Today we’d like to introduce you to Denae Richards.
Denae, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up surrounded by music. My mom played the piano & organ. I sang in the choir at church and in high school. I played a variety of instruments in the band in high school and in college. Music has always been a key factor in my life. Helping others has always been what brings me joy. Fast forward to 2010 when I left the corporate life to help take care of my parents. As I spent time caregiving, I also became interested in the healing arts and alternative health. I started a path of yoga and soon experienced my first gong meditation. The way it instantly put me in a state of relaxation at a time when I much needed it, profoundly impacted me. I began to research sound healing and discovered how significantly vibration and frequency reaches the core of our being and our body.
In 2014 I purchased my first gong and studied briefly with master. Much of the research and studying I did on my own as I added more gongs, a few Tibetan bowls, crystal bowls and other instruments to my arsenal. I began to get requests to host group gong meditations. I followed the path that seemed to be unfolding. I began to meet sound practitioners around the US and the world. I wanted to add more depth to my self-study so In February 2016 I enrolled in Globe Sound Institute where I learned a wealth of information to deepen my own practice and share with my students. I started adding guided meditations and visualizations into my classes along with more voice healing. I graduated from the school in August with honors and became a certified sound practitioner.
While in school, I also learned about Vibroacoustic Therapy. I purchased a vibroacoustic bed (V-Bed) and after using it and discovering how powerful it is for direct frequency healing, I decided to incorporate it into my private practice. Today, I continue to enjoy learning and growing and passing information along to my students and clients.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t been too bumpy. I’ve had the good fortune of being able to maintain this practice in conjunction with a part-time job that supplements my lifestyle. I consider myself quite lucky in this regard. The struggle with sound healing and meditation is attracting the people who most need it to my practice. However, my practice is growing quite rapidly this year. It seems that more and more people are discovering the vast benefits of sound and meditation. It feels like sound meditation and healing is where yoga was 10 years ago… on the verge of finding its way into the mainstream health world.
Please tell us about Holistic Sounds.
Let’s start by introducing sound healing and sound meditation. While it is a very ancient form of healing, it is making a new emergence among the healing arts. Briefly, introducing sound and frequency to the body and the brain has significant health benefits. Sound generated from these ancient instruments (gongs, crystal bowls, Tibetan bowls) delivers powerful waves into the body establishing an instant meditative state. Your entire being elevates into a relaxed state where your mind slows & your body melts. In addition, the sound stimulates the medulla in the brainstem activating the auditory nerve that connects with all the muscles of the body. This signals the body to relax and flood the brain with natural mood-lifting chemicals. This deep relaxation meditation sets the stage for healing at many levels.
Holistic Sounds is an umbrella for a number of offerings. I began my practice with group sound baths. Those sound baths have grown more robust with adding in guided meditations and visualizations bringing quiet to the monkey mind. I continue to offer group sessions all around the Dallas area both in yoga studios and in mainstream fitness facilities.
Since sound is stand-alone or an accompaniment, I have collaborated with many different practitioners. I have a couple strategic partners where we offer Sound with Yoga Nidra, Sound with Thai Massage, Sound with Restorative Yoga. And most recently I’ve collaborated with a practitioner who offers digital sound healing – its like modern meets ancient when it comes to sound therapy.
Lastly, I offer a private practice which includes a combination of life assessment with sound frequency. I have Vibroacoustic massage table called a V-Bed which integrates special transducers to introduce needed frequencies into the body depending on the complaint or need. In a nutshell, the client lays on the massage table fully clothed. Through headphones, they listen to the music and at the same time, the deep base frequencies vibrate through the transducers attached to the bottom of the table. The healing part occurs through the frequencies integrated into the music. Each song has specific frequencies for a variety of issues both emotionally or physically. For example, if you come to me with sinus issues, I will put you on the bed and turn on music and frequency specifically to address sinus issues. I have a library of over 250 songs which address different complaints. The feedback has been phenomenal.
There are a number of practitioners offering group sound meditations. We all have different styles and we all have different followers and clients.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would probably structure my practice as a business from the beginning. Rather, it started as a passion (which hasn’t changed) but grew before I had the chance to really get clear on all the business related aspects such as charging clients, marketing, web presence, social media, etc. As it stands, I’m catching working to create more structure in my practice.
Pricing:
- When working with studio’s, I generally take a 60% cut of the group workshop events
- Private sessions are $125 for a 1-hour session
Contact Info:
- Address: 2525 Turtle Creek Blvd #219 Dallas, TX 75219
- Website: www.holisticsounds.life or www.denaerichards.com
- Phone: 214-531-3514
- Email: denae@holisticsounds.com
- Instagram: @gonggirl
- Facebook: facebook.com/holisticsoundslife
- Twitter: @gonggirl
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