Susy Markoe Schieffelin - Sound Healing for a Better You

Join my special guest Susy Markoe Schieffelin for a discussion on sound baths and the healing effects they inspire. Hear Susy talk about her journey to self discovery and how she is helping others join globally in sharing positive sound vibrations.

Visit Susy on her website thecoppervessel.com
and on her on her Instagram @thecoppervessel
also on her IG @thesoundhealersacademy

• What led Susy to sound healing?
• Her thoughts on hair loss.
• The light that comes from within.
• How the different bowls are associated with the chakras.
• How to start a sound bath.
• Dealing with emotional reactions during a sound bath.
• Shifting the focus to developing your personal experience.
• The difference between a sound bath and a concert.

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Transcript

Todd McLaughlin: 0:33

Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. So happy you are here. My goal with this channel is to bring inspirational speakers to the mic in the field of yoga, massage bodywork and beyond, follow us @nativeyoga, and check us out at nativeyogacenter.com. All right, let's begin. Well, I love podcasting so much, it's been one of the greatest things to be involved in over the last three years, three plus years. And there's a new feature on my podcasting host website that the link is right there. Just below you'll see it, it says support here. And they made it really easy where you can support somewhere between like$3 and $10 a month. And it's like you can turn it off anytime you want. But maybe you won't want to because you've loved these episodes so much, and your support is greatly appreciated. I really enjoy doing this. It's a labor of love. But the thought that it can also generate a little bit is also a pretty exciting part of all of this. So just wanted to mention that. Alright, let's begin. Hello, hello. I'm so excited for today's special guest. This is Susie Markoe Schieffelin. And she is a sound bath healer. She's located in Los Angeles, but she's all over the internet. So you can find her wherever you are. Definitely go to her website, which is the thecoppervessel.com If you're on social media, follow her on Instagram at @thecoppervessel. And also she has a sound healing Academy, which has an an also has the handle at@thesoundhealersacademy. And she teaches people how to become certified sound healers and she's gotten a really positive message. And so I'm very excited for you to be joining in. Thank you for your support. It means so much to us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Alright, let's start. I'm so happy to have the opportunity to speak today to Suzy Markoe Schieffelin. And Suzy, thank you so much for joining me, how's your day going so far?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 2:59

Thank you for having me. My day has been so good. It's a beautiful sunny day in LA and I have a new program starting tomorrow and a full plate and so much to be excited about.

Todd McLaughlin: 3:11

That's cool. Can you tell me what your program is tomorrow.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 3:15

So actually, it's the level two part of my sound healing training. It's the first time that we've we've offered this level two, which is a year long business mentorship program. So that's beginning tomorrow. So I'm in full on PrEP mode for that. And it's so nice to have this time to sort of detach and drop in and connect with you.

Todd McLaughlin: 3:35

Thank you, right, I'm sure it took a lot of work to come up with a year's worth of curriculum.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 3:40

That's it's been, it's been a long time coming and I'm so excited. It's gonna be I think the best year ever for everyone in the group.

Todd McLaughlin: 3:47

Nice. You know, on that note, I saw you posted recently a story about your evolution from where you were to where you are now. And you talked a lot about how you've maybe had, you've had a bit of a rags to riches sort of experience like you got started with just let me buy a sound bowl. And now you're having a really successful running a very successful program. So I guess on that note, where should we begin? Where how far back? Do you want to go to start with?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 4:24

Like, I mean, like yes, there's been an incredible journey of starting my business and sharing sound healing but I think there's also a lot of, of magic and importance in what led me to sound healing in the first place, you know. So I'm happy to I'm happy to go into that or if you want if you want to talk more about the business side of things. I'd love to chat about that too.

Todd McLaughlin: 4:44

I'd like to start where you have the transformation of becoming a sound healer and or your first experience with sound healing.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 4:54

So my first experience with sound healing was in 2016 Well experience with sound healing as I now know, and share and teach sound healing. And in 2016, I was in the process of moving across the country, I had been living on the East Coast in New York City. And I moved to Los Angeles to sort of have a fresh start. I'd been struggling for many, many years at that point, with a couple of pretty big challenges. I experienced a condition called alopecia areata, which is essentially unexplained hair loss. And I don't know if it was the alopecia that caused me to really struggle with anxiety or if anxiety sort of contributed to the alopecia and hair loss. But anxiety was a big part of my journey. And both of those things led me to go down a path of drinking alcohol, you know, and taking drugs and going down. Yeah, a pretty deep experience of alcoholism and addiction in my teens and 20s. Which led me to hit rock bottom in 2015. When I after almost taking my own life, you know, I was just so hopeless and frustrated and sick of being sick and tired. That I said, I want to find another way, and I'm open to whatever that looks like. So after going to rehab and starting to meditate and starting a gratitude practice, I ended up moving to California, at which point I was still struggling to stay sober. But in the process of moving my aunt who lives out here, she said, Hey, do you want to come to a sound bath? And that very first sound bath opened up a whole new really life and world and possibilities of healing for me?

