
Community Singing Circles
with Sarah S. Bentley
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.
Sisters in Harmony is a growing movement of heart-centered humans who are freeing the voice of the feminine essence on the planet by singing together in sacred circle.
EARLY AUTUMN SERIES
TUESDAYS 7-8:30PM
SEPTEMBER 12 - OCTOBER 17
FULL - Join list for late fall series
We meet weekly 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.
What will you get out of the series:
Classes will include:
Each class will include:
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. Contact me for promo code. 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.
"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 Laviolette
"When I signed up for Sisters in Harmony Song Circle I joined to find an outlet for expressing my voice. As I entered my first meetup the group was already singing. 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 Olivier
"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 Stephens
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.
Held on private land in Dripping Springs, TX 78736
Details provided upon registration.
Facilitated by Sarah Bentley, Cameron Grayson, and Fatima Mann.
Your grief is sacred.
You are held in your grief process.
Grieve to heal and transform.
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 white supremacist 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 and oppressive 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 trainings.
Sarah is a song catcher, song carrier, and 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. She draws on her studies in integrative medicine (qigong, yoga, meditation), health promotion, behavioral science, and community resilience to provide a rich and healing experience for her participants. 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 © 2023 Heart Body Song - All Rights Reserved.
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