Sound Immersion as Somatic Healing with Gail Jackson

In this episode, Gail Jackson speaks with cohost Sandy Inkster on her experiences working as a probation and parole officer, and her work with drumming and sound immersion.

• Mindfulness Inside: Point of view of a parole/probation officer/certified mindfulness teacher

• Drumming, gongs and sound immersion: how it helps ground both prisoners and those working in prisons

• Creating immersive environments for those traumatized by racial violence

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Gail Jackson comes to us from the unceded land of the Dena’ina People in Anchorage, Alaska, where she is the owner and founder of CreativeRhythms. Gail facilitates mindfulness practices in marginalized communities and community and corporate drumming circles for wellbeing. She is also a performing artist and is one of 40 luminaries in the new documentary “We All Just Need To Gong,” and recently finished recording a CD due out in September featuring her sound artistry using the gongs. This CD also works well as a sound meditation. Gail is a social justice activist bringing awareness to her community of the killings of black and brown people. During Juneteenth, she facilitates “Say Their Name,” a Celebration community coming together to acknowledge those killed through drumming for healing. 

Gail Jackson is also a graduate of our Engaged Mindfulness Institute’s Mindfulness Teacher Training (MT500 hours).

Podcast Transcript

Sandy Inkster: 

Hi! Welcome to another session on the Prison Mindfulness Summit. My name is Sandy Inkster, and I'll be your co-host for this session. I'm very happy to be here today with Gail Jackson. Welcome, Gail. 

Gail Jackson: 

It's good to be here. 

Sandy Inkster: 

Yeah, thank you so much for being a part of our summit. I've personally been looking forward to this conversation with you, Gail, since we've been fellow students and learners. It's exciting for me to hear about all of your initiatives. I'm going to read from your bio to familiarize our audience with you and your work, and then we'll jump right into the conversation. How does that sound? 

Gail Jackson: 

Sounds good. Thank you. 

Sandy Inkster: 

Okay. So Gail Jackson comes to us from the unceded Land of the Denine People in Anchorage, Alaska, where she is the owner and founder of Creative Rhythms. Gail facilitates mindfulness practices in marginalized communities, as well as community and corporate drumming circles for well-being. 

She's also a performing artist and is one of 40 luminaries in the new documentary, We All Just Need to Gong. And recently finished recording a CD released in September 2022 featuring her sound artistry using the Gong. This CD also works well as a sound meditation. 

Gail is a social justice activist bringing awareness to her community of the killings of Black and Brown people. During Juneteenth, she facilitates, Say Their Names, a drumming for healing celebration with the community coming together to acknowledge those who have been killed. 

Well, Gail, that's a lot of nurturing for the community and honoring lives, some fascinating approaches, and ways of engaging. So again, thank you for joining us. I'd like to invite you to dive deeper into the information you've shared in your bio. How about this? I noticed the equipment earlier when we were first gathering that you referenced in your bio that you use, and it's all around you. And soon, there will be an opportunity for everyone to hear those gongs. I'm curious, though. What came first? Mindfulness or drumming or working with gongs? 

Gail Jackson: 

Well, Sandy, drumming came first. I was in a choir. I was singing, but the music part was pulling me more. And so, one of the band members had asked me if I had ever heard of Edwina Tyler. I said no. I googled her and looked her up. I found out that there was a drum camp in California happening that very summer. I went to Born To Drum in California, the women's drum camp. I met Edwina Tyler.

I couldn't find her workshop that first night. I was hearing all these stories from other campers about Edwina's workshop. I finally found the class on Sunday. When we were playing, I heard these strange sounds in the room, and I looked around, and there were women in the room crying. That's when I realized the power of the drum. 

We have what we see here in a band. But when you have people collectively in a room, playing the drums, getting that somatic experience, opening the heart space, feeling the vibration of the drums, it's a totally new world. And that's when I found out the power of the drums. And then, from the drums came the gongs. 

