone, uh, as us as humans.

And I started wondering, how can I get in here and massage people's brains? Mm. And in [00:06:00] studying yoga and meditation, that's where I learned more about sound healing and how I realized we can utilize sound to massage our brains. Yeah. And so I love to focus on that as, as my approach to sound healing. I love to make a really relaxing session so that people can reset the nervous system and.

Enter a healing state that your body can heal itself. And I love an approach backed by science and a lot of these big time researchers like Tom Kenyon and Joe Dispenza, Jeffrey Armstrong, that are all utilizing these methods as well as intention. 

Speaker 10: Right. I don't know if you know this about me, but I studied, uh, over at the Robert Monroe Institute, uh, in, it's in Virginia.

And they do, this is actually about like [00:07:00] 30 years ago. I was really, really young. Saved all my money up, like actually, uh, for like two or three years. And they do, um, binaural beats and for the. For, to they study, uh, consciousness. And for the listeners, um, Robert Monroe is really deep into consciousness and he would essentially go out of body and have all these experiences and like crazy, crazy things.

But he was very, and is very well respected in the community, um, in this community because he. Took a scientific approach to it, and he was hooked up in the lab and he basically reverse engineered all these altered states so that he could induce the, those states and people by, by putting the right frequencies in, into the brain.

Um, and so for me, I mean, that was like 30 years ago and I hadn't done anything with sound healing since. So when I came to to your session, I was [00:08:00] like, oh, I'm back into sort of like that whole space. Have you heard of. Um, the Monroe Institute, 

Speaker 12: I think that does sound familiar and it also reminds me of, um, uh, Raymond Royal.

Raymond Rife. 

Speaker 10: Yes. The Rife machine. Yes. Yeah, the 

Speaker 12: Rife machine and the beam ray, and how he has targeted different frequencies to help different organs and to target different microorganisms that may be causing a problem too. 

Speaker 10: Yeah. Yeah. So, so interesting. So, um, what is it, do you think about sound that is so, uh, healing?

Speaker 12: Well, I love that you have had that experience at Robert Monroe and, and that must have been really transformational early on too, and what an experience. And I, I think what your [00:09:00] question goes along with those approaches too, that, uh, every organ has a frequency to it and sound is one of the few things that can affect the space.

Uh, that's within the organ and around the organ. Each organ and our body holistically especially. And so in, in, and especially helping the body relax into a space coming out of sympathetic fight or flight nervous system so that we can enter a state of healing. And a lot of us, with our culture the way it is right now, have.

Forgotten, or we're just so amped up in go mode that a lot of us don't enter that state of deep healing. Sure. We, you know, we may lay down and, and fall asleep and we hope that that's doing it and [00:10:00] maybe our body is still in, in fight or flight, even when we sleep. And or how do we wake up in the morning?

Do we reach immediately for the, you know, for our devices and amp up our, our bodies in that very special in-between consciousness time, right when we wake up. And, uh, also with sound healing, where not, not everybody is. In, into it yet, but I mean, not the sound healing part, but people are, not everyone is into healing themselves yet, but I think that sound healing offers that I think a lot of us and throughout history, people tend, can tend to reach, look outside of ourselves for something to heal us.

We go to the guru, we go to the doctor, we, you know, are seeking, oh, what can I, like You said, what can I ingest? What can [00:11:00] I, um, you know, what can I add to my life? And. Where our bodies and our brains are capable of so much in this miraculous organism that we live in that is electrical and that it has such healing capacities.

I mean, you think about the. The uses of like Coca-Cola, but it can like dissolve battery acid and then our, our stomachs can digest it and break it down and it's like actually safe or somewhat safe to, to, to drink. You know, that is an amazing body that can do, do something like that, right? And, and then to utilize the healing.

Qualities of the body, you know, get ourselves into this healing state to heal [00:12:00] yourself. 

Speaker 13: Mm-hmm. 

Speaker 12: And to consciously work with the unconscious mind too, to how we can support our minds in changing our thoughts and adopting healthy thoughts too. 

Speaker 10: So, yeah, and I, as I think about sound healing, what it's really doing, I mean, you've got a couple aspects.

