Sound Therapy – Amber Joy Young – Offering Care and Support

Solstice Blessings

20th June 2025Amber_Young

Thank you for being here with me. I’m so grateful for your continued commitment to your own self care.

As we anchor in to the longest day of light in the solar calendar, we have the opportunity to reflect on all the places we sense into light within and around us. Maybe taking some time over the next few days to breathe this in.

When we travel through the thresholds of summer and winter solstice, I personally turn to these expanding times of light and darkness as an opportunity to pause and consider how these threads weave their way through my own life. This is a potent time to remember how we travel through life in cycles and how every year we circle back to these points of reflection – changed in the way we arrive.

In the circle of time, the Summer Solstice brings us to the moment when light reaches its peak. I encourage you to drink this in, wherever you find yourself in your life in this moment, drink in this moment of expansion and light.

The summer solstice holds a time of remembrance of the potential for renewal as we drop into the spaciousness of summer rhythms, and bathe in the suns luminous rays.

The moments and days around the Solstice are a also potent time time to reflect on where you are in this moment in your life, perhaps at a crossroad. We are being called to step deeper into the ways we can live more authentically, unafraid of our own voice, urged to make choices that best support ourselves to thrive and in turn, it is my hopes, we will start to live more in alignment with how we can help to undo harm around us. The peak of the light honours where you are now, and gives you an invitation to dream in what’s next.

I want to offer you some reflections to journal around, or to simply think about:

What patterns continue to emerge in your life? What relationships, habits, or experiences have brought you joy or growth – OR – struggle and conflict? What could you offer to the fire to alchemize? What does your heart want to dream into being?

In entering the space of expanded light — through the breath, invite space into your body – what does this feel like? Or contemplate the turning of the Earth, our great mother, what does this bring up? We might also remember that we always have the potential to return to center – spiraling back in, this is where movement flows from.

How can you offer your hands and heart in meaningful ways for the times we’re living in?

Sending you lots of love for the days ahead,

Amber

bee sipping nectar on flower during daytime

Upgrade to a paid membership and you’ll receive weekly reflective emails, poems, and recordings of new movement practices and meditations. Birch memberships start at $6 CAN, created for folks who believe in what I’m offering, intended to offer inspiration and gentle guidance in the spirit of reciprocity. Our Oak membership also gives you access to my live weekly gentle yoga class and an expanded collection of longer yoga and movement videos.

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Re – Emerging

3rd January 2025Amber_Young

I have taken the last while off from all distractions to focus on my family and my own inner need for rest, it has been bliss.

I didn’t realize how depleted and exhausted I was from this past year, it has held a lot ~ personally and as you, dear reader know, for the collective as well.

I feel grateful as I sit down to write these words, slowly re-emerging, to have this time with you. I haven’t been writing as much this past year, honouring the spaces in between and giving myself more time to just sit, usually at the trunk of my favorite tree. I have been experiencing more freedom to just be, not needing to produce or share my personal musings but instead honouring what’s alive in my own tender heart and holding this as sacred.

I wonder how you’re doing, underneath all the layers.

If you’re having a hard time, you’re not alone. It helps me sometimes to remember that we are constantly in flux – learning, growing and evolving and it’s not always going to feel easeful, I don’t think it’s meant to. The wheel, remember, continues to turn.

If you’re doing amazing, you’re also not alone, please don’t dim yourself. Your wholeness is felt, as are the ways you may have been broken over the years, it’s all part of this human experience. We feel eachother in our ebb and flow.

Before I was diagnosed with cancer I realize I didn’t actually give myself complete permission to stop periodically, to put everything I’m carrying down and take a real break.

I also didn’t honour all my cracks.

The past few weeks have reminded me that this is non negotiable for me now, time to deeply rest. Without it I’m not able to process the joys, the ups, the downs, the cracks, the necessary mending and the holy mess.

Many of you who know me, know that I work very intimately with people, and ride the waves of not only my own experience but also navigate the waves of everyone in my circle of care. Breaks and boundaries are NEEDED, this allows for the deep composting and integration to actually ever happen, which is necessary for our constant unfurling, tending and evolution.

No matter what you do in the world, I think sometimes we all get stuck riding the waves of our shared existence that never stops, unless we consciously decide to jump off for a while and return to our own unique holdfast and move from this place.

A while ago in one of my classes, we talked about this concept of our holdfast, looking at what holds us steady as the waves of life keep moving. Taking time everyday to feel where your roots are grounded, looking at how you show yourself compassion and softness. Maybe take a moment to reflect on how your boundaries are around your own self care time?

Alternatively, if we don’t take this time, we can unconsciously get pulled under or thrown against a rock – forcing us to stop in often very uncomfortable ways. This I understand.