Todd McLaughlin: 6:49

Nice. Do you remember what type of sensations and or thoughts you had in that first sound bath?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 6:55

Yeah, I do. I remember it really? Well, it was one of those moments that stands out like a frame from a movie. You know? I remember going into it, not feeling like it. A lot of people ask me now. You know, what is the sound bath? Do I get naked? Am I getting in water? Like, I didn't wonder what it was I was sort of just like, I'm like,

Todd McLaughlin: 7:19

I never thought of that like, like getting naked and getting in water. A sound that I'm gonna get into bathtub. And water will have some sound penetrating it. And that's hilarious. That's a good point. That makes sense.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 7:30

Yeah, I didn't have that sense. So going into it, I'm sort of like, sure sounds like a relaxing thing. I'm open to crystals. I'm open to woowoo things I didn't really know I didn't really ask I when I was just sort of open and curious. And also, like, in a space of being pretty anxious at the same time. So I remember when I got there, and I laid down. I was like, I hope this works. But I don't know if it will work because my mind is really really loud. And as much as I tried to meditate, you know, it never really quiets down. So like I was open, but also a little skeptical and feeling a little anxious. And I just lay down. And the guide her name is Arlene, she led a beautiful sound bar, she guided us through some chakra toning, and then she started to play the crystal singing bowls. And you know, at first my mind was really chattering. I was like, Okay, what's happening? Am I gonna relax, you know, those stream of thoughts started to come in. And then within a few minutes, it was like they began to quiet in a way they hadn't before. And my body began to relax. And I began to feel sort of this newly physical sensation. But at the same time, like, not as much in my body as I normally am. It was like I was here, but I wasn't here. And I was able to really disconnect from like the world that felt so present and heavy to me in my daily life and reconnect with what really felt like home. It felt like what I've been searching for all those years of like, oh my gosh, my hair's falling out. You know, are people going to notice I'm drinking alcohol now? I'm feeling ashamed. I'm super hungover, like, Are people to all those thoughts and loops, like, I just wanted to feel peace and quiet and kind of like I was okay. Yeah.

Todd McLaughlin: 9:21

Amazing. Susie. Can you can you talk a little bit about like, what sort of thoughts you've had over the years in relation to hair loss.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 9:31

So that's been a journey for most of my life. I was not okay with you know, I, I grew up for the first seven years of my life with really beautiful blonde hair. And I mean, even until I shaved my head I still had beautiful blonde hair. I just had bald spots and having blonde hair was actually a big part of my identity. I have three younger sisters and they also have beautiful blue on hair, and we were known in my hometown is the four blonde shuffling girls. So when my hair started to fall out, it was like, What's wrong with me? You know? And what are people gonna think if they know that I have a bald spot or multiple bald spots? Yeah. No,

Todd McLaughlin: 10:17

I can, I can and can't imagine because I'm turning 50 Soon I'm starting to get a nice little nice little patch up here. And, um, and it is a hard thing to come to terms with. But I think would obviously you would agree that maybe for men, it's not as challenging as it is for women. Is that an assumption? Or am I?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 10:41

I mean, yes, and no, because I've spoken to so many men who have gone through their own hair loss journeys, and I think you can't really compare, you know, at the end of the day, it's how we hold it for ourselves. And I think as a woman, they're typically and many men are also attached to their hair routines and coloring their hair and cutting their hair and all of sort of the glamour that goes along with having hair. And, yes, that tends to be more for women, but I don't think it's exclusive by any means. And, I mean, I think it indicates something different. Sometimes when when men lose their hair, you know, it's like, especially if a young Yeah, I mean, one of one of my family members started to lose his hair and his 20s, you know, is experiencing male pattern baldness and like, it caused him so much suffering. You know, it's like this isn't supposed to be happening yet. Yeah, you know,

Todd McLaughlin: 11:34

yeah. Good point. How do you now set your thinking processes up for success in relation to being judgmental on yourself? And or do Do you feel like you're you've healed from having any attachment to what you're talking about? Or is it still a journey?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 11:58

So I think there's no finish line in any healing journey. And in ways it does still come up last year, I got married. And so it felt a little bit triggering to be like, Wow, okay. I imagined myself whether I knew it or not, like as a bride wearing a veil and having my hair done for my wedding. How can I create an experience for myself as a bold bride that still feels elegant in the way that I have dreamed up, you know, so there's different layers. But for the most part, I think, I've now come to a place where I hold the experience losing my hair and ultimately shaving it as, as my greatest teacher, you know, and accepting it, getting to a place where I could even consider accepting it was a huge journey. You know, for many years, I got cortisone injections, like literally every month, hundreds of injections in my scalp of steroids. I tried every cream. I've been to every type of healer imaginable. I wore wigs. I used hairspray use clips. And like, what I ultimately realized was, I had put myself in my own prison, right? Where like, it was consuming so much of my energy, so much of my mental capacity that I was like, Is this actually serving me for what you know? And then the other thing is, like, it's quite selfish. It's quite selfish thinking, you know, like, nobody else is thinking about my hair. No one else cares about my hair as much as I do. Like, if they even notice when I had bald spots, and now I mean, as a bald woman, people notice because it's different than most women, but like, people don't really actually care a lot less and if they do, it's from a place of curiosity, or from a place of wanting to connect, you know, like people who see me or like, either like, oh, wow, is that you know, a fashion statement? Is it a spiritual statement? Are you okay? Are you are you experiencing cancer or chemo which, that was something I was really afraid of. When I shaved my head. I was afraid people would think I was sick because I had done so much work at that point to get my body really, really healthy, like, best health of my life. You know, I got sober I hadn't drink alcohol for a couple of years. At that point, I hadn't been taking drugs. I was moving my body meditating, eating really well. And my hair was still falling out. So I was like, I don't want people to think I'm sick when I'm not but it's like, but I'm not sick. So why do I care if people think you know,

Todd McLaughlin: 14:25

great point, Susie. I mean, that's amazing. I mean, yesterday for everyone listening go follow Suzy on Instagram at at the copper vessel. Yesterday, I got a chance to tune in very shortly excess jumping in my car, but I saw that you went live on Instagram. And so right away, you had such a big smile on your face like you do now. Anyone listening. If you want to go to YouTube, you can watch watch Suze, but I just You glow. You have an amazing glow. You look really happy. You're smiling and I think I don't know I just think that's really cool that you've overcome that major obstacle.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 15:05

