Sarah S. Bentley
Community singing is an ancient tradition in every culture - it is more prayer than performance.
It is a deeply important, and often neglected, part of our humanity.
Singing in community harmonizes our hearts and helps us feel present, connected, and at peace.
Join us for a Winter Solstice Community Singing Ritual, honoring the darkest days of the year. Often the solstice is celebrated as the returning of the light, but in our grief-phobic society, that can feel like a spiritual bypass. You’re invited to explore the dark season through a unique blend of community singing, meditation, and ritual through the framework of the Work That Reconnects (Joanna Macy)— a method that helps us feel deeply connected to each other and the world.
Saturday, December 21, 5-7PM
Suggested donation $10-50
Trinity Church of Austin
4001 Speedway | Austin, TX 78751
Sisters in Harmony Austin is a group of people who identify as women (cis & trans). We circle and explore joy, grief, gratitude, sisterhood, authentic expression, and more through singing. We learn lyrics, melodies, harmonies, and blending. When we feel the vibration of the sound (the vibral resonance) of our communal voices, we experience peace and belonging. As we deepen our relationships with the songs, so too do our heart connections deepen with one another.
Resuming in January 2025...
Tuesdays 7-8:30pm
Be Well Yoga House ~ Koenig & Burnet
Join mailing list to find out more
"I love singing with Sarah! She has a beautiful way of creating a space where everyone feels safe expressing their voices. I look forward to the joy and connection each week."
- Rakefet
"As I began to join the group in song, I felt the vocalizations connect to deep emotion within me that released without my effort. I knew I had arrived in the right place and that I’d signed up for more than I bargained for. Sarah makes learning the songs accessible in a way that feels connective with self and other and holds space for members of the group to feel heard and held by the group and the song."
- Kim O
"I overcame fear of singing with love acceptance and encouragement from Sarah and my new sisters. My experience was both invigorating and relaxing while inspiring closeness and warmth. I tuned in by connecting inside myself and with others in sharing, meditating, journaling and singing. Felt like swimming is a deep, warm spring."
- Patty
I’m feeling so grateful I came. Best church I’ve had in a while!
-Caroline
The community singing circle was so uplifting, relaxing, and full of beauty and connection. Sarah is a very strong song leader. This is truly healing and needed.
-Gretchen
The women's singing circle was among the most magical & powerful experiences of my adult life.
-Robin
Rumi
We are meant to grieve in community, to be witnessed and supported by others. Yet our society tends to grieve in solitude, if at all. A grief ritual is an intentional ceremony, led by trained facilitators, in which we honor the tender places, allow our grief to metabolize and move through our emotional body through processing, tears, and sometimes even rage, in a safe space.
Next grief ritual TBD
Join mailing list to be informed
Maya Angelou
Heart Body Song strives to create a safe space for all and in order to do this must acknowledge the harm that people of color have experienced and in some cases still endure. For community singing to be fully inclusive and safe for people of the global majority and others harmed by inhumane systems, Heart Body Song is committed to standing/singing in solidarity by taking an anti-racist stance in organizing and facilitating all of our events. Community singing is a form of collective healing and without intentional, proactive action towards dismantling systemic injustice, the inertia of our society will continue to perpetuate harm to those who are most oppressed. Without this stance, the community singing movement's aspirations for a peaceful, loving, and sustainable world will only remain a reality for the people living in white skin. In order to not perpetuate harmful systems, Heart Body Song is committed to cultivating a space that does no harm through setting a safe container for all bodies, collaborating with artists and healers of the global majority, leveraging my white privilege to transform harmful systems, and actively and regularly participating in (and sometimes co-leading) diversity and equity circles & workshops.
Cost & accessibility: To make Heart Body Song events accessible to people of varying income levels, cost is based on a sliding scale depending your income and generational wealth. Please contact Sarah directly if a payment plan would be helpful or if you are not able to pay any of these amounts, as no one will be turned away due to lack of ability to pay.
BIPOC sponsorship - 10% off for people who identify as Black, indigenous, or person of color. Use promo code 'BIPOC' in Eventbrite. Why do I offer a BIPOC sponsorship? The average white family has roughly 10 times the amount of wealth as the average Black family. By offering a discount, I hope to make it easier for people of the global majority to participate in my offerings because diversity makes our community stronger and healthier. Until such time that national reparations have been made and there is no racial wealth gap, it is up to all of us to support the community in small ways such as this.
Sarah S. Bentley, founder of Heart Body Song, is a song catcher, song carrier, and community song leader, based in Austin, Texas. She gracefully weaves the art of embodied singing, mindful movement, ritual, and communal prayer into her circles. Sarah started singing as a child and has performed as a singer/songwriter. Sarah incorporates qigong and meditation, as well as practices to build community resilience to provide a rich and healing experience. She has a beautiful way of creating a space where everyone feels safe expressing their voices. Sarah is a certified Sisters in Harmony song leader and offers regular women's and inclusive singing experiences around Austin and online. Sarah is also a Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation practitioner and is a devoted ally and activist of diversity and inclusion. Her experience leading intentionally diverse groups in circle processes has prepared her to recognize and facilitate discussions around race/microaggressions should they arise in the course of singing circles.
Sarah is available to co-facilitate at workshops & retreats. Contact me to discuss details.
Stream my original music on SoundCloud. These recordings were captured on my phone on Garageband. Support me in my recording process by becoming a patron on Patreon.
Heart Body Song - Sacred Community singing
Austin, Texas, United States
Copyright © 2024 Heart Body Song - All Rights Reserved.
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