I belong to the Drum Circle Facilitators Guild. At the end of every conference, Arthur Hall, who is the owner of Village Music Circles, does a rhythm church. And he designed these mallets, these chimes that are pentatonic chimes. You hit him with a mallet, then it makes this wah-wah-wah-wah sound, but it's a beautiful sound. 

At the end of the rhythm church, I felt so full just by hearing all these different chimes. He would orchestrate different parts, and it came together so beautifully. I feel that's what planted the seed for the gongs for me. And then, I had a friend that invited me to a sound bath in St. Louis. I'm adventurous, so I figured, okay, I'll go. I had no clue what a sound bath was. 

So, we were at a yoga studio and started doing stretching. I'm thinking, "I didn't come here for this. What are we doing?" And then, the instructor finally said, "Go ahead and get yourselves comfortable." And so, I laid back. It was the first tap of the Gong. It just took me. It just took me away. When you remember the old cartoon where the person sips the pie in the window, and you see the smoke of the pie, this scent wafering it was just like that Gong was that pie, and then the vibration just took me right with it. 

And so at the end of this session, I found out where she got her training and how long it was. It was that fall. I was in Asheville, North Carolina, with Crown of Eternity, Mike Timboro, taking my first Gong class, and it was this little house in the center of a gravel lot. I thought to myself because I wanted to go to find out where it was so I knew where I was going in the morning. I saw this little house, and I thought to myself, "What have I gotten myself into?" Little did I know the world that gongs had opened up for me and will open up for me.

Sandy Inkster: 

As a musician, Gail, I can feel that experience that you had. I've been involved in drumming circles, and I know how it is. It's a whole-body experience. That's very exciting. And to hear how it just grasped you so much that you wanted to pursue that, you know, further training. 

Gail Jackson: 

Yes. And you mentioned the documentary that I'm featured in as part of one of the 40 luminaries. I attended the first-ever Gong Summit, and I met Yen, who's from Germany. He had asked if I would be interested in being part of We All Just Need To Gong. And the opportunity, no hesitation, yes, because it brings more exposure to how vibration affects our body and just the experience of the vibration. 

The title We All Just Need To Gong is like everybody has a Gong, so when you go over, you feel that vibration. It brings you to this another modality to bring us to a place of centeredness. That doesn't take away from going to a sound bath or a sound immersion. It's that temporary, like a band-aid before you go to the doctor. It's just that temporary part until we get into the collective energy of being with others in the sound bath. 

It's very funny because with the gongs, the documentary We All Just Need To Gong, and in my drumming community, we have a drum in every house. It is the model for everyone to have a drum in their house. It's basically the same thing but a different instrument. We have the Gong to bring us into a place of centeredness and then the drum to play and to feel that vibration also and have that somatic experience. So, it's like I'm experiencing the best of two-three worlds. The Gongs, the drums, and mindfulness. 

Sandy Inkster: 

You mentioned sound bath and sound immersion. Can you just expand a little bit on what that is? 

Gail Jackson: 

Sure. The sound bath is being immersed in sound, whatever the facilitator uses to bring that forth. My main focus is the gongs. There are sound baths where there are just frosted crystal balls. There are some where they have metal singing bowls. And then there are some that have other ambient instruments in the sound immersion sound bath, sound meditation. So, there are many words out there that express being immersed in the vibration of these ambient instruments. 

Sandy Inkster: 

For me having that sound—I can feel it, as I mentioned before, everywhere, almost like the vibrations. I close my eyes because it allows my other senses to really pick up and fully experience that. So, thank you very much. 

Gail Jackson: 

Thank you. In my CD, I finished recording in early August. So, it's in the hands of the producer now to clean the tracks with the extra sounds getting everything out. So I'm looking at November, or maybe the latter part of October, for the release of the CD. 

Sandy Inkster: 

Okay. That's good to know to be updated. And for those who are interested in locating the CD, can you provide that information? 

Gail Jackson: 

It will be on iTunes. And secondly, Spotify, I think, but iTunes for sure. 

Sandy Inkster: 

Okay. Super. I think everyone is familiar with those two places to access music, so wonderful. And the name? Can we search under your name, as well as is there a special name for the CD? 