Thank you. Thank you. And I think it's possible. I know it's possible for me and I think it's possible for any of us, we all have things that we hold as unacceptable, you know, things that, I mean, not everyone, but I think most people as humans, there's something whether it's losing your hair, whether it's a scar, whether it's I hate my thighs, or whether it's this or that, or I had a divorce, right, we hold things that think I'm not hold or I'm broken, or I'm unlovable, or I'm damaged because of this. And when we can find a way to accept it and say, this thing that's causing me so much pain, and I'm a prisoner to is actually the key to my freedom and my liberation, right, yeah. And we accept it and just let it go, which again, is easier said than done. But when we can get to that place, like we do, you know, you the light comes from within, and that's what I've learned is like, My beauty is not about having blonde hair on my head, it's not about the clothing that I wear, it's not about any of that, you know, and as I continue to hopefully grow old over the years, you know, my looks will continue to change, but that's not necessarily what makes me beautiful or worthy of love. It's this light that comes from within, and that lights, it's an all of us.

Todd McLaughlin: 16:15

I'm really glad you brought that up. I think it's a really interesting concept around the world of anti aging, and also some of the old school yoga philosophy theory of that we can somehow like transubstantiate and or move from being like a physical body to a light body that there's this idea that maybe we could somehow overcome death, or that we might like be able to avoid death and or old age and and then I think there's such an incredible process to accepting this process as opposed to constantly trying to change it. So um, I really love hearing what you're saying. It's extremely refreshing and encouraging.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 16:57

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you know, and yeah.

Todd McLaughlin: 17:01

Did you have any prior like hatha yoga and or yoga, like, posture, practice yoga experience prior to that first sound bath that you experienced?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 17:14

Yes. So I've been practicing yoga since I was quite young. I know that I began sort of a committed practice. When I was about 12. I started practicing what was then Bikram 26 into and I remember my parents, I would beg them, can you take me to hot yoga and they were like, they called my doctor. They're like, Is this safe? No, it wasn't like, our daughter wants to do yoga in the sauna and I just loved it. And still do you know, it's still a really grounding part of my regular practice. So yes, I practice, practice vinyasa, yoga for many years. I practice throughout college, I've I'm trying to think my journey, my yoga journey. When I was in rehab, that was sort of a nice return. You know, when I was in college, it was once in a while that I would go after college, I was drinking and partying a lot. And I remember thinking, like, I need to get back to yoga when I look good in my yoga clothes, which is so I mean,

Todd McLaughlin: 18:15

I've heard that before. I've heard other. I'll get started once I actually look good.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 18:21

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. So my, my yoga in my 20s is not good. And I remember even a couple of times, being in New York City and going to a hot yoga class in the East Village. And like, at that point, I was smoking cigarettes, and I was hungover in class and doing a 90 minute 26 and two classes intense when you're feeling good, and you just being in that class, and I feel badly for the people around me who are probably like this girl, it's just not okay. But you know, it always it always was there. For me, it was always something that I could come home to throughout the years, even when I was struggling the most like, I knew that it was something that offered healing and medicine for me nice. And then when I was in rehab, they offered yoga and I actually like that was when I first taught like, I would teach my friends when we didn't have days when we had yoga class, I would just teach them some basic asana and we would do it together. And that was sort of when I started to think, Hey, maybe I should take a teacher training because it felt really fun for me to do that.

Todd McLaughlin: 19:22

Nice. How do you differ the experience that you've had in your yoga practice and sound baths?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 19:31

Hmm. Well, I think there are different forms of yoga. You know, I think it's all it's all yoga. And there are times when I'll incorporate different yogic modalities into my sound arts, whether it's pranayama practices, whether it's yoga nidra sound healing in itself is not yoga. You know, oftentimes if I if I teach a Kundalini class, which Now when I teach I'm trained in Kundalini and yin and vinyasa, and primarily when I teach yoga, as we think of it, it's Kundalini. But I'll incorporate found at the end, you know, which is it's common in a Kundalini class. It's not as common to do crystal bowl sound healing at the end, it's typically a gong.

Todd McLaughlin: 20:19

Yeah. Interesting. Can you talk a little bit about the chakras and how the different bowls associated with the chakra?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 20:29

Yes. So each note, and there's Eastern and Western system. So if you're working with Tibetan singing bowls, if you're working with the Tibetan system of sound healing, the notes that correspond with the chakras will be different. But in the Western system, we correspond, you know, the notice, see to the root chakra, and then it sort of goes up from there. And each Yes, each chakra is associated with a different frequency. And one of the really cool things about their crystal singing bowls. Well, there's two things. So first of all, is they have overtones, so they're not just it's not just like, play this bowl, bring healing to this chakra. They're really helping to Yes, tune into one of the chakras, but also working with the whole energy system and multiple chakras at once. And that goes as well for the bowls that I play, which are, if you look at them, they're colorful, and they're shiny. They're different than the white frosted bowls that some people play. They're called alchemy bowls, and they're infused with the intentions of other crystals and gemstones and precious metals and earth elements that bring different energies into experience and also help us to touch upon other chakras. So for example, if there's the intention of Emerald in a bowl, that's the note of C, it would be working with the heart as well as with the root.

