A Breath of Song

Patricia Norton
  • 5.0 (29)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

Ella Fitzgerald said, ”The only thing better than singing is more singing!” Use song to find wellness in ourselves, each other, and our world. In each episode, Patricia introduces a song that she trusts to help her navigate life. These songs provide a great soundtrack to your day — whether it’s comfort, presence, delight, grief-tending, or simply easing the way. Periodic interviews with song creators add color and understanding. Songs have helped Patricia heal, adapt, and grow, and she hopes these selections will become companions for you as well. Visit the website, abreathofsong.com, to learn more and suggest a song!

  1. 1d ago

    252. Turn

    Song: Turn, from The Book of Rounds Lyrics by: Julie Flanders Music by: Emil Adler   Notes: You can find different arrangements of this round, but here it is in its beautiful simplicity as a song you can carry on walks and in the middle of the night...learn it slowly with me, letting it sink in, and then let it sing inside you as it has for me over the past decade, connecting, settling, assuring me that I'm already home in some fundamental way. Then maybe go sing along with the Vancouver Youth Choir! Songs that help us navigate life, feel connected, remember into what can be beautiful with humans...   Songwriter Info: American Prize-winning Composer Emil Adler, Poet/Lyricist/Conceptor Julie Flanders and Vocalist/Producer Marina Belica of October Project offer a new repertoire of choral music with a message. Known to millions for the poetry and aural beauty of their recordings, The Book of Rounds: 21 Songs of Grace, conceived of and written by Flanders & Adler, has become a choral viral sensation. Written to promote feelings of well-being, each of the 21 songs of The Book of Rounds is a fugue of positive messages set into musical rounds that strengthen and expand those messages with each repetition. A post of the round “Turn”performed by the Vancouver Youth Choir, the largest youth choir in Canada, to the one million followers of Daily Choirs online, resulted in an outpouring of interest from choirs across the globe. It has since been sung by thousands of singers and achieved significant acclaim. The songs have moved beyond classrooms and concert halls to spiritual and healing communities including music therapy, hospice (The Threshold Choir), Alzheimer and dementia patients (Canada’s nationwide Voices in Motion organization) as well as in refugee camps around the world. Setting up a space of calm within the chaos, where children can have access to art, books and music, aid workers have shared The Book of Rounds at such refugee camps as Lesvos, Greece, the Sinjar district of Northern Iraq and at a camp for Ukrainian refugees in Moldova, where, in spite of the language differences, the beauty and comforting embrace of the rounds helps soothe displaced and traumatized children. Recipient of the 2020 ACDA Genesis Prize, with Venezuelan-born composer, Carlos Cordero, Flanders’ earlier choral work, Holding Our Breath, was debuted in 2021 by Conspirare (Craig Hella Johnson) and has since been performed worldwide, including at the Kennedy Center (Eugene Rogers & EXIGENCE) and Carnegie Hall, also winning awards for young choirs across the world. A #1 best-selling poet on Amazon, Flanders has authored four collections of poetry and originated the international October Project Annual Poetry Contest, now in its 9th year, attracting thousands of entries in conjunction with National “April is Poetry Month.” With messages of hope, comfort, belonging and healing that resonate today with more urgency than ever before, Julie Flanders, Emil Adler and Marina Belica of October Project are on a mission to bring harmony to these dissonant times. Says Ryan Heller, Conductor and Artistic Director of Chorus Austin, who premiered the work with close to 200 performers, “October Project has captured something that the world needs right now with The Book of Rounds. Each of the 21 rounds combines to form a composite whole that resonates with what it means to be human.”   Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but for recording and/or performing in a workshop, class, or performance, please visit https://www.octoberprojectmusic.com/the-book-of-rounds/sheet-music/the-book-of-rounds-sheet-music for permission and rates.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:26 Start time of reprise: 00:17:37   Links: Contact email: octoberprojectmusic@gmail.com Website for October Project: www.octoberprojectmusic.com Website for The Book of Rounds: https://www.octoberprojectmusic.com/the-book-of-rounds/the-book-of-rounds-summary Youtube: @OctoberProjectMusic Facebook: @October Project Instagram: @octoberproject Spotify: @October Project Vancouver Youth Choir version of Turn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMwc9wkgItk&t=3s   Nuts & Bolts: 2:4, major, round   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