Gail Jackson: 

You can search under my name. There are three CDs. So one is called Octopus because I was in the zone, and I wish I had more than two arms to get everything that was going on. It was amazing. That track was amazing. 

The next one, the next CD, is Patience. I had to go into my mindfulness practices during that recording because I was feeling so rushed inside and being mindful to breathe and slow down and know that it'll all be okay. So, Patience is that one. And then the last one is Sound Journey. So I take the listeners on a journey through sound and invite them to allow their ears to be their eyes on the journey. 

Sandy Inkster: 

The three of them together almost sound like it's reflective of life. You know, those times when we are trying to do so many different things like the Octopus, and then Patience comes into it in order to get through, then the journey, to savor the journey. Yeah. Yeah, well, that's great. I'm excited to hear about that. I'll seek them out and add them to my playlists. So thank you. 

Gail Jackson: 

Thank you. 

Sandy Inkster: 

Now, Gail, you mentioned mindfulness practice. We were students together. How did your mindfulness studies come about? I'm curious. Was there a particular event or some type of influence that brought mindfulness into your awareness? 

Gail Jackson: 

I am also a licensed practitioner of religious science. So, I always heard of mindfulness out in the peripheral, just mindfulness this, mindfulness that. Then, I had an opportunity.

A friend told me about EMI. So, I looked it up. And that's when I began my journey to mindfulness because I always had a certain thirst for going deeper, my spiritual practices going deeper. When I began practicing mindfulness, I had practiced meditation for over eight or nine years. And then, when I started mindfulness meditation with my eyes open, it was like starting all over again.

It was hard in the beginning. And then, after a while, with practice, practice, it began to become easier to keep my eyes open and be in the practice. And so, with mindfulness, that's how my journey started. I've always heard about it. And then, I began to incorporate that in my life, as well as when I was working full time. I used to be a probation parole officer. And incorporating that into my work life, as well as my personal life. I have an example I like to share. 

I had a meeting with my supervisor to go pick up some papers. We had discussed something that she wanted me to implement. And she realized and found out that I wasn't implementing it. She called me on it. I could feel just the heat rising in my body. And then, my legs started to shake. I was just really warm. My throat felt tight. And then, it was like I heard something say, "Slow down. Breathe. Slow down." It seemed like somebody was right on my left shoulder. I looked because it was like somebody was right there. It felt just like that. 

If I didn't have my mindfulness practices, I would not have felt all of it that was coming up during that encounter. I might have said something that I should not have said to her if I did not have that awareness of what was happening to my body, what was happening with me during that encounter. So, the mindfulness practices have really assisted me in deepening my practices so much more. 

I just got back from Hawaii. I nicknamed it "Hotwaii" this time because it was very hot this time. I finished my certification to become a certified drum circle facilitator trainer, which means I can travel globally to do three-day training to train people in rhythm-based events. When I first started, because I had gone to Hawaii, I think this was my fifth time for the training. And realize that when I was there before, I didn't have mindfulness. 

And then, this time around, I had my practices and realized the mind chatter that was happening. Okay, I left this out, or I did too much of this, all that was going on in my head, as well as when I stepped into the circle, being mindful of my presence where I was when I stepped into the circle to facilitate. So having those key elements of mindfulness and bringing it to the drumming has really been a big help for me, and how I show up for myself and how I show up for others. 

Sandy Inkster: 

Congratulations on your recent certification. That's spectacular. 

Gail Jackson: 

Thank you. 

Sandy Inkster: 

The story that you shared about your supervisor at work. When you talked about being able to notice what was present in your body, I think that that's that pause that, as you so well described, allowed you to not proceed with something that would have been unskillful. I'm just curious, in the work that you were doing in probation and parole, did mindfulness ever come into the interactions with those people who you were serving? 

Gail Jackson: 

When I was doing my hours, I went out to the women's prison. I did an eight-week course with them. That's the only area where mindfulness took place. Here in Alaska, I've looked at the different facilities. I think that there's only one that has mindfulness as one of the programs that are offered to the inmates here. But other than that, when I was in the pre-trial setting, I brought my mindfulness with me, and it was not something that was given to the inmates. 