Todd McLaughlin: 21:48

In relation to the color green, the color of the heart chakra is out is that how emerald is associated with the heart chakra? Yep, nice. Can you talk a little bit about in your journey of recovery, and also just life, how you've been able to relate to the chakra system and how the chakra system perhaps has informed your life.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 22:16

I love to use the chakras sort of as a language and a structure to help me understand what's taking place in my life, you know, and it's interesting on my healing journey with alopecia. Um, when I was I think about 12, my mom took me to an energy healer, and I had no idea what's going on. But at the end of the session, the healer said that I had all this light just basically shooting out of my crown chakra out of the crown of my head. And that was sort of contributing to my hair loss. You know, it was like the light was just so bright. It was blasting it out.

Todd McLaughlin: 22:54

Yes, that's, that's a great positive way to explain right? Like instead of this is a horrible thing, it's because you're so you have so much light pouring out of you, your hair just can't handle it.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 23:07

Yeah, which is so beautiful. And it also is a really kind way of saying that I wasn't fully grounded in my body, you know, centric. So yeah. When I think about the work that I've done for healing and what I really intend when I teach others to work with the chakras and work with sound and share energy healing is, yes, it's about connecting with our light. Yes, it's about opening our third eye and our crown chakras and connecting with our divine self and remembering that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. But we also need to let ourselves have that human experience. And what does it mean to feel safe connecting your crown to your root, you know, and rooting before we rise, so that it can be in a really grounded and sustainable way?

Todd McLaughlin: 23:54

Nice. If you have a group in front of you, for example, if like right now you're just getting ready to start, sound healing and or sound bath? Do you have a set formula almost like the way like the hot 26 or the Bikram poses has like this, you start here and you follow in the sequential order to the end? Do you follow a similar type of concept and that like what you mentioned, like maybe starting at the root chakra, or the C note and working your way up? Or do you try to just get a feeling for what the room feels like and then into it, what, where and how to start.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 24:32

So I do have a set formula, and sometimes you know, all intuitively break free of that. And the formula is something that I teach in the sound healers Academy. And I always invite the students you know, to learn it and then make it their own based on what feels good for them. But when I begin playing bulls in a sound bot, there's formula for before for greeting and introduction and grounding and breathing. But once I actually start playing the bowls in their own right It's not necessarily that I start with the Root Chakra bowl, but moreso a note that would be grounding. So I could have for example, if you're if you're seeing the video, you can see in front of me, I have this large bowl, it's 12 inches, and the note is F. So it's working with the heart chakra. But it's a very deep and very grounding bowl. So it will help to ground the heart. And if we start with this note, it will give us a grounding experience. So I recommend that students start with their most grounding goal, and then slay intervals that support grounding and also a balanced structure. So there's different intervals that have different effects. When you play two notes together. The intervals of the fourth and the fifth are very stable, very grounding intervals. So I might start with a low A sharp, and then playing F, right. And that would be a really grounding way to start the sound bath. It could be that my biggest bowl is a C, you know is for the Root Chakra. But it doesn't have to be you know, not everyone even has a root chakra bowl in their set. And that's okay,

Todd McLaughlin: 26:10

cool. Well, I love hearing about this. Are you a musician? Uh, you are a musician? I mean, you're playing the bull. So that is a form of being a musician, but did you have for more classical training and music?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 26:25

Not in the sense that you mean, um, I when I was really young played piano. But I stopped taking lessons because I preferred to play by ear. I played the violin for a little bit, maybe a year. But that was really it. So I'm not a classically trained musician. Over the past seven years, I've taken a lot of music lessons, specifically, voice lessons. But in those lessons, we've talked a lot about music theory as well. So I've studied it extensively. It's something that I'm continually working towards mastering, and also something that I know I could go to Juilliard and get my PhD and then still have more to learn. So yeah, it's something I love learning about because it gives a beautiful structure, you know, it gives a beautiful structure and supports me and feeling confident than taking that structure and creating art with the, with the healing and the music and his music that I use.

Todd McLaughlin: 27:18

Yep. That's so cool. Susie, did you ever hear that theory about? Maybe you'll, you'll probably be able to help me out here and tell this better than I can. But I remember hearing someone say that the relationship of the planets to the sun, the distance of the planets to the sun, and the frequency that the planets are making around the Sun are what create the notes that we know in our musical system. Have you heard that before?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 27:45

I have heard that I'm not too familiar in the background of that. But I know that a lot of people who play gongs, they do play planetary gongs that are tuned to the frequency like they might play a Jupiter gong or a sun Gong. So that's cool. Yeah, definitely makes sense.

Todd McLaughlin: 28:00

Nice. So when when you're setting up a session, and you use have this formula that you follow, is, what do you what are you thinking about? Are you are you trying to put some sort of visualization and or thought process and Twitter you trying to just clear yourself?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 28:22

So both I mean, clear myself, I always say a prayer and set an intention at the beginning of every experience that I share that says, you know, God, give me the words and give me the music that will help these people the most, you know, and I think of sort of taking off my Suzy hat and putting on like, My Divine channel hat is we wish that sounds but it's like, just let me be the vessel, let me be the vessel. And then from there, you know, when sort of the guidance comes through, it's like, okay, and of course, I still have a mind. It's not like my mind turns off. So it's sort of tuning in, like, is this the guidance? Or is this my mind saying like, Oh, stop playing, everyone's bored, everyone wants to leave and go home versus like, ease down the time to shift, you know, out of it is here now. So combination,

Todd McLaughlin: 29:09

that's cool. Have you had anybody during a sound bath have some type of emotional reaction that caused you to have to tend to them or is there a protocol or setup that you do for letting people know that if they have some sort of emotional upheaval that what what to do in that situation? Yeah,