  2. Oct 7

    251. I Will Face the Light/Dark

    Song: I Will Face the Light/Dark Music by: Jeri Katherine Howell   Notes: I love this personal mantra of Jeri Katherine Howell's that can be harmony-rich or very simple, and helps me center back into my integrity when I'm trying to be present with opposites -- light and dark, for example. Or, as some of the different listeners who wrote to me with opposite things they're holding -- hope & fear, excitement & dread, bitter & sweet, lies & truth. This song holds it all with breath and presence and calm. We sing it different ways -- unaccompanied, then with some strings, then just a two-part vocal harmony -- maybe you add more harmonies, maybe you have more words? Make this song your own if it sings in you....   Songwriter Info: Jeri Katherine Howell — award-winning singer-songwriter, cultural organizer, songleader and educator — cultivates creative experiences that inspire us to live in complex and caring relationship with one another and the planet. Rooted in the oral traditions of folk, Bluegrass and Appalachian music, Jeri Katherine’s songwriting and songleading style is in relation with the land, in deep listening to the triumphs and struggles of everyday people, and embodies music as a communal act. As a facilitator, Jeri Katherine believes we’re all teachers and every moment is a practice ground for creating the world we want to exist. As a caretaker, Jeri Katherine centers equitable access to the arts and nature to support our individual and collective well-being and resilience. Jeri Katherine loves to collaborate with organizations, small businesses and artists to cultivate joy and healing and build community. Connect at jerikatherinehowell.com.   Sharing Info: Yes -- Please share this song in oral tradition groups, but please contact Jeri for recording and/or performing permission. If you plan to share this song as a songleader, particularly if you are a paid songleader, please consider making a donation. Thank you!   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:20 Start time of reprise: 00:15:24   Links:  Become a member and get monthly song tutorials and more at https://ko-fi.com/jerikatherinehowell Donate on Venmo at https://venmo.com/code?user_id=2771302012157952132&created=1771099464 Join Jeri's email list and check out upcoming shows and workshops at https://jerikatherinehowell.com/ Buy original music downloads and merch at https://jerikatherinehowell.bandcamp.com/ Follow Jeri on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jerikatherinehowell Follow Jeri on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeri.katherine   Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, unison, optional harmonies   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

