One Oneness Interview : Temple Haze
To read the full article with all pictures please visit One.Oneness.
Laura Wencker from Paris visited us last winter in Berlin. See extracts from the Interview below.
THE HEALING BENEFITS OF SOUND
Healing Series
I had the pleasure to meet Temple Haze last May during a retreat he hosted on behalf of Soneiro Collective, a collective created with his creative partner Alisa Reimer. For the following interview, we sat down and spoke about the healing benefits of sound and Temple's journey from "the underground Berlin club scene" to yoga, meditation, and mantra practices.
How did music cross your path?
“I grew up bathed in music, thanks to my mother. She had old vinyl by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Elton John, Paul Simon, and so on, and would play them to me as my secondary education. She also would always sing at church, a mixture of gospel and traditional, and her high soprano voice would elevate through the house when she practiced. Music was a major part of my upbringing.
By the age of 15, I had a clear sense that writing, acting, or music would be my calling and passion, and I dabbled at all three. After seeing the ins and outs of the theatre world, acting in productions in my hometown, I realized I had a message I wanted to spread to the world, and that had to be done through my own compositions. I then spent the next two years in my basement toiling away at the guitar, learning all the songs and techniques I could, singing deep into the night to train my voice, and build my songwriting structure. My adolescent years were mainly spent in solitude, honing my craft; for this discipline, I am truly thankful.”
What was the journey from your parents’ basement to "the underground Berlin club scene" as you called it?
”After one year in college, I dropped out and decided to take up the life of a wandering minstrel of sorts - literally calling myself "Temple the Travelling Troubadour". Working on farms and hitchhiking through the US until, eventually, coming over to Europe in search of an artistic community, I could blossom in. After a year of nomadic street musician life in London, Tuscany and Prague, I felt called to Berlin with it's reputation of being a haven of artistic expression and collaboration. In Berlin, I began to really explore and open myself to experiences, building a progressive, trip-hop band, and diving headfirst into the club/ festival circuit.”
Can you tell more about the dark side of the music scene that you experienced?
”I feel music as a direct emotional gateway, a shortcut to bypass our thinking mind and directly affect our consciousness in the very moment we really listen to it, when we allow ourselves to become engulfed in it. In this way, any emotional state can be amplified, whether it be light or dark. At first, I was, as most artists are, inspired by suffering, using songwriting as a process to understand and transform uncertainty, depression, and desire. As I explored the Berlin scene, I realized many of my peers where driven intensely by ego (including myself at the time), and that I was constantly searching for a sacred meaning with the rhythms, chords, and melodies but, more often than not, I found transient silence and distraction. I was stepping into my shadow and exploring what lay in the darkness. This experience was priceless and has helped shape who I am today, accepting and nurturing my shadow, confronting my ego - finding a balance between the dark and the light.”
You eventually started to practice yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. Can you tell us more about this radical transition?
“When I was 15, I became fascinated with expanding consciousness, reading Terence McKenna, Timothy Leary, and Ram Das, and I thought to myself that Psychedelics hold the key to understanding suffering, to unlocking or cultural programming. After a few years of deep experimentation with LSD and psilocybin I gained so many insights, knowledge and what I would call creative wisdom, but after a while I came to a similar realisation as the one Ram Das explains in the foreword to his book Be Here Now: "(It was) as if you came into the kingdom of heaven and you saw how it was and you felt these new states of awareness, and then you got cast out again". I then knew I had to make a radical change: stop experimenting, stop smoking, stop drinking, and move into a space of sober reflection and transformation. This is where yoga and meditation entered my life in the space created when I consciously left distraction, finding solace in discipline and silence, turning off the mind, and allowing myself to truly be.”
And how did this new path change your way of seeing and creating music? How would you describe your creative work today?
“Where I used to see creating and performing music purely as a release of direct emotion, once I began looking inward and discovering the vast world beneath our waking consciousness, I'd say I understood the etherial and channeling aspect of making music. I started to feel the energetic effects of my music and asking myself "What is this song, or melody bringing up ? How is it influencing my behaviour?" I also felt called to create music with the intention of love within it. I realized I was given the gift to perform and create music, and with this comes a responsibility to use that influence for the betterment of the human experience and, hopefully, the world. In short, my path brought me more into a holistic perspective by creating art. There is a bigger world outside of my own experience.”
“AMAZINGLY, IN THIS DAY AND AGE, WE HAVE THE TOOLS AND KNOWLEDGE TO INDUCE DIFFERENT STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS WORKING PURELY WITH SOUND.”
You once told me how fascinated you were about the influence of the sound on the human body and, more specifically, its effects on our brain. Can you talk about the concept of binaural beats and brainwave entrainment?
“There is a phenomenon called the "frequency following response ". It states that our brainwave patterns tend to synchronize, or "entrain", with external stimuli. For example, if we hear jarring and extreme noises such as a jackhammer breaking through concrete, due to the extremely fast rhythm and volume of these external sounds, our brainwave patterns sync with this outside noise. This creates feelings of extreme alertness and unease, which activate the sympathetic nervous system, our "fight or flight" system.