Sandy Inkster: 

And when you were with the women when you said that you were doing your hours, that was just part of your teaching practicum when you were a student with the Engaged Mindfulness Institute? 

Gail Jackson: 

Yes. Right. 

Sandy Inkster: 

I'm just curious about any inquiries from any of the participants in the program. Did the women reflect on that and comment on any shifts or benefits that they experienced? 

Gail Jackson: 

Well, they experience a sense of peace, a sense of calm. I know some shared that when there was like a lot of drama going on around them that they removed themselves. And then also, one shared that she was able to just take in some breaths to calm herself. I know that I was explaining an example of mindfulness about how there are a lot of things happening around us, and we can still practice the breath, the grounding. 

And right at that time, they had the Medline happening. So there was a lot of noise, a lot of voices, a lot of things happening while we were sitting there doing the practice. And that example was perfect and right on time about how we, in the correctional setting, can still connect with our breath and be aware of what's happening within us in the midst of the chaos of the institutions. 

Sandy Inkster: 

Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? I've learned. I've come from a place of not knowing by not being in the settings that the participants, you know, the people who are incarcerated, would explain about the nighttime chaos even and how difficult it was to go to sleep. When they were in the mindfulness program, the path of freedom, they were able to come into a place of calm, so much so that they were able to go to sleep, which was of great benefit. When people are sleep deprived, it's almost a recipe for disaster, isn't it? 

Sandy Inkster: 

Yes, it is. 

Well, it is interesting too when you talk about what you bring in, how your mindfulness brings you into the relationship so that you are more mindful of everything, like noticing what's present in yourself, but also the environment around you as everyone is presenting themselves. 

Gail Jackson: 

Yes. There were several times before I would have an inmate come to my door, an incarcerated person come to my door, that I made sure that I myself was grounded, that I wasn't so caught up in getting this paper signed or getting this information because sometimes, just that little encounter can go sideways. I have no idea what their day is like. If they had a bad day in court or what was happening with their family, but to make sure that I, myself, was grounded so that the interaction would be beneficial for both of us. 

Sandy Inkster: 

Yeah, I think that that's the greatest gift, isn't it? Bringing our best selves into a relationship so that we're not influencing someone else in a way that's not a benefit for them? 

Gail Jackson: 

Yes. 

Sandy Inkster: 

You mentioned this as well in your bio. I offered the information about the social activist work that you're engaged in. I'd really like to know more about the Say Their Names celebration. I've been involved in an experience where that was part of the practice. I was hoping that you could explain a little bit more about that. 

Gail Jackson: 

Well, true. I had taken a course from Reverend Kyra Williams through the Embody Lab Embody Social Justice. Well, when I see people demonstrating and marching, I never thought about the embodied part of it, the somatic experience that happens with people. For example, Black Lives Matter with the marches and the trauma that has taken place in some of the marches that have gone awry. 

So with that, I heard a song during a Dharma book study, On My Grandmother's Hands, and it's by Janae Monet, Tell Them About It. So that song, and I'm getting them now, gives me chill bumps. In that song, they will say the names of some of the Black and Brown people that have been killed by police brutality. I thought to myself Juneteenth would be an awesome time to bring this forth. 

So, what I did was my first year doing this, I made grave markers out of recycled cardboard. I put the names of different people that had been killed. And then, the stakes were pallets, so I broke the pallets up and made grave stakes. I made a path. So, on the left and right sides were the names of people that have been killed. At the top of the circle and the top of the path was a circle of chairs with instruments. 

And so, when people were walking in an aerial view of this, people would be walking through the path, going to the chairs, and the people walking the path were the keys to change in the community. Because in aerial view, it's a keyhole. And so we would come together, then say the names of those that have been killed by police brutality, have a moment of silence, and then drum to celebrate their names. And then also drum to celebrate the community coming together. 