  3. Sep 30

    250. Cycle Breakers with guest Ríomas

    Song: Cycle Breakers Music by: Ríomas (with some lyric support from Yesh Salz)   Notes: Ríomas gives us a conversation steeped in joy and acceptance of hard things -- in the middle of doing a hard thing, since we lost a recorded hour of our first conversation due to a tech glitch. We talk about what makes it possible to come back -- how to not get stuck -- and how that applies to breaking cycles, connecting with our ancestors of before and those to come after. I found myself inspired by their description of the culture of song circles as a way "to vision in and dream in what we’re actually trying to create that’s more beautiful and more free and more inclusive.” I was surprised and intrigued by their take on severance from rhythm and how regaining embodied, shared pulse is a resistance practice. Catch the whole interview to learn this song that Minnesota folk created a dance to, and hear how Ríomas found their new name and what it means!   Songwriter Info: Ríomas (RiYo or Río for short, they/them), previously known as Shireen Amini, is a queer, trans masculine, Puerto Rican-Iranian artist and immigrant settler based in Portland, Oregon creating at the intersection of music, healing, and cultural change. Drawing upon pop and folk soul textures, gratefully and respectfully from Black and Afro-Latin lineages, they craft artful, participatory songs that invite realness and transformative energy. Bridging contemporary music mediums with ceremonial ways and resistance efforts, Ríomas creates soulful and joyful community singing experiences that reconnect people to their power and place. In spring 2026, they released their first community song album, Gather Your Resilience: Medicine for Liberation.   Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition contexts like song circles, but please contact me for permission and rates if interested in teaching this song as part of greater money-making ventures like multi-week choirs, workshops, classes, or performances or if interested in recording this song.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:40 Start time of reprise: 01:32:12   Links: Liz Digitale Anderson: https://singingforliberation.com/ C. Onyx Li: https://www.instagram.com/pointsoflight_mu/ adrienne maree brown: Pleasure Activism: https://adriennemareebrown.net/book/pleasure-activism/ CIIS San Francisco: https://www.ciis.edu/ Plena music of Puerto Rico : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plena Vernon Bush: https://www.goodlifeproject.com/podcast/vernon-bush/ Bobby McFerrin’s Circle Singing: https://circlesongs.com/ Vision fast: https://schooloflostborders.org/programs/vision-fast/ Doesn’t Mean by Ríomas ABS Episode 249: https://www.abreathofsong.com/p/249-doesnt-mean Mountain Song, Te Martin: https://www.lamafoundation.org/mountain-song/ Tracy Robertson: https://www.instagram.com/tracyljrobertson/?hl=en Sarina Partridge, “I Am of This Earth”: https://sarinapartridge.bandcamp.com/track/of-this-earth Dark as Night by Nahko And Medicine For The People: https://www.nahko.com/music  Persian Aush soup – a Samin Nosrat recipe is behind a NYTimes paywall, so here’s another one!: https://www.101cookbooks.com/new-year-noodle-soup/ Los Pleneros de la Cresta: https://losplenerosdelacresta.com/   Riomas’s recent album, “Gather Your Resilience,” on Bandcamp: https://riomas.bandcamp.com/album/gather-your-resilience-medicine-for-liberation Patreon: https://patreon.com/riomas Instagram: @riomasmusic Linktree: https://linktr.ee/riomas Artist Website: https://shireenamini.com/ Music as Medicine: https://shireenaminimusicmedicine.com/   Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, minor, harmonizable song form   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

  4. Sep 23

    249. Doesn't Mean

    Song: Doesn't Mean Music by: Ríomas   Notes: What if there are other stories we can tell ourselves, other ways to protect ourselves? What if it doesn't mean what we think it means? The kind of flexibility that asks of us -- the openness to consider that the solution our mind is so neatly presenting might actually not be the most accurate or the most helpful? Wow. It's a game changer when we don't have to hold our stories or our past techniques so tightly -- and Ríomas has given us a song to ask these questions, to remind us that old ways of coping aren't always working so well in the here and now. Next episode, we get a sweet, intense conversation that touches in on navigating change, ancestors, rhythms, and more -- PLUS a new song Ríomas shares that's all about changing patterns...   Songwriter Info: Ríomas (RiYo or Río for short, they/them), previously known as Shireen Amini, is a queer, trans masculine, Puerto Rican-Iranian artist and immigrant settler based in Portland, Oregon creating at the intersection of music, healing, and cultural change. Drawing upon pop and folk soul textures, gratefully and respectfully from Black and Afro-Latin lineages, they craft artful, participatory songs that invite realness and transformative energy. Bridging contemporary music mediums with ceremonial ways and resistance efforts, Ríomas creates soulful and joyful community singing experiences that reconnect people to their power and place. In spring 2026, they released their first community song album, Gather Your Resilience: Medicine for Liberation.   Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition contexts like song circles, but please contact me for permission and rates if interested in teaching this song as part of greater money-making ventures like multi-week choirs, workshops, classes, or performances or if interested in recording this song.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:20 Start time of reprise: 00:18:24   Links: Album on Bandcamp: https://riomas.bandcamp.com/album/gather-your-resilience-medicine-for-liberation Patreon: https://patreon.com/riomas Instagram: @riomasmusic Linktree: https://linktr.ee/riomas     Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3 layer with extra harmonies   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