Many humans have a tendency to keep going, no matter what, and we put a strong emphasis on the ways we’re resilient, and the ways we’re strong, the ways we can handle so much. I too have put a lot of emphasis on these qualities, but I find I’m moving differently through the world now. I wonder if we can continue to build our inner resources, celebrate our strength, but maybe make space to experience our strength through a different lens – one that honours the pause, the fragility, the breaking and the stopping that’s necessary to grow and heal.

I wonder if we can learn to be comfortable in mess, because let’s face it there is a whole lot of mess going on at the moment. Accepting and being realistic about mess doesn’t make us less, I think it actually helps us to fill in some gaps and gives us space to not always have to have the answers or to make sense of everything.

I grew up in a home where people didn’t expect a lot of me, which translated to me expecting ALOT from me, trying to prove my worth. A year and a half ago I put that story down, I offered it to the chemo as it burned through me. In the spaces that were created, I decided to invite something different, to instead show up exactly as I am without unrealistic expectations or being so worried about others opinions. I decided for the first time in my life to be truthful in who I ACTUALLY am, with honesty and compassion – mess and all.

As we transition into the new year, can we collectively consider a slow return, offering us discernment and renewed purpose.

What is your holdfast and can you find ways to return to it daily.

Have you taken some time to reflect on the pivotal moments of this past year, perhaps letting go of what doesn’t need to travel with you into the year ahead, honouring necessary endings.

Can you acknowledge any areas of your life that might feel a little messy right now? Maybe considering out of the chaos comes lessons, clarity, an awareness of what’s actually important to you. Mess also has the potential to lead us to true beauty.

As I look ahead, I find myself curious about how the days will unfold in all of their mystery and wonder.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate you being here.

Much love,

Amber

You may want to consider upgrading to a paid subscription and enjoy a weekly email with some short practices and reflections. My Birch memberships starts at $6 CAN, created for folks who believe in what I’m offering, intended to offer inspiration and gentle guidance in the spirit of supporting eachother.

Birch Paid Membership

Memberships range from $6 – $55 with varied access.

I also teach weekly virtual gentle yoga classes, and monthly tending your inner garden sessions. Send me an email if you’d like more information

amber@suryadaya.ca

You can find out more information about additional support on my website

Gentle Spaces For Self Exploration

19th August 202427th September 2024Amber_Young

I love this sacred window of time, as I close my eyes and imagine all of us, sitting together in circle, honouring the evolution and unfurling of who you are, who we are – moment to moment.

Thank you for inviting me into your inbox, you give me inspiration to keep doing this work, and I am grateful.

Earlier this month I celebrated 20 years as a Registered Massage Therapist, I can’t believe it’s been over 20 years since I started doing this work. My first experience was a training at the Mueller College of Holistic Studies in San Diego in 1999, later becoming Registered in British Colombia in 2004. That feels like a lifetime ago. I guess in many ways it was, thinking about how much I’ve changed over the years, and also how much we are continually learning about how we heal.

As I reflect on all of the care, the trust and the stories I’ve been honoured to hold for people, I am in awe. It is an honour and a privilege to do this work in the world, spiraling deeper and exploring different ways to hold healing space for folks.

We are a complex interconnection woven from our anatomy, the DNA we carry, our families history, our ancestral lineage lines, the experiences we carry in our hearts, our energetic bodies, the health of the Earth and the elements, spirit, the ways we are affected by the collective, our individual beliefs – and so much more. I’m curious how people are able to focus their attention on a presenting lesion or pathology, becoming trapped within a diagnosis and forgetting to consider all the factors that contribute to our wholeness.

In my heart I feel how much we need gentle and accepting places to explore ourselves, now more than ever.

I was having a conversation the other day about pain cycles, specifically the cycles of anxiety and stress many are presently living with. These states bring our body into a sympathetic state – which is indicative of energy expenditure; rapid breathing, increased heart rate, muscular contraction – often referred to as the “fight or flight” response. We can become overwhelmed by our thoughts which can manifest as physical tension and disharmony in our bodies and our minds. Thanks to the work of Stephen Porges, Deb Dana and many others, we are also learning more about our nervous system’s survival response of freeze, a dorsal vagal response, where we can feel stopped and shut down out of a visceral reaction where our bodies are in actuality trying to keep us safe – our bodies are always trying to keep us safe. This response is like pushing a pause button and is our nervous system’s attempt to conserve energy. These reactions, both a result of stress, live in our bodies and require somatic explorations to support our unique pathways to healing, releasing, and integrating. We need to cultivate and nourish our bodies and our minds with experiences and practices that help us to feel safe, daily.

It’s important to take time to move the heaviness we’re carrying through us, not needing to cognitively understand or be required to explain ourselves, but rather to have the space to feel – to be quietly witnessed.

May we all have places and people where we can put down our defenses, allow tears to flow, honour our cracks, and explore who we are under all the layers we often carry.

