Dark and light are intertwined – like in the Yin and Yang symbol. There is power and strength in walking towards the dark deliberately and consciously. And this has nothing to do with being masochistic. It is simply that a lot of things can only be gained for a price I have to pay.

And there is a magic ingredient to it. In the Yin and Yang symbol there is a tiny spot of light in the dark. That is the spark that shows us the direction in which to go, and in it lies all the difference for why I may choose deliberately to walk towards some darkness.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 Towards the Night – Solo

00:02:50 The Dark holds a Secret

00:09:55 Towards the Night (KAS Remix)

00:13:44 Outro

Listen to Michael Mondenschein and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith on SoundCloud.

The mentioned episodes are

Light So Small (episode 2)

New Moon (episode 16)

Thru that Darkest Door (episode 17)

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more at laughingbrook.net.

When the bubble bursts and nothing is like it was before. The world has become differently in a blink of an eye and there is no way you could go back into that old life again.

This is a poem about new beginnings and the magic of such a moment.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 Humpty Day – Solo

00:02:32 The Way Through the Labyrinth

00:07:09 Humpty Day (Remix)

00:10:24 Outro

Director for the voice over recording: Viktor Pavel, Berlin

Recorded at Mixwerk Studios, Berlin

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more at laughingbrook.net.

What would it be like to be, but be in a very different way, without an ego – this part of us, that says ”I“ and sees everything from a personal perspective? Not to want, not to cling, not to chase – just be? Well now, isn’t that how the world around us ist? 

This state happens to be very much what mindfulness practices and meditation leads us to. This episode has a playful poem that invites you to let your mind go on a journey beyond itself.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 Clouds – Solo

00:01:47 To be without an I

00:07:02 Clouds (Remix)

00:11:52 Outro

Show notes, a transcript of this episode and more at laughingbrook.net.

Wo entspringt die Kreativität? Sie kommt aus dem anstrengungslosen Raum der Gelassenheit, der übrigens keineswegs passiv ist. Ein bisschen wie das Wasser, das frei fließt und doch unglaublich viel bewirken kann. 

Diesmal werfen wir einen Blick auf diesen scheinbar leichten, leeren Raum, der im Dazwischen liegt.

Kapitel:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 Wie das Wasser – Solo

00:01:51 Im Dazwischen liegt die Freiheit

00:08:14 Wie das Wasser (Remix)

00:11:52 Outro

Vielen Dank an Nico für den Input bei der Aufnahme des Remix’, und für die wunderbare Begleitung auf der Ngoni.

Shownotes, ein Transkript der Texte und andere Angebote findest du auf lachenderbach.de

A paradox is often pointed out, seemingly as a proof that a certain statement or a thing cannot right or correct. Yet as one ventures down the road of life and looks at what we call reality, paradoxes keep coming along.

If I bother to be bothered by paradoxes, they can lead me into uncomfortable places where what I know seems to be contradicted – a humbling and unsettling moment. Beyond this feeling of unease, though, lies something which is larger than the world I came from. It’s a bit like going into the pitch black dark of a cave. Who knows what secret is waiting there for me…

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 The Cave – Solo

00:02:43 The Face of the Deep holds a Secret

00:09:36 The Cave (Remix)

00:13:37 Outro

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more at laughingbrook.net.

We do the things we do because we are where are. Over the course of my life I have learned a lot about seeing myself and life differently. That has lead me into greater personal freedom. The path, though, is long and there is still so much more to learn.

For all the things I know and others don’t (just like I didn’t know, not too long ago), it’s easy to get proud and insolent. Yet there is also a choice to become compassionate; an interesting term that literally means „to suffer with someone“. In doing so, I expand myself into the up and the below. But, ah, why make it so complicated. It’s just a fly!

Chapters:

00:00:00  Intro

00:00:26 The Fly – Solo

00:02:51 Fly into life’s mystery

00:10:50 The Fly (Remix)

00:15:02 Outro

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more on laughingbrook.net.

Oh my, the power of falling in love! It all starts with seeing something in this significant other, may it be a lover or landscape, a song or sight. All of a sudden my eyes are being opened and the character of this other touches me. This is where stories begin, this is what makes the world turn round.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 The Pearl – Solo

00:04:33 To see it makes it be it

00:13:08 The Pearl (Remix)

00:18:42 Outro

Show notes, a transcript of this episode and more at laughingbrook.net.

There is a curious thing: When I hold life very tightly, everything becomes a rather tiresome and exhausting affair. When on the other hand I hold things loosely, I may discover that things seem to come to me without me really doing a lot. This doesn’t mean I’m passive. 