  5. Sep 9

    248. Soften

    Song: Soften Music by: Patricia Norton   Notes: I caught this song more than a year ago, but it's been back in my brain, claiming space and being a helpmeet -- so I thought I'd share it with you. A reminder to release, to be present -- and that in that very softness is a fierce strength and belonging to help meet whatever moment you're in.   Songwriter Info: You can find out more about me in general here: https://www.juneberrymusic.com/about-patricia.html Or the whole team that puts this podcast out here: https://www.abreathofsong.com/about.html Sharing Info: Feel free to sing this song yourself and with your friends and family as often as you please! If you are using this song in a way that is making money for you, please contribute to the A Breath of Song gratitude jar at https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar, and/or send me a note letting me know how the song is helping you, so the song brings us into relationship. Thank you!   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:40 Start time of reprise: 00:16:45   Links: Flow Singing: https://www.juneberrymusic.com/flow-singing.html All of what I'm up to: https://www.juneberrymusic.com/ Kindred Voices Retreat: https://kindredvoicesretreat.com   Nuts & Bolts: 12:8, major, 3 part   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

  6. Sep 1

    247. Journey Far

    Song: Journey Far Music by: Kate Sutherland   Notes: Kate Sutherland knows how to send people out on a heroic journey -- this song is a staunch supporter and reminder of the love that is carried through a challenging time, whether you sing it to yourself or another loved one. Unusually, I give a little bit of structural things to listen for before teaching so you can see if that helps you internalize the song more quickly. The reprise is a slightly different feel than the original teaching -- same melody, same rhythm -- see what you think!   Songwriter Info: Kate is a multi-creative who feels alive when writing songs and leading community song circles, (re)uniting folks with their creative passions, making art out of the everyday, moving her body, belly laughing and standing in wonder of the natural world. She is a prolific recording artist, song-prayer activist, and warrior for love. She holds black belts in Judo and Kung Fu. Kate co-facilitates deep nature connection retreats (Wild Belonging), willow basket and song weaving workshops (Willow Song), and community singing and song writing retreats (Braided River) throughout the year for folks looking to deepen their connection to song and the natural world.   Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share. This is Kate's part in preventing any blocks to the movement of the song getting to where it needs to go and reaching the ears of those who might benefit from it. AND she always welcome financial and/or networking support when folks are in a position to do so. Your contributions not only support Kate in her continued creation of medicine songs, it also energetically feeds the song itself AND the powerful movement as a whole, to bring more light, love and healing into our beautiful world.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:04 Start time of reprise: 00:16:50   Links: To listen to Kate's music, purchase albums, learn about song & deep nature connection workshops at my website: https://www.katesutherland.ca Instagram: @katesutherlandsongs Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KateSutherland Patreon (bonus material & mentoring): https://www.patreon.com/c/KateSutherlandSongs   Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, minor, 2-layers each harmonized   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

  7. Aug 26

    246. Ribbon 20: Steady in the Unknown

    The Sunday after this episode is released, August 30th, 2026, at 4 p.m. Eastern time, there will be an online gathering of folk who use song to help navigate life -- and we'll sing through this Ribbon of Songs with live-looping! To learn more, click here, or sign up right now to join us!   Lyrics ​& Links to the original episodes for the songs in this ribbon.   WHERE AM I GOING TO? by Patricia Norton   Where am I going to? What am I walking toward? (2x)   I’m gonna breathe   into the flow, flow, flowing.   BREATHE EASY by Karly Loveling   Breathe easy, let it all go. Rest your body; trust your soul to guide your way and keep you whole. Breathe easy, let go. LOVING KINDNESS by Wendy Luella Perkins   loving-kindness to my body loving-kindness to my mind loving-kindness to each and every joy and heartbreak of my time loving-kindness to my spirit loving-kindness to my soul loving-kindness to each and every part loving-kindness to the whole   zipper: your body, our bodies, all bodies    ANCIENT GREEN by Kathleen Hannan   1. I lay under a tall oak tree, asked the Goddess to shelter me. She wrapped me up in ancient green, ancient green.   2. All my tears, all my tears, all my tears, the river’s gonna wash away.   ONE DAY AT A TIME by Penny Stone with the Serenity Singers of Edinburgh   One day at a time. ​Keep it simple.   ANDITO NGAYON by Gérone Pascal  (with harmonies by Patricia Norton)   Andito ngayon Sa aking puso Ang bawat hininga Maginhawa.   Here now in my heart Every breath Full of ease.    (Tagalog language from the Pilipinas Islands)   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