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 29:33

so I've never had to stop a sound bath to sort of tend to or comfort someone in that way. Which I think is largely in part due to the fact that I do set up the experience by giving people guidance what to do if they feel emotional, because it's possible you know, emotions, because you know our energy in motion and when the sounds move energy through our bodies and open and activate and clear our chakras. Energy can energy does move. And as that happens, you know, emotions can come up. And sometimes it's wanting to laugh and not knowing like, why don't want to laugh, I just feel this sensation. It's like energy that wants to come out of me. Or why do I feel like crying, you know, so I really invite people in the beginning to not judging, you know, you don't even need to figure it out. It could be something from childhood or even a past life that's coming up. To be clear, it's something you've been holding in your tissues that the sound has gone in and gently shaken it up. So it can be finally released. And you don't have to know I think, so much of I mean, as humans, but also like a lot of the culture that we live in, in the path of wellness is like, let me talk about this. Let me think about this. Let me analyze this, I need to know. And it's like, what if you don't need to know what if you could just let it go. And I think when we allow for that to happen, I mean, it allows us to really release at a deeper level, and people come out of sound bites, especially when they cry, and they're like, I don't know why I was crying, but I feel so like.

Todd McLaughlin: 30:59

Good answer, can you? Can you talk a little bit about your business journey? Like when you bought your first sound bowl? Did you think you would be where you are now, I guess maybe I might back up a little bit. Do you feel like you're successful now financially, and career wise?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 31:19

I do. I really do. I'm so grateful. And I also feel like I'm like, it's just the beginning. But the fact that, you know, I have a great stable income, you know, this month, I've made more in one month than I ever made in my corporate job, you know, and that's, that's amazing to me. You know what, I'm so grateful for that,

Todd McLaughlin: 31:39

because of your online platform and your ability to add education to a platform, which is allowing multiple people to join in versus working just like one at a time. So that the idea that you're talking about?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 31:52

Yes, absolutely. And when I was getting started, I couldn't see it that way. And I remember the first sort of business coach I worked with was also a lawyer. And as she was helping me to come up with my liability waivers and service agreements, she was really pushing me to offer packages, you know, and she and I said, I don't even want to offer a package yet. Like I'm just getting started, I want to let people book one session, I don't want to force someone into a longer journey. I'm just figuring it out. And she was like, in a business sense, that doesn't necessarily make sense. But for me, I really wanted to get the experience first and work with as many people as possible not hold them to necessarily having to commit yet. But over the years, you know, of leading a lot of one on one healing sessions, leading a lot of group healing sessions. I then strategically looked at my business and how I could grow it and how I would be able to reach more people. And that also happened, it was happening before the pandemic, I'm incredibly so which is also so lucky. You know, my business doubled when we went into lockdown. But I was set up for it, I had led my first zoom sound bath in December of 2019, there was the last full moon of the decade. And I held it on Zoom and 80 people bought tickets, you know, and that was before anyone was doing virtual, really anything. People didn't even know what zoom was, yeah. But I had felt a call. And in the beginning of 2020, I was in India, just before locked down. And I was feeling this call it was like, Don't do the in person events that you have planned. It was like let's look at the calendar again and put everything virtual. So I was planning to make this shift. Got back from India, we went into lockdown mode, then boyfriend now husband took me to the guitar store and was like, we gotta get you the best microphones possible. And I did and right off the bat and COVID I was able to share virtually when people were really desperately in need of a way to connect in a way to relax. Yeah,

Todd McLaughlin: 33:57

so incredible foresight. And that does bring me I want to I wanted to ask you questions about microphones, but um yeah, you just couldn't even that's just divine intervention luck, or something.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 34:13

Something something bigger than me. I think it's just testing. And if I didn't, like I was like, why am I doing things virtually, you know, this isn't what I want. Like I love just gonna trust you know, and that led me to be set up to share with hundreds and 1000s of people in a single sound bath and then to create I had so many recordings from sharing virtually, that I could create a membership that had a solid foundation to build upon. So people who wanted to commit to deeper healing and who still want to I still have the membership, it's incredible. They could immediately access this on demand library that was super high quality and then get the live virtual experiences as well you know, and then I created a mini course to teach other sound healers, how they can share virtually to so what microphones in to buy, how to use Zoom or why you might use YouTube instead. And then I had been mentoring healers one on one for quite some time. And I had an in person training, but I took all of that online as well. And held group mentorships, took the training online and then created a new training, which is the training and now lead the sound Newlands Academy, that is a three month certification training that teaches you not only how to lead a sound bath, in person and virtually but also how to build a business doing it that sets you up for success in the long run. So it's been this incredible unfolding of like, I've just followed the breadcrumbs of like, okay, now I'm online, okay, people want to learn, let me teach them, okay, people want to learn how to use microphones, let me teach them and just even in those moments when I felt afraid, and like, who am I to do this? I just trust and I do it. And it's worked out beautifully.

Todd McLaughlin: 35:51

That's amazing. That's so cool. I hope I'm not sounding like devil's advocate here. But if I am, I've taken a crystal bowl or taken a bowl, and I've moved the stick around it. And I go, Oh, that's nice. That sounds good. Why would and then I ask the question, Why would I need to take a training? Can you answer

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 36:15

a question? Because? Because that's a great question.

