Ten Laws with East Forest

You can use this short guided meditation to end your day with gratitude and drift softly into sleep as a gentle East Forest musical bed continues while you transition to dreaming. http://eastforest.org/podcast

Sol Rising’s original soundscapes evoke feelings of inspiration and bliss through an eclectic mix of electronic music, mid-tempo house, chill-trap, ambient and hip-hop. Born in Vancouver BC, raised in Fairfield Iowa, Sol Rising began meditating at age four with a walking mantra technique. His mother took him to visit numerous spiritual teachers, who inspired him on the spiritual path he walks today. As a teenager, he became a hip hop fanatic. His rooted interest in hip hop led him to learning the art of scratching — using turntables as musical instruments. Sol Rising soon became one of America’s top scratch DJs, winning second place at the DMC, the world’s most prestigious DJ competition. After graduating in the top 5% of his accounting class at University of Iowa, he realized accounting was not his path. A journey to India with Sai Maa illuminated his true calling — to light up people’s awareness of their true nature through music. This lead him to study audio engineering and production at Pyramind Studios in San Francisco, CA. Now a successful Producer with over 10 albums released, Sol Rising has licensed music for brands such as Apple, Clarks Shoes and US Polo as well as a placement in Academy Award winning director Paolo Sorrentino’s latest film “Loro.” Sol Rising has been featured in major media outlets including The Washington Post and Yoga Journal, and has also been streamed over 10 million times on Spotify. Sol Rising has toured in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia at festivals such as Wanderlust, Burning Man and Lightning in a Bottle. http://www.solrising.com http://eastforest.org

Julie Holland, M.D., is a psychiatrist specializing in psychopharmacology, with a private practice in New York City. She majored in the Biological Basis of Behavior at the University of Pennsylvania and received her M.D. in 1992 from Temple University School of Medicine. At Mount Sinai Medical Center, she completed a residency program in psychiatry, where she created a research project that treated schizophrenics with a new medication. In 1994, she received the Outstanding Resident Award from the National Institute of Mental Health. From 1996 until 2005 she worked weekends running Bellevue Hospital's psychiatric emergency room, and she's penned an autobiography of this time, Weekends at Bellevue: Nine Years on the Night Shift at the Psych ER. Holland is the editor of Ecstasy: The Complete Guide - A Comprehensive Look at the Risks and Benefits of MDMA, and The Pot Book: A Complete Guide to Cannabis. Holland also provides expert testimony and forensic consultation on a range of drug-related behavior and phenomena, with a focus on PCP and MDMA. naturalmood.com eastforest.org

DJ Drez is in demand as a producer, musical director and sound ambassador. A master of his craft in the studio and on stage, Drez cuts and composes profoundly original tracks that facilitate body movement practice of all forms— be it dance, yoga asana or after-hours intimate/ecstatic. Drez transforms the vibe of any scene his sound is set upon. Rooted in underground L.A. hiphop, Dr. EZ applies precise turn-table skills to a cutting edge vision for truly universal music, intelligently integrating elements of hiphop, world music, soul, funk, jazz, and reggae into his trademark sound and production. Drez’s peacefully determined demeanor makes him a highly sought-after contributor to a variety of dynamic projects. In the midst of a non-stop, world-wide tour schedule, Drez has prepared another solo effort (Alpine Swift, available June 7 via Nectar Drop Music) while simultaneously producing a Sānskrit mantra record with his wife, vocalist Marti Nikko, and a straight-up hiphop album with longtime collaborator, Zaire Black, both expected to be ready for release in 2016. Drez has too deep a resume to mention in its entirety here, suffice it to say he has worked with a who’s who of top artists (Blackstar, KRS 1, Black Eyed Peas, Macy Gray, Eminem, Project Blowed) and organizations (Adidas, X Games, ABC, Okay Player) while maintaining an extensive worldwide touring schedule, variously involving artists like Moby, Ziggy Marley, Common, Femi Kuti, De La Soul, Capleton, Nas, Lee Scratch Perry. djdrez.com eastforest.org/podcast

Marc Lesser is a mindfulness teacher, CEO, author, and speaker. He is internationally recognized for pioneering work in mindful leadership supporting profound wellbeing. He has led mindfulness and emotional intelligence programs at many of the world's leading businesses and organizations including Google, SAP, Genentech, and Kaiser Permanente, and has coached executives and led trainings in Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, health care, and government. Marc helped develop the world-renowned Search Inside Yourself (SIY) program within Google - a mindfulness-based emotional intelligence training for leaders which teaches the art of integrating mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and business savvy for creating great corporate cultures and a better world. Deeply rooted in science, the program has been taught to thousands of executives worldwide. He is the author of Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader: Lessons from Google and a Zen Monastery Kitchen, Know Yourself, Forget Yourself, Less: Accomplishing More By Doing Less, and Z.B.A. Zen of Business Administration. Marc founded and was CEO of 3 companies and has an MBA degree from New York University. Prior to his business and coaching career, he was a resident of the San Francisco Zen Center for 10 years, and director of Tassajara, Zen Mountain Center, the first Zen monastery in the western world. He has keynoted at Mindful Leadership Summits in Washington DC, Toronto, and Sydney and has led "Search Inside Yourself" 2-day trainings in San Francisco, Japan, Hong Kong, and Toronto. marclesser.net eastforest.org/podcast

Guided meditation emphasizes connection to nature, breath's power. Explores gratitude exercise and interconnectedness. Emphasizes acceptance of experiences without judgment.