When I first did this project, if I had put all the names up, I would have been all the way out to the street. There were that many names. So each year, I rotate the names. And it has been bringing that awareness to the community of the lives and having the somatic experience. So I invite people to hum to rock because having that soothing somatic experience during that time adds more to the experience. It opens the heart in a brave space for folks to be able to express themselves, to express their love for the loss of their lives, and to express what they feel when they come together to share their part of being part of the community. 

Sandy Inkster: 

It's a powerful way to honor people, Gail. I get goosebumps listening to you. And I think by being involved in a Say Your Name. First, it was with the Zen peacemakers at Auschwitz -Birkenau. And then, with the Zen peacemakers race in America. Again, we were mentioning names of people who had been lynched, and it is so powerful. I'm wondering about the response of the participants of the community when you initiated this. 

Gail Jackson: 

Well, when I first initiated it, people were saying that they really enjoyed it and that it should go on the park strip. The park strip here is where a lot of activities happen. So they were saying that it should be on the park strips. Some people say they were very moved by what had taken place. I had an interview with our public radio station here, and I was very surprised. I'm surprised that I was interviewed and that it made a profound effect on the community that this was happening because this was the first time that this had happened. 

Sandy Inkster: 

Congratulations again on bringing to the forefront an experience for everyone. And as I mentioned about honoring people. 

Gail Jackson: 

Thank you. 

Sandy Inkster: 

I'm just curious about the drumming that you offer, the drumming circles. And even the sound bath or sound immersion from the gongs. With the work that you were involved in with probation and parole, I'm just wondering about, you know, that happening together. Is that something that could be offered to people who are incarcerated or people who are on probation or parole? 

Gail Jackson: 

Yes, I've gone to the women's prison to do some drumming circles with the women there. It takes a little bit of time to get the women engaged because of low self-esteem and just gently bringing it in so that it can be okay for them to experience to express. And then, when COVID happened, that stopped. 

I am doing community drumming circles now in one of our marginalized communities. I feel that when people get released from the prisons or jails, they go back into the same communities and friends that they left. I like to offer the community drumming circles because, as they are, they're accepted. We don't play a certain rhythm. When you think of African drumming, you play certain rhythms. Or native indigenous drumming with just one drum. 

I have drums and percussion instruments, and I lead a rhythm and invite people to come in and play with whatever instruments they have. It's coming from a place of playing what's in your heart. There is no experience needed for my drumming circles. You can be six months to 120 and still play. And everyone is on the same level. There's no hierarchy with the drumming. 

I have an example. I facilitated a drumming circle for an agency for children at risk. So, their families were there. And so, I was drumming with the young adults. And then they took a break. One of the moms was sitting on the side. She was just watching. And so, we were having fun and just drumming away. And when the kids came back from their break, I saw this movement at the side of my eyes over here to the right. And the mom was like moving chairs. She goes, "I'm getting in on this one." It was just so amazing to see. 

When people come in, sometimes they're not happy because maybe somebody dragged them there and they didn't want to go, or they just didn't know what to expect. But in the middle of the drum circle, we're toward the end to see the smiles, to see the engagement, to see that a transformation is happening right in front of me. 

So to give people those opportunities when they come out of being incarcerated that they can come into a circle of people or a group where it's okay. You're perfect as you are, and you're welcome. And to have that community for people to come to, I would say it would open many doors for a lot of folks to know that they can. 

A friend of mine is doing yoga in a couple of prisons so that when those folks come out, they'll be able to join in different facilities in town and in the summer when they do yoga in the park strip. 

Sandy Inkster: 

Wow. It's very inclusive, I guess, seeing the community as being holistic as opposed to maybe where I am in my community. It's opening it up to everyone in the community. I'm thinking too about what it feels like to join. That woman, the mother, was the observer first, and then she was overtaken by it, so much so that she didn't want to miss out. 

I've seen that. I've witnessed that in many drumming circle experiences. The people who hover on the peripheral, and then it's almost like that aroma wafting from the pie that you talked about with a Gong is reaching you earlier. It's that rhythm. It's that vibration. It just grabs people and lures them in. And you mentioned before, too, about the movement or the humming, and it just seems to be that whole embodiment piece that frees people or releases some of the sufferings, maybe even. 

