With this newsletter, we launch a series showcasing some of the amazing people we partner with. Laura Inserra—sound alchemist—is the perfect place to start!
What is Sound Alchemy?” A sound alchemist designs sound experiences, creating a safe space to connect to yourself and to listen to your inner wisdom, while surrounded by the harmonies of instruments. Laura is the ultimate sound alchemist. Born in Sicily, Italy, and now living in California, she progressed from studying classical piano to becoming a world expert in free improvisation on the Hang (or handpan) and native instruments of the world, like the didgeridoo, the djembe, and bamboo flutes. Combining her extensive experience with unique instruments, her deep seeded knowledge of music, and her studies of ancient wisdom modalities, she developed her own multifunctional method for self-healing and wellbeing.
Laura composes metamusic, music that is beyond music as a form of entertainment. Metamusic instead connects you to your deepest emotions to facilitate healing. For Laura it is “a compass to navigate life, a tool for personal development, wellbeing, and connection”. Music is an essential human creation and as pure sound, it is proto-language: when exposed to this kind of music, your whole body will start to vibrate. The resonance and fields of the instruments that conjure metamusic allow you to tap effortlessly into a different state of consciousness, a turning away from the rational mind and instead accessing intuition. Going on a sound alchemy journey induces deep meditative states—both music and meditation bringing you into the present moment.
Metamusic is an organic form of medicine, one that belongs to your system, to your body. The beauty of metamusic is that it is organic. “It digests your personal experience,” says Laura, be it for healing, reenergizing your creativity, or even to finally listen to your body and catch up on sleep. During a sound journey, you are shown a mirror of the reality you are in, especially your inner reality. The music facilitates releasing tension, bringing you back into the present, grounded and centered, with a clearer mind and heart. Laura’s virtuoso mastery of rare instruments is her unique signature. During my first sound session with Laura, I was immediately captivated, the unusual sounds bringing me into a state of awe. All my senses felt joyfully alive while I experienced a sense of bliss in my connection to something greater than myself.
During a sound alchemy journey, you can experience your body as its own orchestra. All the energy condensed inside your body—pleasant, unpleasant, peaceful, contradictory, and everything in between—might sound and feel like a cacophony sometimes. Yet, life is not about bringing everything into perfect tune, contrast is unavoidable and necessary, tension making relaxation more intense. Presence is instead about being able to fully experience the harmony that is brought forth when different parts are heard and coalesce into something beautiful and distinctive. Your body and sound alchemy journeys alike are mirrors of Life itself—a compass for navigation and instruments to live mindfully and joyfully.
Videos, interviews, and other information about Laura Inserra can be found here.
www.laurainserra.com/videos/shelterinmusic
Besides her expert skills in unique instruments, Laura has authored and performed various pieces of music for theatre, dance performances, and soundtracks for movies. She collaborates with West Coast artists of all genres to create soundtracks and concerts. Recently, she discovered the Hang (handpan), a new instrument from Switzerland, and has started focusing her research on this unique percussion instrument.
- Summer Meyer
CEO Imagine Online LLC