Transcendent Waves, by Lavender Suarez

Lavender Suarez beautifully details the ideas behind how sound affects the world we live in.

Transcendent Waves
Lavender Suarez
Anthology Editions

Links: Lavender Suarez | Order Online

I was recently asked how music influences the work that I do. I could not answer that question because, on the surface, the music I listen to has nothing to do with the work that I do in my professional career. There is no direct correlation, and I had to walk away and think intently about it. Days went by, and then it hit me. Sitting near an outdoor fire on a brisk fall night, I regularly use that time to put away technology and decompress. It was at this moment that I found the answer. By simply listening—not just to music but to the world around me—it opened my mind up to a new and often refreshed way of thinking about the life we live and the way we contribute to this fast-paced society. Sounds comfort us, they challenge us, distract us, help us focus, and they play into the association we have within our everyday lives. Having a book like Transcendent Waves helps accentuate these feelings.

Through process, it connects us to an enlightened awareness. Lavender Suarez reminds us to do something as simple as breathing, eating, or seeing—that is to listen. By being hyper aware of our senses, our personal philosophy about understanding the world transforms into a higher level of consciousness. Writing serves as structured tempo. Cooking becomes jazz. Memories are sparked by a sound that opens up a world of the past. In this book, Suarez presents questions for thought and a role to not just lay the groundwork for how humans process sound but, more importantly, to provide the curiosity and questions for us to understand and take into our own.

Suarez morphs science and spirituality together to explore the elements of natural law. How do we define beauty? What excites us? Why do certain sounds bring us peace? Through rhythm and pulse, Transcendent Waves not only looks at external elements but opens up to what she calls “personal rhythms.”

Suarez’s work as a sound healing practitioner and meditation teacher uses this book to express her experience in the field and bridge that connection between theory and practice. She explains some of the techniques that she uses and labels the importance of how sound can heal. “Listening can create a sense of refuge for a cluttered mind in a chaotic world,” she says.

This is a book you can read in its entirety and process as a whole. Or, you can jump into specific chapters for a microcosm of understanding. Suarez details an appreciation for something we, too often, take for granted. Transcendent Waves is a treatise for understanding and a work that deserves your attention.