Okay. You've got the one which is the, the mechanistic action, which I would call it, which is the sound waves actually interfacing with the cells, the water in your body. So there's one, so there's that. We know that from the work of. Uh, who was the Japanese scientist? Emoto, uh, the guy that did the water.

The stuff with water, right. Where he showed that, and I think I mentioned this on a other podcast that hopefully my listeners aren't like, dude, you already mentioned that, but, but I'm mentioning it again. Important. Yeah. It's important because you have your, these, the cells in your body contain mostly water.

We all [00:13:00] know this and if, if you can, he showed that you can take, uh, water. Uh, ice crystals and, and, uh, or basically water that could turn into, it would turn into ice, and the better the sound quality or the more loving the frequency. Uh, the better geometric pattern would emerge. Well, that's you. Like, that's inside your body.

So you've got that on the, on the one hand. The second thing, I feel like what you're doing does is gives people a chance to slow down and, um, maybe their breath slows. And when your breath slows, maybe your pH. And your body becomes more, a little more alkaline. And so when we talk about healing, it's not like just woo woo healing stuff.

It's like literally you're inducing physiological biological changes in an in more than one way am I. Missing anything. I feel like that's, that covers a lot of it. Right. Thank you for 

Speaker 12: explaining [00:14:00] that so well. That was 

Speaker 10: perfect. 

Speaker 12: I ha and I have a firsthand story that demonstrates emoto's, um, technique or, uh, his basis Nice.

And how sound can transmit the feeling too. Yeah. And why it's, it's important to find. A sound healing practitioner that you resonate with, and I find that it's really important to know who can work with their own thoughts, like which practitioner can work with their own thoughts too. Because I feel like that's so important.

That's why I love to focus, utilize people's intentions with, with my sessions, that thinking about their intentions gives my brain something to focus on, you know, so that it doesn't scamper off and, you know, occupy itself with something else, which is so common for [00:15:00] all of us. And to be able to put whatever is happening in the rest of your life at the door.

Focus, especially on that sound session. And so utilizing Emoto's view, there's this story, um, my friend was playing his gong at the end of his yoga class. And he had a random thought come in like we all do sometimes. And his thought was, don't forget to buy bananas. And he's like, come on brain. I'm playing the gong.

I'm doing finishing the yoga class. We're getting to that. And so he's like, he comes, he's finishes his class and he goes to the grocery store and he sees every member of his yoga class there and they're all buying bananas. 

Speaker 10: That is, that is hilarious. Oh, that, oh my gosh. That sound 

Speaker 12: can transmit. 

Speaker 10: Yeah.

Speaker 12: Thoughts, amplify thoughts that [00:16:00] really, you know, drove it home for me of the importance of being fully present and focusing on who's there and, and why hearing everyone's intentions are so important. 

Speaker 10: Yeah. Yeah. So it's like sound could be an amplifier. It makes me think, I've heard like this is kind of going on a stretch, but the pyramids at Giza, maybe like we're still trying to figure out how those things got built, right.

And there's some idea that sound maybe played a part and it fits an amplifying force maybe. Maybe it creates a little less friction when those things are being moved. Who knows, right? 

Speaker 12: Good point. Who knows? Who knows? Lots of mysteries. 

Speaker 10: So tell me, so again, you, now you have, you have two different spots.

Tell me about your, the actual spots, and then tell me about what somebody can expect if they were to come into a, uh, group, group session with you. 

Speaker 12: Yes, [00:17:00] so I do have the two spaces. One is the Sound Nest and in in Alexander, just 20 minutes outside of Asheville, and that's my smaller sound studio that is designed like a sound chamber.

And so people notice the calm atmosphere with the acoustic panels. And I have eight. Eight to 10 spaces in that, that setting. And then, and that's on, uh, sound of a new dawn.com. Dot com. And my other space is a retreat space, inner wolf retreat space.com. And that's just outside of Asheville in the Mars Hill area.