If you took a walk in a national park, surrounded only by nature's sounds, birds chirping, a stream flowing, the wind blowing gently, your brain would synch up with these soothing volumes and natural rhythms, bringing ones brainwave pattern into a calm and relaxed state. This would, in turn, activate the parasympathetic nervous system, also known as the "rest and digest" system. The reason behind it is simple when thought of in terms of evolution. Utilizing our sense of hearing enables us to immediately respond to external stimuli - for example, when we were cave-people, hearing the roar of a lion immediately set the human brain on alert and the nervous system ready to act. Similarly, when there is quiet, our body can finally release and relax.
Amazingly, in this day and age, we have the tools and knowledge to induce different states of consciousness working purely with sound. By understanding the most common natural brainwave states (Delta, Theta, Alpha & Beta, there is also much research being done about Gamma frequencies), we can emulate these states via a sound experience. This is done most effectively via Binaural Beats, two sine-soundwaves hard-panned left and right, that has a tiny difference in pitch. This difference emulates a slow beat within the center of our hearing, which in turn entrains our brain into the desired state that coincides with the chosen beat. For example, to induce theta brainwave states (3-8Hz), I would create a difference in pitch of 3-8Hz. The difference is then emulated as the frequency of the beat heard by the listener, which then entrains their brainwaves to that very state.
That may seem all very complex, but don't worry, you don't need to understand the science to receive the benefits! As a rule, relaxing slow music and sounds calm the mind and bring you into relaxing and calm brain waves states, whereas fast, loud music and sounds bring you into active and wakeful brainwave states. What you listen to and what you hear directly affects your brain, emotions, and energetic levels.”
With your collective Soneiro, you often sing in groups and perform at festivals. Can you share some experiences you have had about participants releasing emotions and trauma during these defined musical containers?
“My work with Soneiro Collective has been so rewarding. To facilitate and hold space for participants to open and have profound experiences has become a passion of mine. I have been blessed with the ability to evoke emotion and energy through my music and sound design, which I love to share with others. It is in the sharing of our knowledge that we learn the most!
Opening the voice can be an incredible experience as we resonate together with mantras, chanting, toning, and other therapeutic vocal techniques. Singing is a direct line to our communication and expression of emotions. Singing also connects deeply with our self-confidence and self-esteem. Are you ready to raise your voice and pronounce your power through the most healing instrument we all have? It is our voice!
It is key to create an environment where people feel safe to open up, a space of non-judgment and positivity. I am more than grateful to have an amazing team that helps prepare this special environment we can all dive deeply into.”
What would you suggest to people who feel inspired to deepen their knowledge of the healing properties of music?
“Intention is the key to creating music that heals. The intention you put into a song, a gong performance, or simply while playing the guitar, deciphers what is felt from that music. If you would like to deepen your knowledge, we are offering Sound Meditation Training with Soneiro Collective, where you will have the opportunity to experience sound work on a deep level and open pathways to work with sound yourself. Our training is suited for everyone, whether you have never touched an instrument before or are a professional musician. We share our knowledge with you about how to hold space for a sound meditation as well as musical theory, mantra singing, and yogic philosophy. We have lots of free music, and meditations online are also hosting sessions regularly in Berlin and at European festivals in the summer.”
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Follow Temple Haze’s work here. He is the co-founder of Soneiro Collective.
ONE MINUTE INSPIRATION WITH TEMPLE
Rituals for self-love? Dancing / Shaking in the morning, finding moments to meditate on what I am grateful for, consciously manifest.
First thing you do in the morning? Two Minute Mornings from Neil Pasricha - take your journal write down one thing you want to let go of, one thing you are grateful for, and one thing to focus on, the best way to wake up!
Favorite self-care routine? Morning yoga after journaling, tuning into the body, and getting out of the mind feels like a whole different day afterward.
Rituals to rest and regenerate? Restorative yoga. As the day winds down, I try to practice body awareness once more and allow one last stretch; I really love supported fish to end the day, opening up the thoracic spine (countering the hunched over "computer back").
Tools for self-healing? Opening the voice and singing, there is a direct connection to the heart when we sing, we are vulnerable, we are open, it is the most healing instrument we all have.
One limiting belief or body imbalance you are still working on? The expectations of others. How and what others expect of me has the ability to warp my own personal expectations, this is a beautiful and complex learning experience, as there is always much to learn from how others perceive you. However, it is key to separate this from your own personal beliefs.
Favorite place to cultivate inspiration? I love finding inspiration in books and nature. Musically, I also find inspiration in the work of other amazing artists that I come across.
Your Guardians of Vision ? Recently: Jake Woodard (Men's Work and much more), Tony Riddle (Re-Wilding), George Harrison (How he combined music and spirituality so beautifully), Neil Pasricha (for his refreshing outlook on life).
Interview: Laura Wencker
Photos: Laura Wencker
Editorial Assistant: Jeanne Diesteldorf