"A MINUTE TO BREATHE"
Welcome and thanks for visiting my website. I’m happy to share my work with you.
Meditation
My meditation journeys, ambient soundbath recordings, and live Yoga soundbaths are influenced by my own experiences and are not planned or preconceived. I try to stay in the moment with my practice and I have learned that a spontaneous approach to my classes works best across different practices. When I say “practice” I tend to think of life as the “practice” and not a particular method, approach, or belief system. I have learned a few meditation techniques, earned Reiki Master and teacher credentials, and I have experienced many self-improvement and therapeutic practices. My classes represent a melting pot of learning and teaching but my main goal, whether through music, meditation or discussion, is to help my clients find their inner strengths and love regardless of their practice. My work supports and encourages that goal.
I have been a professional songwriter and musician since my teens and in my late 20s I discovered Yoga and meditation while studying the Kriya Yoga of an Indian Yoga Master. Since that discovery music and my “spiritual” practice have been intertwined. Music was a supportive element through and beyond my challenging childhood and it wasn't for music my life would have been different. I am now able to combine my energy practice with the vibration of music. The ambient music I create is less “music” than a vibratory tool to help deepen the Yogic and meditative experience. The seed of inspiration for my first ambient recording, “A Minute to Breathe” was planted when a few friends told me they played my music in their offices and said it created “support” and “peace” in a chaotic workplace. The music also worked as support in my Electric Flow Yoga project, as the live ambient accompaniment allowed Yoga students to dive deeper into their practices.
Electric Flow
After a show with my rock band, Hero Jr. Chicago Yoga instructor Maria Rosner and I were talking about how non-traditional music could be applied to Yoga. We wondered if it could be incorporated into a live event without distracting from the practice, which is ultimately meant to cultivate and lead one to an experience of inner peace through Union. When we parted ways, the energy of that conversation went with me and soon after returning home I grabbed my guitar and made a quick recording, which I sent off to Maria. She loved the vibe and our collaboration was official.
Electric Flow Yoga soon began hosting events with live music, played just with my guitar and a few effects. I had previously only mediated and practiced yoga in silence, so a part of me felt uneasy, as if I was somehow betraying the art, but I felt at home and I allowed myself to follow my creative intuition. These Electric Flow Yoga events have seamlessly joined my art and my meditation and given me the chance to practice both simultaneously. This combined practice has allowed both disciplines to develop in unexpected and synergistic ways.
Eccentric Flow & Soundbath
My Yoga partnership with Megan Zirkelbach in Indianapolis is called Megan Ken Eccentric Slow Flow & Sound Bath. I have had a wide range of positive feedback from live events in the Midwest and from the music internationally.
Album
One of those developments has been my album, “A Minute to Breathe”. While working in Nashville, I put up a microphone and composed four unexpected songs. I wrote, recorded, and mixed the sixty-one minutes of ambient guitar in two days. The best way to describe the experience is that the music flowed right through me to tape without a thought or a plan. The experience was as deep as sitting in the silence of meditation.
I have spent most of my career playing loud rock guitar, writing and producing for others, and being a member of my favorite band, Hero Jr. "A Minute To Breathe" as minimal as anything I have recorded, but it came out of me as if I had been “training” for it my whole life. For me, it feels like more than just an album. The music and this entire experience were a gift that turned an uneventful weekend in Nashville into a new aspect of my career. If you listen closely you can even hear Ziggy and Izzy, two of my favorite studio dogs, playing in the background.
Listeners have reported concentration blocks dissolving, reaching deeper states of meditation without distraction, quickly settling into a relaxed state, falling asleep more easily and just plain old good time headphone listening — all things I don’t think could have been achieved in one album had I planned and tried.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT "A MINUTE TO BREATHE"
"...great...soothing music...I love it!" - F.B., Paris, France
"I love your "Minute To Breathe" - M.K., Los Angeles, CA.
"...receiving your music was so well timed..." - C.H., London, England
"I'm throwing away my Bible!" - A.B., Chicago, IL.
"I love, love, love, love this...perfect and spot on" - M.C., London, England
"...pleasantly surprised." - M.G.R. - Munich, Germany
"This is perfect for me and will be listened to often...when I'm writing code and need to be heads down with my thinking cap on..." - A. W., Appleton, WI.
"...this music is great..." - C.U., London, England
"...crazy...it's so relaxing...I have trouble sleeping and when I listen before bed I get a good night sleep." - L.L., Alberta, Canada
THE WORK
I have created this music as a "support" system for yoga, meditation, and contemplation but there are no limits for it's use. Many of my clients have found that the music supports them at work including CEOs to service workers. The one thing about the music is that, as opposed to album, radio, film and TV tracks, I try not to include musical and sound elements that might distract you from your practice or the task at hand.
bookings and events
Electric Flow Yoga is a partnership with Yogi and Yoga instructor Maria Rosner and is based in the Chicago area. EFY is available for studio and outdoor events of all sizes.
Megan Ken Eccentric Slow Flow & Sound Bath is a partnership with Yogi and Yoga instructor Megan Zirkelbach and is based in the Indianapolis area. EFY is available for studio and outdoor events of all sizes.
About the recording
(for the gear nerds)
During the recording of "A Minute To Breathe" I used a 2016 USA Stratocaster and a 1972 Gibson Les Paul Custom through an Orange Dual Terror and an Orange PPC 112 speaker cabinet. I used a Jim Dunlop Echoplex, Line 6 and MXR Carbon Copy Delays, a basic one channel TC Electronics Ditto, and a KHDK Ghoul Jr directly into ProTools. I use DR 11-50 gauge Veritas strings. I have been performing and working with Orange Amps for over seven years and besides being the fiercest amps out there this little 30 watt Terror was amazing when I needed depth and finesse. This little rig suits the project perfectly and it travels well. I mix and record on Kali IN8 monitors. As always my headphones are Klipsch because they never lie!