And there I love to focus, especially on rest retreats. That's my big focus this year especially, and to en to encourage, to provide a space for people to come and, and remember how to rest. And it's been really [00:18:00] amazing to watch the, I've focused on women's retreats this year, and to watch the women arrive pretty strung out, you know, wearing their shoulders as earrings, eyes a little too wide, maybe they're a little snappy and irritable and, mm-hmm.

Speaker 13: Mm-hmm. 

Speaker 12: And over the course of the weekend, you see, you know, wrinkles and tension drop away the shoulders relax. They look entirely different than when they arrived and it's like watching water be poured on a dry plant and it coming back to life. And to some extent, that can also happen in just one session at The Sound Nest too.

I love to focus on teaching people how to remember that feeling that you have at the end of the sound session. To remember that calm and that peace, and especially to [00:19:00] how to have greater ease in your life as, um, by taking a break, how to have greater ease with what's going on in your life. So you can, I, I love to customize and tailor each session and to really hear where people are.

I feel like that's a really important part of my sessions. Because we can't just shove whatever's happening under the rug and go straight to joy. Um, we've all tried that. 

Speaker 13: Yeah. Yeah. 

Speaker 12: And then, you know, all of that factors into our session, but I love to bring in the intentions and really encourage people to work with their intention while they're in the theta brainwave state.

Just like you do with yoga, nidra and, uh, other practices, meditation and getting into the theta brainwave state. I [00:20:00] can also hear the emotive quality of sound, so I hear anxiety. I can hear grief. I can hear fear and I can also hear joy and, um, rising up and strength and so it's amazing to. Hear those emotions in the sound.

A similar approach to what Eileen Cusick is doing too with the tuning forks. And I took her training and realized, oh, that's what I'm doing. I can hear that emotion and I can honor what's going on for each of us in our lives. And then lift it and nourish it and give it a little fresh air and sunshine and help us take another step.

Speaker 10: Yeah. Gosh. The, it, when I think about the times when I've come away from your sessions, I've, I think I've done [00:21:00] three or yeah, think, think I've done three. And I al, I always like carry with me this like, undertone of calm. Um, unfortunately I'm bad at like day three or four. I start to come back. I pop into.

My normal way again, and I've, I feel like I've done this a lot and it's something I'm working on. Uh, do you have anybody that, like, I guess how do you support people, um, or do you support people like post, um, experience or like what do you recommend to kind of hold onto the calm that you produce in them?

Speaker 12: Good question. I love to, uh, well, the PI love to encourage people to come weekly for a time. Mm-hmm. And there are some folks that have been coming weekly for, for. Over a year now too. Wow. Uh, especially to work with, um, [00:22:00] pain that they're in, in health conditions. Um, there's also one fellow who's come that has been through a.

Depression and a lot of PTSD and some A DHD. And so he's finding that the sound sessions have totally transformed his life, given him the ability to face life in a different way, and to be able to focus and have clarity and rest better. Um, and people healing from surgeries too. Um, lot of different and emotional support.

So it, um, just sharing those instances of people coming for a more regular time and then they then, because what it's doing science wise also, you might find this really, really cool, is it's helping us to create a [00:23:00] new neural pathway in the brain. 

Speaker 13: Okay. You know, life 

Speaker 12: up to this point is a pretty well worn groove.

Like it's many years that have, that it's taken to make this grand canyon of being in our brains. 

Speaker 13: Yeah. It's all me. And, 

Speaker 12: and so our body feels this way of calm, you know, and it can remember it for, uh. You know, several days or a week even, and then, then life happens again and you know, so it's one thing I encourage too is to.

Regularly call up that feeling that you had, that deepens that neural pathway in the brain each time, you know, and at first it's just a little line in the sand and life comes along and washes that away. And then we, we draw that line again, we draw it again, and then we're about to fall into the Grand Chasm and we're able to pull ourselves [00:24:00] back at one point and say, no, this is, I'm gonna.

I'm gonna take this approach. I'm gonna take a different street, like Porsche Nelson's poem. 

Speaker 10: Yeah. Yeah. Well, um, my experience, uh, this just kind of came to me as a, as we're sitting here talking and I just realized that the times that I've had, when, when I was in emotional, uh, pain and I was really suffering, usually it was around a relationship of some type transitioning.

