Why a musical approach?

On an instinctual level most of us understand the power of music. It's so integrated into our daily lives that it often rouses us from sleep, accompanies us in our travels, and plays while we shop and eat.  Songs remind us of special moments, mark occasions, and transport us back to other times.  Music has the uncanny ability to lift us up, to help us tune in, and to share in the emotions being expressed. A good song takes us along for the ride. We become immersed in its world for a brief period of time. We fall under its spell. This is the power and magic of song. 

For people who find themselves trapped on the mind's hamster wheel, endlessly rehashing the fears, regrets, and resentments of the past, even a few minutes of being able to focus on something else can feel like a godsend. If, in the midst of this reprieve, they find themselves relating to the stories and feelings that they're hearing, they can start to relax and open up a bit.  They start to feel understood and connected, and it's only in this place of receptivity that the seeds of hope can be planted. 

Shores of the Heart is an interactive musical experience. It uses song as a vehicle to explore difficult emotional terrain and start an ongoing conversation.  It offers consolation and compassion to the weary, aching heart. It aims to instill hope and to offer maps back into the land of the living. It is a spark, a seed, a transmission offered from someone who knows the terrain intimately because he's walked it himself. 

Over the course of the last 15 years working with individuals and communities who have reached a crisis point and are weighing their options, I've learned a few things. Not everyone is ready to admit that they need help. Not everyone is ready to step into treatment or therapy or some other form of individual or group healing. Not everyone is willing to devote themselves to a daily, or even weekly, spiritual practice like yoga or meditation. Not everyone is ready to "get God." But almost universally, people are willing to listen to a song.   

About Rob McMahon

Rob McMahon is a New York based singer/songwriter who has been walking a path of healing and recovery since 2001. He's played treatment centers, American Legion halls, recovery groups, yoga studios, wellness centers, music conferences, house concerts, colleges and high schools, and more traditional music venues, both coast to coast, and internationally (in Ireland, Peru, India, and China).  A New York City public school teacher, Rob has 10 years of classroom experience under his belt working with "at risk" youth with special needs. As a graduate of the Four Winds Society's Shamanic Energy Medicine Program and a certified instructor of Turtle Longevity Qigong, Rob has been teaching community meditation classes, leading group healing ceremonies, and offering spiritual guidance and energetic healing to individuals and families since 2008. He also co-facilitates holistic wellness retreats for combat veterans faced with the challenges of reintegrating into civilian life post deployment.