The Story Behind Inspirational Singer Leyla and Her Latest Music Project Sure to Inspire Others After Tragedy
Hi Leyla, it’s so lovely catching up with you again. I understand it’s also been a pretty trying time for you and your health. How is everything going with you now?
Thank you, much better. I feel physically pretty strong but emotionally, I still have some healing to do.
You also just released a meditation/song that was recorded on the frequency 432HZ and written for affirmations for the third eye chakra called “I Am Free Mantra”. Tell us about that:
I am raising funds for the American Stroke Association by releasing my meditation mantra. The American Stroke Association is a force for a healthier world with fewer strokes. They team with millions of volunteers to prevent, treat and beat stroke by funding innovative research, fighting for stronger public health policies, and providing lifesaving tools and information. I’m a recent stroke survivor myself, and while I am continuing the journey of healing and going through layers, I am very aware of how fortunate I am to still be here today and what an insane amount of luck I have had.
You could call it a miracle. For many people, a stroke ends in a disability and death, not to mention the aftermath for the survivors, caregivers and families. Life isn’t just a given — and while it’s not helpful to live in fear either — it’s a reminder to slow down and focus on what’s important. Pay attention to the flowers, the trees, the fresh air and the precious, magical moments that sometimes get lost over stress and worrying…to follow joy whenever possible and see where it takes you. It’s a call to take a moment to honor the less fortunate and to have compassion, forgiveness and love for all beings and ourselves.
Many years ago, I made it my mission as an artist to understand what makes pop music ‘healing’, and out of this mission, ‘Yoga Pop’ music was born, which utilizes sound healing tools to create shifts in the body, mind and spirit. The I AM FREE Mantra is a meditation song with particular affirmations for the Third Eye Chakra and tuned to 432 HZ Solfeggio frequency. It’s part of a concept album, and I was initially planning to release it later, but after almost losing my life, it made more sense to me to live in the now. Everything in the universe has a frequency and vibrates. Atoms vibrate against each other to form a molecule, and those atoms and molecules have signature vibrational waves that can be measured in Hertz (HZ).
Solfeggio frequencies refer to certain tones that can help heal different parts of the brain and body. Particular sound patterns, in the form of solfeggio frequencies, interact with your brain to generate vibrations within your body, which can induce prominent effects (when we listen to a sound with a specific frequency, our brain waves will synchronize with that frequency). These effects can lead to a state of relaxation, calmness, sleep, stress-relief, etc. 432 Hz resonates with the Third Eye Chakra and the Schumann Resonance of 8 Hz, which is the vibration of the earth/nature. It has a grounding effect on the mind, helps bring the focus inward and tuning into the universe’s wisdom, alleviates fatigue, helps with emotional and mental clarity and can lower blood pressure and heart rate.
The Third Eye Chakra helps regulate our intuitive and psychic abilities while strengthening our imagination and creativity. (The chakras are wheel-like energy centers distributed throughout your body that affect well-being). The pineal gland is a pea-sized gland shaped like a pine cone located near the hypothalamus and pituitary gland in the vertebrate brain. It affects melatonin, sleep-wake patterns and reproductive hormones. It is said to be the biological relative of the energetic Third Eye Chakra and a tool of seers and mystics. It is considered to be the organ of supreme universal connection.
No better time for self-exploration than the present moment and to explore if and how these frequencies affect you. Experience is always the best teacher in my opinion. Thank you for listening and supporting stroke survivors if you feel called to.
What have you learned the most about yourself since having the health scare at a relatively young age?
I learned a few things about myself. One of them is that I am mentally very strong. When the doctor told me I had a stroke, she was extremely nervous and shaking but I was very calm. My mind was completely calm, but I could see my body was in shock for a bit, cause even though I was lying down in a hospital bed, my whole body was shaking. I didn’t cry or feel sad. It was more like a big surrender to whatever would happen, even dying. I felt really connected to God or the universe or whatever you like to call it and I felt a lot of trust. I had this inner knowing that it was very close for me, but I also had this trust into the unknown which is usually hard for me.
I didn’t remember this, but I talked to one of my best friends and I apparently said goodbye to her and thanked her for our friendship. I wasn’t afraid of dying but it was more like feeling that there are still so many things I would like to do. Anxiety happened more after it was all over, and I was back home dealing with the aftermath. While I was in the hospital, I kept seeing this imagery of a wood drifting down the river and I kept thinking that life is like a river, it flows and we bump into pieces of wood or stones, but the important part is, not to get stuck and too attached, meaning whatever we give too much attention magnifies (positive or negative).
There will always be challenges but the question is how we react to them. There is power in the neutral space and not attaching emotionally too much, especially to unwanted things. I felt this sense of non-attachment and I realized that I sometimes give way too much power away and emotionally engage with things that aren’t that important or really stress about things that are not worth stressing about. I was striving to much for perfectionism, and I couldn’t allow myself to let go. I also got really aware of how precious life is and that it’s really not to be taken for granted and we tend to forget that. It’s so important to enjoy a little when opportunities appear.
Have things changed with how you look at life? What are the most important things for you now?
The most important thing for me now is to take better care of myself, to really listen to my body, to check in with my inner child and to cultivate a better relationship with her, to honor my needs much more. In a way that is a level of deeper self love. I always had a healthy life style and this really kind of happened out of the blue but at the same time I believe there is a reason why this happened and it was a big wake up call. I have in a way not really allowed myself enough breaks over the years and time to truly let go and relax for my body. I was always so goal driven and through certain experiences I learned to disconnect from my body and maybe I didn’t realize how exhausted I really was.
I am slowly starting to be more present in my body. I also really appreciate being alive and I am thanking my body to be here for me every day as well as saying thank you that I am alive. The more I read about what happened, the more I realize how incredibly lucky I was. I often cry out of gratitude.
What other projects are you working on now?
I have a few songs that I have written and a production that is in progress, one of them is called Frequency. It’s a pop song that talks about mediation. I am also exploring a bit more the route of somatic therapy forms which I am personally really interested in, especially incorporating the voice and movement.
What do you like to do in your down time in between creating?
I mediate pretty much every day and have my spiritual practices. It’s always helped me a lot, as well as yoga and taking walks every day. I love reading books that inspire me and I can learn new things for example about breath work, manifesting, spirituality, neuroscience and quantum-physics. One of my favorite authors is Dr. Joe Dispenza.
What is your advice for other artists seeking inner peace and stability in their lives during the journey?
I think meditation and breath work practice is a great tool to connect to the inner self. Breath work practices (depending on the exercise) activate the parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for ‘rest and digest’ versus ‘fight or flight’. Doing your practices every day can really keep you grounded and anchor you and also teach your body to relax.
Through meditation we can practice getting into a neutral space where we learn not to be as reactive and be more at peace within, also to connect to the deeper wisdom within or higher self, the inner voice which I think is really important, the ability to hear our own truth, which is part of source, like a drop in the ocean. Many people are having a hard time to meditate especially in the beginning but it’s normal for the body to be fidgety or having lots of thoughts — because it’s often a release of the body’s trapped emotions and it feels finally safe to release.
For more info on Leyla’s story and music, visit:
my website www.lightofleyla.com
gofundme link https://gofund.me/16c385fb
music link https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/leyla5/i-am-free-mantra