I, uh, the, the thing that helped me the most was, uh. Two things. One was a sweat lodge, uh, and it was the chanting and the drumming inside the lodge. And it was, it like, uh, I don't know what it did, it just, it like literally full force felt like it was piercing my soul to like the nth degree in a good way.

And I was able to, in [00:25:00] that, in the darkness and in the, and the heat and the sweat and the grimness of that. Sort of like a, the, it's like, you know, symbolic of a womb, right? Um, 

Speaker 13: absolutely. So I was like kind 

Speaker 10: of like trying to be reborn there. And I've had that experience through with sound healing as well, where I'm just laying there.

And for people that, that maybe have never even heard of, of what this modality is, it's, it's a laying down modality. You're just completely still and relaxed and comfortable, and you let the vibrations wash over you. And you'd be surprised what can come up. Like I've had tons of things and it feels like it's, the only way I can describe it is breaking something is breaking apart inside me.

That, that is, um, like dark and not helpful. Yeah. What, what do you feel like is happening? Why is that happening? I mean, it's, it's great that it does. I'm just curious, like, what is your take on what's going on for somebody who's got an emotional thing like that? 

Speaker 12: [00:26:00] Yes, and my approach to sound, I love that it's very gentle, like it's a gentle way of letting go.

And yes, you know, the volume of the instruments raises and lowers that. It's not always quiet, but the, the overall way is encouraging to let go. And, uh, Eileen Cusick has a great visual for what's happening with the sound. That we all have a biofield that surrounds our bodies. It's in a tourist shape. And um, and in, you know, there's different lines that go out from each, uh, each chakra.

And that correlates to the years of our lives. That close to our body is around how old we are now, or, or is how old we are now. And then out like eight feet from there is gestation and birth. So in each [00:27:00] area there, our, our field holds memory too. And so that's where our experiences can be kind of packaged up, you know, whether we're conscious about it or not, that, you know, maybe life was overwhelming at one, you know, in some plot twist of life.

And we might've said, well. Uh, you know, I'm focusing on this. I'm giving it, it's time for healing, and life is asking me to keep going, so I'm just gonna package this up, put it away, and maybe I'll get back to it if I know how, or, or we just, you know, can't, can't work with it at all at that time. And so sound comes along and.

Meets up with that little pocket of stuck energy and it just sits there and, and hangs out, and it's like a friend and massages it, and then slowly that energy dissolves and can come back to the body for circulation again. You know, energy never created [00:28:00] nor destroyed, but sometimes it gets stuck. 

Speaker 10: Yeah.

Yeah. And energy, it's like, it feels nebulous, but it really is the, the cell, I mean, it's, we, we lock this, what you're calling energy into ourselves. I don't know if there's even, I mean, I we're talking about, I guess the, the, the unseen energy, right? We're talking about the stuff that. The ancients talked about like with the chakras and the.

Meridian lines, and we're basically freeing those up. When I said breaking things apart, I kind of felt like that's what it was doing. It's more like not necessarily breaking, that's kind of a more of aggressive term. More like clearing the channels. Clearing the way. Yeah. 

Speaker 12: Yeah. And, and to your point, sometimes, you know, even our, when our hearts break and or in a sound session, if you have an emotional release.

Like that could be a, a breaking open too. And even when our [00:29:00] hearts break, then some something else comes in love. Greater love can come in. You know, maybe that's why our hearts break is like, that was love. That was too small. 

Speaker 10: Yeah. And to 

Speaker 12: break it open, to hold a greater form of love. 

Speaker 10: Yeah, totally. Well, how do you take care of yourself?

You're doing all this work for others. I mean, anybody who's been in the service to others business especially, you talked about being a massage therapist for 25 years. Like that's, uh, a lot of service to others. What do you do for your self-care 

Speaker 12: time in nature? Meditation, chanting, singing especially is so helpful.

And playing my harmonium. Yeah. And um. A meditation practice and, and there's days I, I need to have at least two or three days a week that I don't leave the retreat space. Mm-hmm. 

