Day 10

Lake Como, NJ

It was so nice to have a morning to sleep in, especially with Helene having joined the tour, and also a shorter drive for the day!  The previous night was one of the few nights I spent in a hotel instead of with friends or community, and I enjoyed a nice soak in the hot tub, and a swim in the pool.  The energy was definitely shifting into the final stretch, and we enjoyed a luxuriously slow morning.  With a little over two hours to drive, we decided to stop for sushi for lunch, and found an awesome place that was fairly quiet.  Meandering onward, we arrived at our friend Susan’s house in Asbury Park by mid-afternoon.  Sipping iced tea on the porch ~ and Susan has an *awesome* porch ~ we enjoyed chatting and catching up, and looked forward to a trip to the beach the next day!

Friday night was the one and only stop on the tour where I was invited to share my Free Your Voice workshop ~ one of my true favorites!  This workshop is a fun process that supports people in 1) making contact with the voice for the purpose of singing and/or speaking more freely, 2) healing emotional and physical blocks that keep people from expressing themselves, and 3) working with sound in an intentional way as a tool for meditation and awakening.  There was a full circle of people with hearts opening to the exploration of what freedom could feel like, and we worked with toning, mantra chanting, and singing inspiring, simple songs to begin widening the door to greater self-expression, and it was a blast!  We also went around the circle, each one sharing his/her name, the place they called home, as well as their intentions for joining the workshop ~ and we all spontaneously sang/toned/harmonized the names back to them, a truly magical experience! We were also treated to a wicked strong thunderstorm during the name-toning circle ~ the sky turned a bright yellow as the sunset shone from behind the clouds.  With such high humidity in the afternoon, the storm brought such a welcome relief!

Our host for the Free Your Voice workshop was Donna, the owner of a sweet space along the main street running the length of several beach towns.  Donna’s community, Soulful Awakenings, was beautiful ~ both in the serene and colorful decor, and in the community that came together!  It was also a delight to see several familiar faces with us ~ beloved friends that we’ve met along the way through mutual friends and similar events ~ a true delight for sure!

The morning after our workshop, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and headed to the beach for a little while to enjoy the sun and water.  What a beautiful day it was!  Though our friends live in Asbury Park, they took us to nearby Ocean Grove, a much quieter beach town with an unusual story of being owned by a sect of Christians that set up camp in the middle of town, just a few blocks from the beach, each summer.  The tents were much fancier than the usual camping-style nylon tents that people use for camping ~ they were some kind of industrial size ones, and seemed to almost be houses in themselves.  Apparently there’s a waiting list for years and years to be selected to come and camp in Ocean Grove!  It was so awesome to be rocked by the waves, baked by the sun, and caressed by the breeze before heading off to the next stop on the tour!