The way to this direction leads through most unlikely doors of which death is an essential one. The tiny deaths we have to die in our life, and sometimes ugly big ones, allow us to prepare. Facing death brings a most remarkable insight.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 Salto Mortale – Solo

00:03:23 How to fly

00:12:38 Salto Mortale (Remix)

00:16:13 Outro

Information about the Sacred Sensuality Retreat Brazil at https://changingheart.de/sacred-sensuality-retreat-brazil/

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more at laughingbrook.net.

There is a proof that everything is consciousness, says Sogyal Rinpoche in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, because everything we know about our existence and the world happens in our consciousness. When you think of it, it really is the only thing we have. 

So it is kind of curious to take a step back from my awareness to ponder about what is in my awareness, what it is about. Here’s a poem, inspired by the beautiful hills of Dartmoor, and my oh my, how the beauty of that place first had me sink into it and then sank into me, so much that it has become a part of me.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 Into Ever – Solo

00:02:26 It Just Is

00:11:25 Into Ever (Remix)

00:15:20 Outro

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more at laughingbrook.net.

Following my inner calling can lead me down a most adventurous path, and part of that journey is death – not necessarily physical death, but the death of something in my life. J. R. R. Tolkien put those oracle words into the mouth of Gandalf, “It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” 

Such a quest for your inner calling frequently leads to desperate moments in which I question everything and have a sense of being completely lost, in which I feel like a complete failure. This ”dark night of the soul”, as the Christian mystic John of the Cross has put it, seems to be a necessary passageway on this journey to that fertile land of which my longing informs me. Nothing for the faint of heart! But, oh my, how very worth it is the trip, once you’ve arrived, and how so very much worth it do those dark moments feel in hindsight. So, come on, put all your chips on the table and come on board …

Chapters:

00:00:00  Intro

00:00:26 Thru That Darkest Door – Solo

00:02:52 How death taught me to live

00:16:21 Thru That Darkest Door (Remix)

00:24:03 Outro

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more on laughingbrook.net.

What carries me through a personal crisis? Those moments, in which I am loosing familiar faces, places – really, loosing my home in the world. With no idea what’s next and how to move on. Disruptive moments can be scary, gut-wrenching, heart-wrenching.

Yet hidden in them lies, albeit often invisible, already this new life of mine. While everything inside of me wants to cling to my old ways, through a personal crisis life is asking me very unapologetically to come to it differently. As I turn towards this dark that has come upon me, there is a chance to discover something in this gloomy doom, a hidden treasure. Diamonds are made in intense pressure. And this moment of dark will pass, too. After all, new moon is the beginning of a new cycle. This is what transmutation is all about.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 New Moon – Solo

00:03:23 Transmutation is the path less traveled

00:12:40 New Moon (Remix)

00:16:46 Outro

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more on laughingbrook.net.

Jaw’s harp for the remix was played by Karin Gal-Oz-Naveh.

The ego doesn’t have a good rep in our world, and we all know why. Yet, there is a place for ego to navigate through this world. It is, so to speak, the captain who runs the ship and takes care so we do reach our destination. Any destination. When used properly it is a great servant to help us realize what’s important to us and what we want to realize.

In no field is this more important then in art. The creative act is such a deeply personal act, as in its truest form in comes from deep within me. As an artist, I make myself vulnerable when I present my art. So the temptation is great to smooth things into a palpable, nice way. But to be true to your art can require you to be without compromise, to be daring, to be extreme. A strong ego, a strong I, is needed, to stay the course.

Chapters:

00:00:00  Intro

00:00:26 It Takes A Strong I To Create – Solo

00:02:40 Trust your creativity

00:11:44 It Takes A Strong I To Create (Remix)

00:15:28 Outro

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more on laughingbrook.net.

Comment/Description (die ersten 100 Zeichen sind wichtig, vor dem …):

There are forces in this world, so utterly destructive, they leave a seemingly endless trail of traumatized victims behind. Yet, there is also a magic that can happen, where the hurtful grain of sand turns into a pearl and we develop into the wounded healers. That’s when dark turns into light and the path of life continues. Surely we’re not leaving the world to darkness, not our own world, not the world at large. We fight for the Light! We’re the Crippled Army! 

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 Crippled Army – Solo

00:02:07 A quiet revolution

00:09:24 Crippled Army – Remix

00:14:02 Outro

 

A note for the Spotify team: All music used in this episode has been created by myself using tools and samples from Logic Pro X.

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more on laughingbrook.net.