Speaker 13: Mm-hmm. 

Speaker 12: You know, that's where I live and, [00:30:00] and so I just need those, that time too. To not go into town. Yeah. Or to not have any appointments and to be with the land and renew and just to, to calm my nervous system too, especially then that helps me be more present with, with everybody from there.

Speaker 10: I'm curious, how do you. Negotiate the business side of things with, because with, with like the calming, um, the self care, because it, I've always felt like it's so hard. Um, opposite sometimes what we need to do for, for our business lives. And I'm always trying to bring that into balance and take, of course, the calm and the, these things.

But when you're sitting in front of a computer and your, and your website is not behaving,

uh, do you find that? I, I [00:31:00] guess my, when I'm, when I'm struggling, it's because I'm taking an energy that is like a bit of a mismatch. Do you ever find that your, your nature is a mismatch for, um, like the business side of things or are you totally incongruence with with that? 

Speaker 12: Well, that is interesting and I know a lot of people in the wellness field, um, uh, do.

Well, I know a lot of people in the wellness field can, can, that can be challenged, challenging. And I do have a, I've studied business as well and have an MBA in marketing and entrepreneurship, and so that's true. 

Speaker 10: I totally forgot about that. So this is not foreign concept to you 

Speaker 12: that I've been working on it my whole life and I've had my own businesses for.

25 years now too, along with managing resort spas and [00:32:00] working in hospitality. So I think it's always everything that we do, every position that we have like that every job or, um. Everything that we're learning, it helps expand our capacity in some ways like that. No, we, we can't all just start out the gate with knowing everything.

And so there, you know, during the pandemic, I learned how to build my own website and just kept edifying it and, and yeah, to be honest, like to your point, there are times when. You know, you thought you had your website work. I thought, I thought I had my website working and then it's developed this weird glitch like that just happened.

And there's times when my computer then starts to like take forever or it's typing weird even and I'm like, okay, it's time to restart. 

Speaker 13: Yeah. 

Speaker 12: And like, it's time to restart myself too. You know, when [00:33:00] you're like get, when you have that feeling of getting amped up into. Come on. Just do it faster and 

Speaker 10: Yeah.

Yeah. And then 

Speaker 12: it's a good time to just remember that to to take a break. And I think what I'm really focusing on in my life right now of how to practice what I preach is that it am really embodying that knowledge that the to-do list is always gonna be a refilling to-do list. And to make time, to create time for what's really important, the, yes, all those tasks are important.

And to create time for being with those that you love and with the, the friendships that are edifying and reciprocal and life giving to, to each of you. And, um, doing [00:34:00] the, doing this. Taking the time for the self care and, and, and knowing that the to-do list will always be ever refilling. 

Speaker 10: Never goes away.

Never ever, ever, ever, ever goes away. 

Speaker 12: But time, time does. Time does. 

Speaker 10: Yeah. And to be 

Speaker 12: able to dedicate that you, you know, create our lives how we want. And that's another thing I'm, I try to help people with in my sessions too, is, you know, don't get run by life. You know, CR we can, the only thing that we have control over is how we.

How we look at life. Totally. And to be able to choose a way of responding with ease or or chaos, which, which feels better to you? 

Speaker 10: Absolutely. Yeah, I was, I totally agree, agree with that. And, uh, yeah, yesterday I was, uh, [00:35:00] trying to decide if I should do some more tasks around the house, but it was like Sunday and I'm like, oh my gosh, I, if I don't go, and it's like, I've been thinking about going on a hike for a while, and I'm like, if I don't go on this a hike at some point, then I'm just never gonna go on a hike.

And like, why am I even living in Asheville? And if I, why, what am I doing here if I'm not gonna take advantage of all the amazing. You know, places are to, uh, to go spend time in nature here, so. 

Speaker 12: Right. 

Speaker 10: Tell me about the, what are all the components that, that a weekend retreat kind of 

situation would be? I'm actually curious, even for myself, um, that sounds fascinating.

I know it's, you, you have lots of other things that you have that you integrate into, like a weekend experience. What are, what are some of those? 