Gail Jackson: 

Yes. And what I hear a lot from people is I don't have any rhythm. What we've been conditioned through life, the busyness we developed in our mother's womb to hearing her heartbeat. And that heartbeat, we have that same heartbeat. And when we're in the drumming circle, to slow down, and to be with that rhythm, that rhythm of the heart. And that's the main focus—that heart, the community, the healing, the transformation to bring us together. 

Sandy Inkster: 

Yeah, that's a beautiful way of expressing it. Yeah, we all have that. We were all born of that rhythm, weren't we? It's in us. Well, is there anything else that you would like to offer up to those who are listening? It's been very inspirational to hear drumming and mindfulness and, you know, the inspiration for you to get into performing with the gongs and offering the sound bath and sound immersion for those of us who may not know about it. Is there anything else that you would like to offer us about your experiences? 

Gail Jackson: 

I did an artist residency back in February in a school here that lost their music teacher and librarian due to budget cuts. Again, the body. I didn't want to do it. I could feel a tightness in my body. I was wondering what was going on. Oh, my goodness, help me. I've never really worked with kids before. They've been in my community drumming circles, but their parents have been there. 

What happened was when I got there, I would meet the kids out in the hallway, and I would drum to welcome them in. I would sing [Funga Latvia 38:42], which is a welcoming song from Africa, where it originated. They're still disputing where it originated. But I would sing that song, and the kids would sit in the chairs, and then we would drum. And after that, I would do a bit of mindfulness practice. I have a remote buffalo drum that is really deep sounding. 

I'll ask the kids in their circle if I can play the drum behind them while they put their hands on their chests to feel their heartbeat. And so some, yes, some no. And so, I would go around the circle. And then you can feel the shift in the room with that exercise. And then I had them lay on the floor, and the teachers lay down also. I have a set of really deep drums, they are comfort head drums, and I would play the heartbeat. You could hear a pin drop. They were just really connecting to their hearts. And then, the collective energy in the room shifted. 

It was like the talk of the whole week, the drumming they couldn't wait to come back. It was amazing. I learned so much from the kids, as well as I'm sure they learned something from me. I was surprised. One of the teachers said that she was watching me and that she was learning so much. And bringing in patience, bringing in presence, and being mindful of the kids in the circle, as well as the teachers. And being mindful of how I'm showing up each day to bring the gift of drumming, to bring the gift of sound to folks because we need it now more than ever. 

What I like about mindfulness is when we facilitate the traditional practice, we can bring out our uniqueness because we all offer something different. Sandy, you offer something different than I do. I bring in my drumming. I bring in sound to enhance, to enrich the mindfulness practices. It's just a little dab here and there. So, they get a little piece. They can expound on that later. 

Sandy Inkster: 

The art of connecting, Gail, is what I'm hearing from you through your mindfulness practice that those educators learned and that the children were able to come into the experience.

Gail Jackson: 

Yes. 

Sandy Inkster: 

Well, it's really been fascinating. Speaking with you and getting to know you a little bit more. I'd like to thank you for participating in this part of the Prison Mindfulness Summit. I believe that you have offered a lot of fascinating introductions to some other areas that perhaps people were not familiar with. And, man, it's been very inspiring. As far as connecting with you beyond this, how can people reach you? 

Gail Jackson: 

Well, if we have any Facebookers, my Facebook page is Creative Rhythms. My website is CreativeRhythms.org. Creative Rhythms are all one word. I'm also at Remo, the Remo Drum Company. I'm a Remo Endorsed Facilitator, and I do health and wellness drumming, also. 

Sandy Inkster: 

Oh, that's exciting. Well, thank you very much. I think that you've offered us an idea of how to honor ourselves first and how to honor those in our community, those who have died unjustly, and those who are marginalized and are part of our community and can be celebrated as well. Thank you very much, Gail. 

Gail Jackson: 

Thank you, Sandy. It's been a pleasure. Thank you. 

Sandy Inkster: 

May you be well. 

Gail Jackson: 

May you be safe.