We all want to meet the bliss of enlightenment. The path to it, though, which we call life, is rarely that simple. Generally, it is not straight, but full of contradictions and what seems to be dead ends and detours. It may lead us through tough places, but it is so worth it to continue on and to not run away from this darkness, for eventually it will lead us to where we so long to be.

The way out, liberation, is, really, to realize that everything has been there all along, to make my peace with it.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 Sailing the Dark Sea – Solo

00:03:53 To go beyond all concepts

00:09:57 Sailing the Dark Sea – Remix

00:15:30 Outro

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more on laughingbrook.net.

Attribution and thanks for samples used in the remix:

Wind at door howling 4.wav by Bosk1 -- https://freesound.org/s/217186/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Comment/Description (die ersten 100 Zeichen sind wichtig, vor dem …):

A broken heart is an injury just as much as a broken leg is. The heartache of a breakup or another kind of loss can throw us back at ourselves in a way few other things do. But there is something deeply healing about feeling the pain and sadness and letting the tears and cries flow. It helps us in letting go that which we have lost, the loved person that is gone now. A poem about loss.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 The Colours Lost Their Meaning – Solo

00:02:57 Why loosing someone hurts so bad

00:10:19 The Colours Lost Their Meaning – Remix

00:14:20 Outro

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more on laughingbrook.net.

Comment/Description (die ersten 100 Zeichen sind wichtig, vor dem …):

Living my life fully is key to be able and let go gracefully when that final last goodbye comes around. It’s all about beauty. Rather than postponing life, it is good to ask yourself from time to time whether the life you are living is really the one you want to live. This is your one precious moment of being alive.

Living fully is not for the faint of heart. And yet, there is nothing like knowing you have followed your heart, your calling, your passion, your intuition. 

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 Autumn – Solo

00:01:41 Because no one gets out of here alive

00:06:57 Autumn – Remix

00:09:37 Outro

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more on laughingbrook.net.

If you are interested in getting more in touch with coming alive through your senses, check out my Sacred Sensuality Retreat in Brazil, which will be in February 2025. 

There is a mysterious quiet in amongst the turmoil of life that is hard to grasp, hard to explain – and yet, it is there. The eye of the storm, the peace in the hustle and bustle of life. Once I focus in on it, strangely, it makes all other things that are so loud and big seem rather momentarily and passing. Because – maybe that’s just what they are.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 Sparkle in the Sand – Solo

00:02:27 In the tumble of life

00:06:54 Sparkle in the Sand – Remix

00:09:44 Outro

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more on laughingbrook.net.

Breaking up with a loved one is a painful tragedy. And yet, how many great stories (and heartbreak poems…) are born from tragedies. When heartbreak is on, it can feel devastating. And there’s no sugarcoating, this is so hard to be with.

But it need not be the end of the story. My story, that is, for a breakup throws me back unto myself and who I am and want to be. Having had my share of breakups, one of the things I learned  to see is that good that those relationships have brought into my life. I wouldn’t be who I am without them. Pain is not the end of my path.

And in this way, this breakup poem is, really, a love poem about a greater love.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 Swan Song – Solo

00:03:02 The tough teaching of a breakup

00:11:26 Swan Song – Remix

00:14:50 Outro

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more on laughingbrook.net.

The sensuality of nature has a way of getting me out of my head and into connection – not only with my body, but with an order and a flow that is larger than me. Even though I am trying to spend lots of time out in nature it never fails to surprise me what it does to me. How good it is. 

As I start watching, I mean, really watching nature, she teaches me about how to be. I see life with all its struggles, life with all its beauty, life as constant change. Somehow, this puts my own life into perspective, and sometimes in ways that are underneath any intellectual concept. A little bit like magic. To be in this place where my senses get tingly makes me relax about my own stuff. It’s pure medicine.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 Flow the River Said – Solo

00:03:16 The unforced rhythm of grace

00:12:17 Flow the River Said (Remix)

00:18:16 Outro

More info on the Sacred Sensual Retreat can be found here.

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more on laughingbrook.net.

Life gives us many good things. Gratefulness is that moment when I realize what has been given to me. Maybe even only then I am fully taking in what this good thing has brought into my life. It’s kind of like a gift I get – only if I unwrap it, I really receive it. And that’s where joy awaits me.

This episode is dedicated to Japanese composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto and the many hauntingly beautiful tunes he created.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:26 Oh Ryuichi – Solo

00:01:57 Gratefulness is realizing what I have received

00:07:54 Oh Ryuichi – Remix

00:09:35 Outro

Shownotes, a transcript of this episode and more on laughingbrook.net.