In service to the sacred threads of life

Love Amber

As I celebrate my 20 year massage anniversary, I have welcomed in some supportive spaces to offer care:

Monday’s: at the Centre For Health Innovation located in the city of Ottawa at 429 MacLaren Street. To see me at this location you can book directly through the Centre.

Tuesdays, Thursday and Friday’s I practice massage therapy and sound therapy in my private forest studio, nestled amongst the white pines, cedar and birch trees.

Send me an email if you’d like to book in my private forest location. Booking is directly through me. amber@suryadaya.ca

I teach weekly online zoom yoga classes Thursday mornings from 11:00 – 12:00 am EST, you can join from anywhere (live or with the recording).

Consider upgrading to a paid membership, created with the intention to offer guidance whenever you need a little extra support. Enjoy a weekly email, free access to my monthly bedtime yoga class and special practice recordings. Memberships range from $6 to $38.

Let me know if you’d like more information amber@suryadaya.ca

The Ways We Care For Ourselves

12th August 202413th August 2024Amber_Young

During my chemotherapy, the book Between Two Kingdoms written by Suleika Jaoud was recommended to me (by Lisa Patterson during one of her healing yoga classes). This was the first time I truly felt like someone understood. Reading her words was like reading my own thoughts in a way I couldn’t articulate. I find myself now living between two kingdoms, inhabiting my body and the space I exist in the world in a very different way. Through this process I was introduced to the 100 day project, a creative dive for 100 days, which has been and continues to be, paramount in my healing and my daily life.

The ways we care for ourselves matter immensely, starting with the small things; offering ourselves rest when we’re tired, hydrating our bodies, eating nourishing foods, being gentle with the messages we send ourselves.

I realize for so much of my career as a massage therapist and yoga teacher, I have focused on how I can best care for others. Over the past few years I have grown into a more truthful realization of what that actually means. The answer is found in how I care for myself, in the small simple ways of ensuring I’m okay first, only then can I start to look outside of myself.

Last week I was privileged to sit in circle with a group of incredible women, it was my first in person Tending Your Inner Garden session. 9 of us gathered to hold space for eachother exploring what the act of tending to ourselves feels like, being held quietly in community as we moved through gentle practices.

In my own personal tending, I started painting bees and flowers to tap into that well of energy and joy that lives inside of me, with the intention to support my healing. Through this process I have become connected with all the parts of me, parts of me that I didn’t even realize I contained, parts of me that have been numb for most of my life – or that I kept very small out of fear of judgement.

These are created from my heart, for my heart.

I had never painted before and now it’s a non-negotiable part of my life. Many things have become non-negotiable for me; unrolling my mat for my body and my spirit, picking up a paintbrush with no expectations or judgement of what comes through on the canvas, dancing and singing, picking up my guitar or playing my drum as my boys play piano and their guitars. This is therapy for me, part of the tapestry of my wholeness.

I wonder what’s one small thing you can do today to offer yourself gentle care, tending to your own inner garden?

I offer you this with deep respect and gratitude.

Love, Amber

If you’d like to practice yoga and movement classes with me I teach weekly online zoom classes Thursday mornings from 11:00 – 12:00 am EST, you can join from anywhere (live or with the recording).

Once a month I also hold yoga and sound therapy at the Cedar Hill School House, Pakenham. These classes will run through to October.

If you’d like extra support you can find different video membership options , created with the intention to help you whenever you need a little extra guided support through a diverse collection of offerings ranging from 5 minute wellness capsule, mindful minutes practices, to 60 minute yoga and movement practices. Memberships range from $6 to $38.

Let me know if you’d like more information amber@suryadaya.ca

I’m dreaming about our next Tending Your Inner Garden offering, starting in the fall of 2024, stay tuned for dates and more information.

Solstice Blessings

20th June 2024Amber_Young

A time we celebrate the light, our inner fire, the obstacles we’ve overcome, our community, our power, our gardens as they grow, all the animals emerging, and we commit to nourishing ourselves and one another.

Summer Solstice is a time we also honour the tilting of the earth wrapping us in the longest day of sunlight. We move through the cycles of seasons and witness our own rhythms as they ebb and flow.

I hope you’re able to take some time to move your body, and to also sit in stillness – honouring the dance. This little reprieve of movement and breath, even for a few minutes, brings you more deeply into the presence and reality of your life in this moment and an awareness of what’s actually important to YOU. We need to commit to our self care to have the space to hear that guidance.

I invite you to light a candle today, and honour your connection to the light. Move your beautiful body, and breathe a little deeper. Get your hands and feet in the dirt, and honour your connection to the earth. Honour YOUR strength. Honour the goodness inside of you, and the impact you bring forward with your actions – especially the seemingly small acts of kindness.

Happy Solstice, from my heart to yours,

Love Amber