In my massage therapy practice I value the importance of the right music playing during the session. Being a musician, I recognize how the perfect soundtrack can affect a client, casting a therapeutic vibe.  As long as I can remember, I have aspired to compose a good music piece.  

I'm also interested in yoga--especially Yin yoga, which is a slow-paced mode.  In 2020 I was in a yoga class in which live music was played, and I loved it.  I quickly realized the piece I hoped to compose could fit not only into a yoga context but also with massage therapy. 

Parallel to the germination of my working on this, I began experiencing some anxiety, bouts of which made it difficult for me to sleep.  I learned to achieve some success in attenuating my anxiety by slowing my breathing to the point at which I could hear my heartbeat very clearly.  

In December of 2021, I began to put together some of my musical ideas to accompany my massage work and realized the basis of the composition could be based on the human heartbeat.   

First, I recorded a steady, clear human heartbeat for 90 minutes.  Then I overdubbed percussion tracks on top of that--a total of 18 plus, including congas, djembes, berimbau, talking drums and more.  Next, I invited others to give it a melodic component:  Chris Byron produced and played keyboards; Natalie Smith added some magical flutes and vocals and Karen "Pinky" Bergman recorded one inspired, uninterrupted cello take.

And here's when I made a breakthrough discovery:  every time Chris sent me a new mix to consider, I would play it when I went to bed.  It invariably helped me fall asleep. Maybe this music can help anybody experiencing insomnia.

I have every confidence this music can have the same effect on others.  

After you download the music I suggest a donation for two of my favorite nonprofit organizations: Heart Music (https://www.heartmusicathens.org/) and Nuci’s Space (https://www.nuci.org/).

-Tony Oscar