Todd McLaughlin: 36:17

It seems kind of easy, right? So I just do this thing around the bowl, right? It's super easy. So then can you explain to me how I could benefit from taking your training

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 36:28

100%. So it and this is why my trainings three months. And a big part of the training is personal practice, we help hold you accountability, help hold you accountable to your own personal healing, you know, and really getting to know and love and understand inside and out your bowls, what they do, and the relationship that you have with them. Because the bowls will sound different. When you play them for yourself, they'll sound different when you play them for this group versus that group in this place versus that place. And a part of being a really tuned in sound healer is being able to understand those subtleties. And let that guide you you know to serve, whether it's yourself in a personal healing or the group or client that you're working with. So I did not take a quote unquote, training outright. Like I am not technically even a certified sound healer myself. But I deeply committed myself to my personal practice my personal healing, I worked with several mentors, I paid a lot of money to hire business coaches, you know, in order to build the business side of things, lawyers, people to help me build my brand I've read every book I can find on sound healing. And to this day, I know that I need to stay committed to my own personal practice and personal exploration of sound healing, or I won't be able to serve in that same way as the clear vessel. And I think it can be tricky for people to make that commitment, I think we have really good intentions, but sometimes staying accountable to a 40 day practice or a 90 day practice that can then turn into a lifelong practice. We need some support to get going, you know. So that's what the Training offers is that support and also those other perspectives, it's not just me leading the training, but you know, I'm not a complete master in music theory yet I know a lot. But I bring in a master so that she can give you another perspective and deeper understanding of music theory from a more academic perspective, you know, so you get a lot of a lot of different people people's wisdom in addition to that accountability that is all designed to teach you that you have everything you need within yourself.

Todd McLaughlin: 38:47

Great answer. I love that. That's really cool shifting the focus toward developing your own personal experience. That's cool. Very cool. It's funny while you were saying that it made me think one of your students and or partners Caroline that off who came here to the studio and offered a sound bath here I think was about a month ago. And she was really kind as well to come in offer a little bit of sound bath after one of our public classes just to help generate interest, right just to let people get a chance to meet her and see her face to face and for her to actually come into the room. So when she did that I afterward I said would you like me to help you pack your bulls up and she was like, No, that's okay. I'd like to do it myself because I love my bulls. I don't want anybody carrying my bulls around dropping my bulls hit my balls on the doorway on the way in and out. And I so when you were saying like just that process of developing care, and even having something that you care for, and and and treating it seriously or with respect is a really neat element for like the cornerstone of a training program. Random as opposed to like, what sounds like if your sound is going to teach you how to play the ball, I'm gonna teach how to move the stick around that type of thing, which I'm sure you do do. But I mean, that that little shift, that's a neat idea that gets my wheels spinning in relation just to everything.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 40:15

Ya know, it's so true. And you hit the nail on the head with the example you shared with Carolyn, it teaches you to be so clear and confident and grounded within yourself, right? So that you know, how you move through the world, whether it's, I mean, packing up your bowls, and we literally talked about that in the training, what to do when someone asked to touch your balls what to do to help and, and some people are totally fine with letting other people kind of wolves but how can you feel okay, saying thank you? No, thank you, you know, and, and that is being grounded, that is being authentic without feeling bad. And I don't want to be mean to hurt your feelings. You know, like, when is it aligned for you to receive help? And when is it actually a sacred? No, no.

Todd McLaughlin: 40:59

When you said that, is that something that you also utilize in relation? If someone comes up to you today and says, Here have a drink? Thank you. That Thank you. No, thank you. Well, I'm at, like navigating.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 41:11

Absolutely. And when I first got sober, there was a part of me that felt like I needed to explain myself and you know, I don't drink and it's for the best or, you know, make a joke, make light of it. But now it's like, if someone were to offer me a drink, it's like, no, thanks. You know, like, I don't feel like I need to explain it or justify it. Just thank you. No, thank you. It's, I'm sure crystal clear in it.

Todd McLaughlin: 41:31

Nice. Nice. What do you have on the horizon? I know, I know, you have horizon tomorrow, and like you're starting this program, you'll be very, you'll be busy or active with it for the year. In a maybe larger picture. If you have like a dream that goes a little further down the track. What are you contemplating these days? Or? Or? I know, sometimes when I asked this question, that maybe the obvious answer would be well, I'm a yogi, so I don't think too far in the future. But I'm just present. I just live in the present. I'm not worried about the future. But um, where are you these days with, with those sort of ideas? Well,

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 42:11

I am present. And you know, and I trust the path as it unfolds, and those little breadcrumbs come through, and I have a few few nuggets that I'm sort of meditating on and opening to. So I mean, first of all, with the sound healers Academy, the level one training, my hope is to continue to grow it and to continue to, you know, build it as what I feel it is, which is the best sound healing training in the world. You know, I know there's nothing else out there like it. And my intention is for that to be known in all corners of the world. You know, we've had people from almost every continent at this point, but I would love to grow it so that we continue to have sold out classes and this incredible global community with more retreats and a bigger team of mentors supporting and more incredible masterclass teachers coming in. So my hope is to continue to grow that. And then the other sort of nuggets that come through that have been coming through really strongly for me right now are just, how can I continue to serve more deeply so I see myself on big stages, you know, just as I'm, like, scared to say this, but it's true. Like just, there's been so much hype around Taylor Swift's current tour, like I would love for that much hype to be around a sound bath. And I would love to be the one on the stage where people are like, I want to relax, I want to heal sign me up, get me there. I want to experience his magic in person, you know, so a big part of my dream is bringing sound healing to the world to world stages and and supporting other people and doing the same. Yes, I see myself on the stages. But I also I want that to be common for everyone who's taken my training everyone who says I feel the call to be an embodied sound healer, like I want that for all of us. You know, I want there to be I want healing to be just as cool as a pop concert.

