Harp at Joy’s Angels Holistic Healing Center
My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.” – Martin Luther
On July 30th of this year I had the opportunity to play harp at the grand opening of my friend Denise Joy Ridner’s holistic healing center. Joy’s Angels Holistic Healing Center has been Denise’s dream for as long as I have known her. The center offers holistic healing services to individuals affected by cancer, including their caregivers. All of the services are free and the center works closely with members of the medical field.
As I played at the grand opening so many people came up to me to say how much they loved the harp and how it calmed them. Many people wanted to play the harp and feel how the plucked strings vibrated through their bodies. The music and the harp opened people up to sharing with me and each other. I met a wonderful yoga instructor who volunteers her time at the center, dancers, holistic healers, and a gifted, kind writer, Michelle Kaplan. Michelle is a poet, inspirational speaker, and cancer survivor. She shared her story with everyone at the grand opening that evening bringing a taste of how writing has brought her and her readers peace and inspiration.
Denise, and all who work at the center, are passionate about focusing on the mind, body, and spirit of those affected by cancer to help them heal.
From Joy’s Angels Holistic Healing Center’s Facebook page:
Joy’s Angels Holistic Healing Center offers the following methodologies:
-Light Massage
-Reflexology
-Reiki
-CranioSacral Therapy
-SomatoEmotional Release
-Spiritual Support, including End of Life Doula.
We [Joy’s Angels Holistic Healing Center] offer our services free of charge. As a nonprofit, we seek support from outside sources rather than rely on our clientele.
I discussed with Denise about adding harp workshops to the center’s healing services in the form of Harp Circles and Harp for Yoga & Meditation.
Harp Circles would consist of a group of participants each with their own harp (which I will supply with the help of generous donations), no experience with music or the harp is necessary. I will guide the group in rhythmic and melodic exercises and get us all playing beautifully soothing music together. There will also be a point in the workshop where I will ask each person to express any emotions they would like to share, but to share them using the harp and not with words. We can take that pain or fear or joy and weave our emotions together in a beautiful composition that the group can share.
Harp for Yoga and Meditation is just that. I will play the harp to support the restorative yoga classes, Savasana, and guided meditations. The music flows with the classes creating a calm atmosphere for healing and to help reduce anxiety and pain.
Music can be so healing and there have been scientific studies that listening to music can reduce pain and help with the healing process. Beverly Merz of, Harvard Women’s Health Watch, mentions that music, “improves invasive procedures, can help restores lost speech due to stroke or other traumatic brain injuries, reduces side effects of cancer therapy, aids pain relief, and improves the quality of life for dementia patients”, among other benefits of music.
I witnessed this when I would play harp for my mom when she was being treated for Ovarian Cancer. I would bring my harp to her hospital room and she would become more relaxed and alert, patents on her floor would walk into her room to listen to me play. These were patients who I later found out never left their rooms and even had trouble getting into and out of their beds most days.
I thank Denise for allowing me to be a part of her wonderful center’s grand opening and I look forward to all of the good this center will put into the world.
https://www.joyshealingcenter.com/
https://www.michellekaplanpoet.com/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/healing-through-music-201511058556