Speaker 12: Yes. A, a daily sound session at the, the foundation of it all. And even that's fa e Each sound session is different depending on who's [00:36:00] present. And of course, if you're going through a whole weekend with the same group of people, it's, it's really special.

And it, they, the progress, the progression of the sound sessions change over the course of the weekend too. Usually moves from really moving a lot of heavier energy and into, uh, lightness and joy. And then I also love to utilize yoga nidra as a, a way of relaxing us in an embodying technique. This, the inner wolf is on a beautiful nature property, so I love to have everyone be really close to nature and time in nature.

I, uh, my mother and I make a lot of really nourishing food for the retreats. 

Speaker 13: Mm-hmm. That's nice. And 

Speaker 12: it's sweet to have her. She's, she like joy incarnate, so it's sweet to have her be a part of it. [00:37:00] And I also build in. Uh, a rest afternoon, free time. And I love to not only take people through a peak experience of the weekend because I, and I also utilize, um, things like fire ceremony, water ceremony, cacao ceremony to help transmute energy and letting go and calling in and.

I don't wanna leave people on a high, I want them to have a, a high a, a peak, um, mountaintop experience, but I don't wanna just leave them there alone. And so I build in a free time afternoon and really encourage people to watch. Become the witness of their thoughts with that, of like, okay, notice do you find yourself saying, oh, [00:38:00] I've got four hours.

I could go into town, I could do this. I could go ahead and get this. I could go on a big hike. I could call this person, I could call these 10 people. I could, you know, do some business work. You know, what does the mind tell us to do? Because that's what comes in in the rest of life. When you're at home. You have these, this free time or, or you hope for free time.

And then what do we fill it with? What does our mind tell us? And to be the observer of the mind to get a little space from that, that usual thoughts. And to be able to work with your thoughts a little better. And, and that too is a practice and I love to, you know, build that as part of my retreat experience too, to be able to be a support to the everyone once they're back home too.

Speaker 10: Mm. You know, for people who might find meditation challenging, [00:39:00] uh, I think I was talking to another practitioner recently about this idea of. Like stepping your way, uh, into meditation and finding modalities and techniques that condition you. So it's not, so if you're, if you've got a, a mind that's constantly racing, meditation is painful.

And most people, oh yeah, just give up right away. Right. So I feel like sound healing and going to like some, like if somebody's listening to this and you wanna try it out, like I would go try out one session. And see how you like it and, you know, work your way up maybe to like a, a more, uh, longer, like a retreat, like a three day retreat like you offer, and with the intention if you have it for using that as a springboard.

And two, maybe a meditation practice, if that's what you're going, if that's what you've been thinking about. 'cause there's a lot of benefit to that. But it's hard to just. Go from like [00:40:00] zero to a hundred, right? Yes. 

Speaker 12: You need something in between and, and sound healing itself, especially the nature of the gong.

It can help to neutralize thoughts. So you might find that there's a thought that pops up in your mind and then it just poof and, and dissolves. And I love to encourage people too. Know that you lay down, you know you're gonna lay down and relax. And oftentimes, I can't tell you how, like you probably saw this too when you were doing massages.

Like people are relaxed and it's amazing the. Crazy stressful things that our brains come up with when we're relaxed. 

Speaker 13: Mm-hmm. That's insane. 

Speaker 12: And 

Speaker 13: yeah, and 

Speaker 12: to be able to know that, okay, this is, you know, say if your brain fires up in a, in a sound session. And tries to tell you all these things to think about or in your meditation, you know, to work with your brain as, as a part of you, [00:41:00] like internal family systems.

And that part of our brain that wants us to be productive, wants us to be on, uh, is, is just a part of us. And to acknowledge it. Thank, thank you brain. Thank you part. I see. I know. You're just trying to keep me going. That's valid. I'm gonna come back to that right now. We're just gonna relax. 

Speaker 13: Nice. 

Speaker 12: And I think that helps the brain to calm down and in, and sometimes in meditation, I've been meditating and I've had a thought, you know, and I'm like, go check that candle.