Todd McLaughlin: 44:08

That's cool. I mean, as you were saying, I was trying to visualize if you were onstage like if Taylor got off the stage, and you got up and this is huge stadium. As in it, what is the excuse me, what is the largest event that you've seen that is as close to a sound bath? Because I mean, sometimes when I think like I don't know, like a really great rock show. Like for example, I think of like Freddie Mercury and Queen playing to that stadium like massive London stadium or whatever. And in some respects that probably could have created some sort of healing for people, right? Like where music in general is extremely healing and powerful. So I guess two questions. One, the first one I just mentioned, like, what is the largest one you've seen? And then second, how do you differentiate GA se, Queen performance that just totally rocks you and you come out going not that I got to see queen but does something of that nature where you come out or maybe just Taylor, you come out of Taylor's concert going. I feel so amazing. How do you differentiate those two? Or are there are there any differences? Yeah.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 45:19

So for your first question, I'll answer in a couple parts. For me, the biggest venue that I've played at the biggest experience I've had the opportunity to create was, I got to play on stage at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, which the capacity of that space is for.

Todd McLaughlin: 45:35

Whoa, yeah. No way. Um,

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 45:38

I got to play with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. So that was an incredible honor. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. And just a dream come true. And definitely cool, validated my vision of being on big stages. I've also seen you know, my friend, Jackie Cantwell. She does a lot with the big quiet and they had partnered with Daybreaker and Oprah and went on tour around the country. And so Jackie has an incredible sounding leader. She's played at Barclays Center, you know, that that's, I mean, as big as it gets.

Todd McLaughlin: 46:08

Well, what is the great quiet?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 46:12

It's the big Quiet.

Todd McLaughlin: 46:14

Quiet, my bad. I'm

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 46:16

Jessie Israel. It's a it's a meditation movement. It's It's really amazing. It's worth looking into. They hold mass meditations. Yeah. Cool. Cool.

Todd McLaughlin: 46:26

And then your differentiation answer? And then the

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 46:29

differentiation answer. Um, I would say it's sort of just how you feel just as, just as someone would feel different going to a queen concert versus a Taylor concert versus a Metallica concert, right? I'm going to a sound bath. It's really designed with the intention of going there to heal and connect and relax. There's definitely a more spiritual element. I mean, even a Coldplay concert. I know Chris Martin, he's super tapped in like, that can be a really spiritual experience. Any music performance can be a spiritual experience, I feel but the consciousness part of it. And I think the intention of bringing healing. That is the big differentiating factor. And Jonathan Goldman who is one of the most renowned sound healers, he always says that intention plus frequency equals healing. So like, if Taylor were to get on stage and play a song and be like, Hey, everyone, the entire event just to say to herself, the intention is to really provide the group with a profound heart healing, which, I mean, many of our songs are kind of breakup songs, they definitely love in a different way. So I think, to go to a sound bath in a venue like that, or even not a venue like that, but in a yoga studio, like it's the intention of going to heal, maybe to connect with a higher version of yourself to get clarity. And to go within, you know, that's a part of it. And most of those concerts you're kind of guided to have your eyes open. No, I'm saying like, close your eyes and, and go within your your outward, you're with friends. It's more of a party vibe, which is also really fun. There's value in all of it.

Todd McLaughlin: 48:07

That's cool. Do you allow yourself the guilty pleasure of a little bit of Metallica every now and again? Or do you? Do you stay?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 48:15

Not a guilty pleasure? It's not it's not music that I really resonate with?

Todd McLaughlin: 48:22

Any punk rock or like heavy stuff, or not so much? Not so much. Fair enough,

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 48:29

really into emo music. So like, I'm down for that. But I mean, the last concert I went to, I was pregnant. It was last year. I think it was last concert was John Mayer. So I love cool. Yeah, he's great. Yeah, I wanted to I was like 39 weeks pregnant, I was about to pop and I'd floor seats. And that was really fun. Stevie is gonna love music. But he is

Todd McLaughlin: 48:51

incredible. That's cool. So one thing I noticed we have our our public classes, live on Zoom, and I record them. And when I have music in the background on my little speaker, then, because my speaker is like in the middle of the room, it'll pick up my voice and it'll drown out the sound. But then when I stop talking, it'll pick up the sound. And when I listen to the recording back, it's got this crazy kind of not pleasant sounding garb, really experience. So with your professional advice, how could I improve my sound quality in this type of setting?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 49:31

So first of all, my virtual mini course goes into this exact topic.

Todd McLaughlin: 49:36

And you don't have to give me those answers right now. Your secret

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 49:39

simple effects. So in your Zoom audio settings, there's a setting that you can choose which is original sound for musicians. If you just check the box in the settings in the bottom left corner, you go that you go to audio settings, you open it and it says original sound for musicians recommended for studio environments, it's as opposed to zoom optimized audio. And then in the top left corner of your screen, it'll be a little black bar that says original sound for musicians off. And I'll give you a little sample. So right now, if I play my singing bowl, yeah, please, that's not going to sound very good. Yeah, get in and out. You're right. But yeah, and I done a soundcheck for bowls right now. So bear with me, if I turn it on, I sound a little bit different, right? Like you can kind of hear the background noise, it probably sounds a little different. But the bowl comes through Oh, wow.

Todd McLaughlin: 50:36

No way.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 50:39

So simple. All you need to do is get your original sound from musicians,

Todd McLaughlin: 50:43

oh my gosh. Or you could

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 50:45

share screen I would I would share your audio, that's what I would recommend is rather than playing it on a speaker, play it from your computer speaker if there's also students live in the room, and then just do share screen. And when you do share screen, you press enable, share audio.

