Category Archives: Humans & the rest of nature

Finding my voice this April: Harmonic Presence & Taizé

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Photo of Angela sitting on the floor with two others during Harmonic Presence workshop.

Angela toning in Harmonic Presence workshop, April 2026

You may know that for the last few years I’ve focused on reclaiming my voice. The human voice is one of the most important ways we connect with other beings, and somehow I’d lost my connection with my own. My journey began several years ago with two retreats with Vocal Transformation, and continued with an advanced Feldenkrais® training in listening. I still get excited listing all the parts of the human body where we listen: ears, skin, muscles, blood, lymphatic fluid, fascia, and of course, the skeleton.

My personal pilgrimage has continued this spring with two voice experiences in France: a harmonic presence retreat with the composer David Hykes and three days at Taizé, an ecumenical Christian retreat center where prayer is sung three times a day.

Photo of nettle soup garnished with edible flowers.Harmonic Presence

The first experience was at a 12th-century farmhouse in the Loire valley. Imagine a white-walled, orange-ceilinged room, ten people gathered in a circle, creating harmonics with their voices. When it’s just you, it’s like singing chords with yourself. When it’s ten people, wow. Chords upon chords, vibrating in your body and the space. Guided by a kind, wise man who’s steeped in this way of listening and toning for decades. When you’re not gathered for practice, there are delicious, homemade meals. (See the photo of nettle soup gathered and cooked by one of the participants. Yum!)

Here’s a taste of what the harmonics sound like in one of David Hykes’ compositions.

Taizé

Photo of stained glass window showing the Lamb of God.And now, join me at Taizé, a tiny village in Burgundy. Feel yourself seated on the floor or a bench along the walls, the lay brothers seated centrally, in a church on the scale of a cathedral but simply adorned, many small candles flickering on the altar wall. You’re surrounded by 2,000 people, mostly between the ages of 18 and 35 (Taizé differentiates between this age group and older adults, who are also welcomed in smaller numbers). And you begin to sing together the first chant, in four-part harmony. Feel how you might begin to resonate after an hour.

Here’s a taste of one of my favorite chants.

Photo of our discussion group at Taize 2024, sitting in a circle outside.

Our English-speaking discussion group included participants from Estonia, the UK, Poland, USA, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal.

Singing with Nightingales

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Photo at the land in East Sussex where we gather to sing with nightingales. Secret location!

Before night falls, we walked a little way into the woods to learn about the special, symbiotic relationship between nightingales, this land, and the way humans have husbanded the land for centuries.

Do you love nature? Consider gifting yourself with Singing with Nightingales. I attended this April, and it was all and more than I hoped.

One magical part was walking with 30 other people, single file, without talking or flashlights, into the night to where our nightingale was singing. Imagine the stars overhead, night sounds around, and the feeling of the uneven ground under your feet. Your senses expanding—feet and ankles becoming more aware, eyes adapting to the dark, listening with your entire body (yes, every part of you can vibrate with sound!), smelling soil, plants, sheep. And then silently gathering together by the thicket where the nightingale was.

We can’t take for granted the presence of this bird in England. Nightingale habitat is vanishing; it’s likely that 20 years from now, nightingales will no longer sing in East Sussex.

Go hear them if you can. The place, the people, the food, the music—all unite for an incomparable experience. Just be sure to bring warm clothes! I slept in almost everything I’d brought.

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Illustration of a standing human skeleton.I hope to see you soon. Meanwhile, here’s a lesson you can play with, the classic “Lifting Your Pelvis on Standing Feet.” With many of the core elements of functional human movement, it’s one of the first lessons I taught, and one I come back to often when I’m working with myself. Even spending five or ten minutes with the beginning of the lesson is super helpful for reminding yourself to do less and notice more. Be sure to listen or download within the next few weeks: this file is available for a limited time only.