And I'm like, come on brain, it's okay. We're, we're gonna sit here. And then it's like, go check that candle. And I'm like. Okay, I'm gonna go check that candle. And I go in and there's like something about to fall on onto the candle and like, if I hadn't have listened to that intuition, something, you know, could have [00:42:00] happened.

But, you know, and I know, uh, um, you know, some speakers and pastors that they'll have a pen beside their, their meditation cushion and have, you know, divine input come in. During your meditation too, that it's a a way to, you know, cleanse and receive clarity too. And that can happen in the sound sessions too.

A way to be able to work with our minds and know that, you know, we're not gonna be able to have it be quiet all the time. 'cause that's the, the focus, that's the job of the brain is to make thoughts. 

Speaker 10: Right, and as much as we can integrate slowing. Creating space in between our thoughts during our day. I think that's the main thing.

And there are ways to do that. I, you can make a habit of, of doing it. Like, one of the things I like to do is to just, um, you know, like before [00:43:00] I get into my car, I sometimes will just stand, take a breath, and people might think it looks weird because you literally are like, what is that guy? What is that guy just standing outside of his car for, you know, like, but I'm like literally just like taking a breath.

That seeing what or so you can do it with any time you go, you enter the house, right? You can just wait a minute, take one breath, get really conscious, get really present, and then go in. Just remember to do that. 

Speaker 12: That's a good way to be present. I love that. Oh, 

Speaker 10: hey, I'm not, I don't do it all the time. I'm work, I'm, I'm a work in progress there, but it is four 

Speaker 12: wheel.

Speaker 10: Yeah. Well, I wanted 

Speaker 12: to say one other, um, aspect of meditation that I utilize in my retreats especially is, you know, because. Especially for a person that meditation is new for that there are, like you said, there's so many different types of [00:44:00] meditation, and so for my retreats, I love to choose specific meditations that that help support what everyone's, you know what, what?

Everyone's expressed that they wanna focus on. And I love to utilize Kundalini meditations and especially, you know, because they have a mudra, like a hand position, they have an eye focus. There's a usually a mantra. There's a way that you, you know, sit or, you know, hold your hands or hold your body. And, um, and doing all that occupies the brain.

And so when you've, it's easier when it has many jobs to do like that to you notice, you notice easier when the mind has scampered off, you know, or it, it can't as much it's being occupied to do all those things so that you can find a space within all [00:45:00] of that. 

Speaker 10: Yeah. Right. That's so true. Uh, well, uh, is there anything else you'd like to share with the audience today?

I know you've got, uh, you've got some, uh, really awesome offer actually. Uh, anything else you'd like to. Discuss. 

Speaker 12: Yes. Well, I also wanted to thank you for all that you're doing in this community. I think it's really beautiful to witness what is happening in the, the networking events and, and these podcasts especially of how.

You're being really instrumental to bring the wellness community, the wellness practitioners together. You know, I think there, even in the wellness community, there's been a lot of, a lot of competition even, and so I think witnessing what you're doing of bringing everybody together helps us [00:46:00] remember.

Okay. A networking event isn't just to get more clients. A networking event is for us to help each other. How can we help each other? Mm-hmm. How can we come together and, you know, how we're creating events together and, you know, and sharing of ideas that I think it's really beautiful. And what you're doing is, is changing the wellness community in Asheville for the better.

Speaker 10: Wow. Thank you so much. Like, one of the most amazing things anybody's said to me, um, so far since I've started this. So, um, really, really do appreciate that. And, um, yeah, you know, I think, uh, it's, we'll see what, you know, there seems to be, there's a demand for it. It seems to be that people want cooperation over competition.

And, um, I always say too, if you had, if you looked at, uh, an average person. This bucket of money living in Asheville, how do they [00:47:00] spend their money and what percent of it of that money goes to the various things? The truth is, is there is plenty of, of, uh, resources to go around to shift even not in, in addition to somebody's budget, but there are plenty of ways to shift some of a person's budget into a.