Todd McLaughlin: 51:02

Oh my gosh. I'm gonna go back and listen and watch everything you just said. Not play with my zoom right now during the podcasts. I don't want to mess anything up. But that's so cool. I really appreciate that information. I've been wondering, just got upgraded. I'm about to be on the next level. Thank you. When you were in India, you mentioned that you were in India right before COVID. And maybe you've done multiple trips. But I'm I'm curious how. So I've had a chance to go to India and have an incredible music culture bhakti yoga and people playing harmonium and drums. And I mean, it's it's incredible. But I can't remember hearing a crystal bowl played in India. But I do remember meeting people on the street that were signed, like the Tibetan bowls that were made more out of? Actually, I don't even know what those are made out of what kind of metal but typically traditional Southern metals. Yeah. And so I'm curious, how is the the culture in India? The use of these crystal bowls? Is it widespread in India? Or is this more of like, what is the history of the crystal ball kind of to where we are today? Like, has there been a little bit of like an evolution with this?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 52:18

Yes. So interestingly enough, Crystal bowls are not an Eastern tradition, not an Eastern sound healing tradition. They were actually discovered or invented in the 80s, they were used the big frosted bowls were used to bake computer chips in Silicon Valley. Oh, people then started to play them and realize that, oh my gosh, there's something here. Let me play with this. Let me explore this. And there's a few sort of tech nerds out there who worked in the tech space who got really into crystals and like energy work through crystals, you know, there's a piece of clear quartz crystal inside of each of our computers and our cell phones, it's used as a conductor of energy. So that's how crystal singing bowls came to be. So you wouldn't find them as a traditional form of, you know, healing or musical instruments in India, the Tibetan metal bowls, those are very common. harmoniums beautiful. That last time that I was in India, I was lucky if I had the opportunity to play play my crystal balls at the International Yoga festival in Rishikesh, which was amazing. Oh, yeah, it was it was very, very cool. Such an honor.

Todd McLaughlin: 53:29

Did you know you're gonna be able to do that when you were going to be going to India and brought the bowls with you? Or were you just in India? And somebody said, Oh, why don't you come do this.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 53:38

So I was in India on a trip with one of my dearest teachers, Tommy Rosen, who is a leader in the recovery space, and also a great Kundalini yoga teacher. So I was there with him and his wife, Kia, and they were teaching at the International Yoga festival. So I was sort of there with them. And while I was there, he invited me on stage and a couple of other teachers ended up inviting me to come on stage at their classes, which was so amazing to get to support them. Yeah.

Todd McLaughlin: 54:05

What a cool opportunity. Oh, my gosh, Suzy. Well, this is such a pleasure to get a chance to actually speak with you and talk with you. I really, I feel lucky. Thank you so much for taking time, out of your day and getting ready for a nice busy year long training session. And sounds like lots of other things going on. Is there anything? Oh, of course, is there is there anything else that you feel like you'd like to share or any other another message or a different angle to the message that you've already talked about that you think the listeners can can benefit from in the attempt to start to close our conversation?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 54:46

Let me just say that if you're listening to this podcast, it's for a reason there's no mistake or coincidence and sound healing is such a special modality because it's really accessible to everyone you know and sound On goes beyond any language, you know, it just is this pure resonance. And if you're someone who struggles with meditation or struggles to relax, I would say, have an open mind and just give sound healing a shot. You know, there's so much available online. I have free resources online on YouTube, on my website on my Instagram. I have an online membership. If you're somewhere where I mean at this point, I would say there's in person sound healing almost everywhere, you know, it's really popping up quickly. Someone noticed one of my students the other day was like sound dealers are becoming like Starbucks, there's like, yes, what a great thing. True it there's no shortage of people who could benefit from sound healing.

Todd McLaughlin: 55:43

Better yet to be cool. When I go into Starbucks. There's somebody in the corner, they're just like, right?

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 55:49

That's yeah, I'll put that on my collaboration.

Todd McLaughlin: 55:54

Right Starbucks hires you to, to have a sound, a sound bowl healer in every location. That would be cool.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 56:03

Could you imagine no, but in all seriousness, if you're listening and you're curious, just give it a try. And, and see, you know, literally, all you need to do is listen, you can do it seated, you can do it lying down. You don't have to be flexible. You don't have to be a good meditator. It's something that you know, could potentially help you feel a little bit more connected to yourself and more at peace. So if I can ever serve you if you'd like to connect, I would love to you or if you'd like to be connected with someone locally, you know, Caroline's Caroline's in Florida I'm in LA, I know people in between and beyond. I would be happy to be of service in any way I can.

Todd McLaughlin: 56:39

Thanks so much, Susie. That's really sweet. And all of your links that you just mentioned are right below so people can just like when they're watching on YouTube, they can click or listening. They can just like, click, it's gonna be super easy. Amazing. Well, thank you, Susie. I mean, the world is a better place if we're positive and pumping out good vibes. And you're definitely doing that. So I'm so honored to have this opportunity. And I can't wait to either join in on one of your trainings or see you on Zoom or I know you're on Instagram all the time. So I will get a chance to see you again here which I'm excited for. So thank you so much.

Suzy Markoe Schieffelin: 57:16

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Todd McLaughlin: 57:28

Native yoga Todd cast is produced by myself. The theme music is dreamed up by Bryce Allen. If you liked this show, let me know. If there's room for improvement. I want to hear that too. We are curious to know what you think and what you want more of what I can improve. And if you have ideas for future guests or topics, please send us your thoughts to info at Native yoga center. You can find us at Native yoga center.com. And hey, if you did like this episode, share it with your friends, rate it and review and join us next time