Layering traditional kirtan with instantly accessible melodies and modern instrumentation, Krishna Das has been called yoga’s “rock star.” With a remarkably soulful voice that touches the deepest chord in even the most casual listener, Krishna Das ” known to friends, family, and fans as simply KD ” has taken the call-and-response chanting out of yoga centers and into concert halls, becoming a worldwide icon and the best-selling western chant artist of all time. His album ‘Live Ananda’ (released January 2012) was nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Age album category. KD spent the late ’60’s traveling across the country as a student of Ram Dass, and in August 1970, he finally made the journey to India, which led him to Ram Dass’ own beloved guru, Neem Karoli Baba, known to most as Maharaj-ji. Given the name Krishna Das, KD began to chant as part of following the path of Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion. After two and a half years with Maharaj-ji, returned to USA – alas, six months after his return, word came that Maharaj-ji had died. He took solace in music, finding peace and strength in both his Bhakti yoga practice as well as in such heroes as Ray Charles, Van Morrison, Steely Dan, and Bruce Springsteen (whom he laughingly calls “the Bodhisattva of New Jersey”). KD also co-founded Triloka Records, a California-based label specializing in world music, releasing such artists as Jai Uttal, sarod virtuoso Ali Akbar Khan, and legendary jazz musician/composer Jackie McLean. In 1994, KD started leading chant at Jivamukti Yoga Center, NYC, with an ever-growing audience of yoga students that has led him to chant with people all around the world. In February 2013, Krishna Das performed at the Grammy awards in Los Angeles, CA streamed online to millions of viewers. The award-winning film ‘One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das’ has been in over 100 US cities, over 10 countries worldwide and is available on DVD everywhere. With the release of his 16th album Peace Of My Heart , October 2018 – KD on behalf of the Kirtan Wallah Foundation offers nearly two hours of deeply moving, meditative and artfully restrained new recordings born out of a request from a yoga teacher who works with children on the Autism Spectrum. Forgoing the ecstatic tempo changes so common to temple-style kirtan, these 5 new tracks move slowly and deliberately. The song to song steadiness is both striking and soothing, and as emotionally impactful as ever. “The chanting just hits you and you want to be a part of it,” KD promises. “That’s the point of this whole thing. That’s what cuts through all the ‘stuff’. You get lit up. You don’t have to know what it means.” krishnadas.com eastforest.org

The Bee Queen has been dancing - fully covered and immersed with over 10k honey bees - since 2001. She says, "I think of bee dance as a duet among many. The 12,000 plus bees push with their powerful wings from each side of my body, I resist and then I let go and flow and move with them. In a deep meditation and I experience the hive mind surrounding me, holding me. I become aware of the connection and the understanding of my body on a cellular level. I am a healer, dancer, artist, builder of structures and a bee keeper. As bee keepers, my partner, Theodore and I hope to help the bees of the northwest by encouraging them to swarm and become hardy in this ever changing environment." saramapellibeequeen.com eastforest.org/podcast Video - https://youtu.be/uSZFLPBYZ9M Sara's Mexico House for Rent - goldenbeemx.com

Indian American musician Sheela Bringi has been exploring the connections between her ancestral and actual homelands her entire life. The singer and instrumentalist plays the harp, harmonium and bansuri (Indian classical bamboo flute). As a young woman Bringi was influenced by M.I.A. and Dead Can Dance, studied with Cecil Taylor and Meredith Monk, while at the same time deepened her studies with Indian classical masters like Pandit G.S. Sachdev and Ustaad Aashish Khan. This unique background has resulted in her debut album, Incantations (Black Swan Sounds), rooted in India’s classical music tradition and the beauty of its mantras, as well as a groundbreaking exploration of American jazz and blues. The album was released in 2014 and garnered praise from National Public Radio, the Guardian, Public Radio International and more, and debuted at #9 on the iTunes World Music chart. She has performed in a wide range of venues, including concert halls and universities presenting traditional material, yoga studios leading kirtans and in dance clubs overtop throbbing, bass-heavy beats (she’s toured with Karsh Kale, DJ Drez, and many others). In 2016 she was an instrumental soloist on Madi Das’ GRAMMY-nominated album, Bhakti Without Borders. shebrings.com eastforest.org

Raised on an island in South Carolina, singer/songwriter Trevor Hall realized at a young age that music was more than just a passion - it was, rather, his life’s art. At sixteen, he recorded his first album, soon after which he left South Carolina for Idyllwild Arts Academy in California where he studied classical guitar and was introduced to the practices of yoga and meditation, which would greatly influence his life and his music. Hall’s music, a blend of roots and folk music, is imbued with a deep love of Eastern Mysticism. This powerful symbiosis fostered a deep connectivity with his growing fan base and Trevor quickly matured into a leader of the burgeoning conscious musical community. Along with numerous pilgrimages to India, he has also completed a series of sold-out tours and collaborations with artists such as Steel Pulse, Ziggy Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Matisyahu, Michael Franti, Xavier Rudd and Nahko & Medicine for the People. His full-length album releases, The Fruitful Darkness (2018), Chapter of the Forest (2014) and KALA (2015), debuted at #3 and #2 on the iTunes singer/songwriter chart respectively and were supported by extensive tours around the US and Australia. Beyond his intention to spread love and healing through music, Hall also collects donations to support children’s education in India and has continuously donated to charities and relief funds. The Fruitful Darkness is Trevor’s first independent release — supported by his fans known as THE VILLAGERS — has become the #1 Music campaign of its kind in 2017 — after a decade plus recording for established labels such as Geffen and Vanguard. “There have been many hurdles and triumphs along the way” Hall reflects. “This album conveys the deep vulnerability of journeying through the unknown, as opposed to playing it safe.” Besides the change in infrastructure, the album itself explores completely new sonic terrain and is being released unconventionally, in 3-5 song installments on specific lunar dates. The full length album premiered at #4 on the Alt Charts, the most successful of Hall's career yet. trevorhallmusic.com eastforest.org