Being healthier to work, to finding out how to be healthier, to find out what ways and what tools and what experiences can they have. And there's, and the prices ranges for all these things are, are, uh, everything from free to very expensive. I mean, if you want very expensive, you can go to the the Omni and stay overnight and go in their spa, you know?

Exactly. I mean, that's not, that's not my caliber of experience, but hey, for some that's it. Go for it. Um, it 

Speaker 12: is an amazing spa. 

Speaker 10: Yes. But, uh, there's something for, for every, everyone in Asheville. Yeah. And there's a practitioner for everyone, and we're more, we're stronger together. That's [00:48:00] what I know for a fact.

So 

Speaker 12: I was also curious what your vision for how your work with the podcasts and the networking events, how you, where you hope wellness can go. 

Speaker 10: I wanna put Asheville on the map, like on a, on a bigger level. So I wanna try to, uh, and I have a few different things I've been thinking about. I'm not sharing everything just, just yet, but like I really see Asheville as being a wellness destination that is more nationally known that it than it is today.

And. I think there's also some other opportunities with some recent trends to put Asheville on the map. So I am building, trying to build something that feels like everyone wants it and everyone wants to use it. And once I've done that successfully, then I can take it to a larger audience. But I first have to [00:49:00] understand how, um.

How people see what I'm doing and how I can fit it more, better fit it to their needs, both for practitioners and also the, the people that are using it. So there's a, you know, I give that a year of just even figuring that out. 

Speaker 12: Yeah, I think that's beautiful. And you know, just to bring it back to Grove Park, you know that like as an example of how Asheville has been a wellness destination for its whole time.

Mm-hmm. Of being like, how, you know, Mr. Grove and his Grove's tonic and you know, at places in Asheville being a respite for tuberculosis. And like a wellness community for, for all of its history. Yeah. That there's a lot of healing energy here 

Speaker 13: we have it. So I 

Speaker 12: think your focus, that's really beautiful to rejuvenate it.[00:50:00] 

Speaker 10: Yeah, yeah. Well we've got, we've got the assets in terms of the people, the resources, and um, like let's just grow that aspect. And I'd love to see, I would just love to see it grow even further. And there's lots of room for that. Thank you for being a part of it. I think you know, you're, by the way, for the listeners we've got, Dawn is on the front cover of the Sound Healing Guide that I recently put out.

So you can also go check out that guide and you'll see her. Face on there and her business and, and some other sound healers. And some other modalities too. So, um, thank you 

Speaker 12: so much. You're welcome. And I would love to encourage anyone to come to my, my regular weekly sessions, um, and to come back and to.

Enjoy, uh, buy one, get one free ex, um, experience so you can bring somebody with you to enjoy it. And just when, just contact me and, [00:51:00] uh, let me know you heard it on Be Well, Asheville. Yes. And um, my websites are, uh, sound of a new dawn.com and inner wolf retreat space.com. Um, and I also at, at, at the time of this podcast coming out, I'll likely have one more retreat for this year in November.

And then the dates will be up for next year's retreats. I also have a couple of collaboration events coming up November 1st and November 2nd with two different Heathers, Heather Wright, on November 1st on All Souls Day at The Inner Wolf and Heather Irene Smith at Asheville Community Yoga. Mm-hmm. Where we'll incorporate sound healing with other modalities too.

Speaker 10: Nice. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well buy one, get one is an amazing deal. That's, um, and like, that's like the perfect opportunity for Take Your Buddy and go experience [00:52:00] some, some healing with Dawn, everybody. I think that's an awesome, awesome offer and thank you so much for being on the show today, Dawn. It's always lovely to see your face and interact with you, and I hope to see you again in October and and beyond as well.

Speaker 12: Thank you, Travis. Such an honor and a delight to be here on your podcast. Thank you for having me. 

And if you loved what you heard, please rate and review this show. Your review helps others discover and grow our wellness community.

You can catch the next episode while on your way up to visit Mount Mitchell or cruising down I 26 or on your way to catch a nice [00:53:00] sunset view over at the Black Balsam Knob. You can check out more Asheville Wellness News and Events and join our newsletter@bewellasheville.com. Thank you for being the best part of our wellness community and until next time, be well.

 .