  8. Aug 19

    245. Glimmer in My Eye with guest Jordan Mudd

    Song: Glimmer in My Eye Music by: Jordan Mudd   Notes: Jordan takes us through a journey of listening for a call, listening for our ancestors, listening to the generations to come -- and an exploration of the wild delight of being alive! I felt like so much of what he said is common to the shared experience in song circles where people are “Just singing to sing – and… I didn’t know that was what I’d been looking for…” He said, “It feels like what we are doing in our song circles is an experiment in culture building… that we want to move into the fabric of daily life.” And, “We get to be here making something wildly beautiful – not just our sounds but in the sharing of our souls.” Yes!   Songwriter Info: Jordan Mudd is a songleader, vocal coach, grief tender, and ritualist based in Boston, MA. He co-founded Boston-Area Singing Circles in 2023, where he leads regular community singing gatherings combining oral tradition songs, vocal improv, and ritual, as well as training workshops for aspiring songleaders. He has been catching & leading songs for a decade, and is committed to using song as a tool for personal, collective, and spiritual liberation.   Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share but he always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:32 Start time of reprise: 01:08:48   Links:  “Gimmer in My Eye” on Bandcamp: https://jordanmuddsings.bandcamp.com/album/songs-for-generations-past-future Boston-Area Singing Circles: https://www.bostonareasingingcircles.com/ Jordan’s website: https://www.jordanmudd.com/ Songleader Training with Jordan + milly roberts: https://www.bostonareasingingcircles.com/songleading-intensive   Emma Thomas Mitchell: https://www.emmathomasmitchell.com/ Sunrise Movement: https://www.sunrisemovement.org/   A Breath of Song episode from Sunrise Movement: https://www.abreathofsong.com/p/172-dont-go-putting-the-world-on-your-shoulders “I Send my Hope” https://jordanmuddsings.bandcamp.com/track/i-send-my-hope Ep 244: “I Am Listening” on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/p/244-i-am-listening Brandeis University: https://www.brandeis.edu/ Howard Thurman: https://www.bu.edu/thurman/about-us/who-is-howard-thurman/ Jordan’s Songleading Offerings: https://www.jordanmudd.com/songleading David Ruffin: https://www.davidruffinvoice.com/ David on A Breath of Song (ep 185): https://www.abreathofsong.com/p/185-vocal-improv-with-guest-david-ruffin David’s GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/780f3ecf6 elena elizabeth hendrick: can be contacted at elenanicaragua@gmail.com Ukumbwa Sauti: https://about.me/ukumbwa IG:@ukumbwa Dagara cosmology: https://www.theafricangourmet.com/2016/07/whats-your-dagara-cosmology-sign.html Malidoma Somé: https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/26930-holding-our-power Sobonfu Somé: https://www.schoolofintegratedliving.org/grief-forgiveness-ritual-sobonfu-some/ Gaia Music Collective: https://linktr.ee/gaiamusiccollective Amos Lee: https://www.amoslee.com/ Esperanza Spaulding: 12 Little Spells: https://esperanzaspalding.com/   Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, round   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

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out of 5
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About

Ella Fitzgerald said, ”The only thing better than singing is more singing!” Use song to find wellness in ourselves, each other, and our world. In each episode, Patricia introduces a song that she trusts to help her navigate life. These songs provide a great soundtrack to your day — whether it’s comfort, presence, delight, grief-tending, or simply easing the way. Periodic interviews with song creators add color and understanding. Songs have helped Patricia heal, adapt, and grow, and she hopes these selections will become companions for you as well. Visit the website, abreathofsong.com, to learn more and suggest a song!

Information

  • Creator
    Patricia Norton
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    205
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2022 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    A Breath of Song

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