Lauren Arrow (she/her) is a Queer Jewitch Song-Tender who has been holding trauma informed singing groups to help open the voices of those afraid to sing since 2013. She is a Ceremonialist and has spent decades holding space for folks to dive deep into their inner and outer realms and has made music for ceremonies over the last 8 years. In this time, she's worked with folks throughout the world to help them open their voice, feel safe singing with others, learn to play an instrument and write songs as well as dive-deep one-on one in her vocal mentorship program.
She facilitates singing circles and specialized groups, such as Reclaim Your Voice, Soulful Singing Sisterhood, Bloom into Song, and Harvest. Through the years, Lauren has seen folks who held deep beliefs that they could not sing or thought they had no creative ability blossom into song-writing, stage-performing Monstresses.
Lauren received her Bachelors from the California Institute of Integrated Studies in 2010 in Integrated Studies where she studied Psychology, Modernity, and Spirituality. She recieved her Sound Healing certification from the Globe Institute in San Francisco. She has an EFT Apprenticeship Certification (Emotional Freedom Technique) from Sonya Sophia Illig, a Certification in Herbal Studies with Kami McBride, and Relationship and an Intimacy and Relationship Coach Certification from Tahil Gesyuk and Viviana Lahrs. She has assisted many workshops including Naka Ima (Inside of Now) with Deborah Riverbend, and assisted and volunteered for 10-day Vipassana Meditation Retreats (with Northern California Vipassana Center).
Lauren has been leading community-based sound circles since 2013, and has been playing live music since 2012. She has been part of “Buenos Nachos” (an all-female rock band) and “In The Wake” which performs consistently at 19 Broadway in Fairfax as well as private events. She plays music with Daniel Labov Dunne in "Archer & Arrow" that performs with Bread & Roses (a Bay Area nonprofit that brings music for free to convalescent homes, prisons, drug rehab centers, etc). She also has a one-woman band called "Lauren's No-Man Band and the Weirdo Parade" and released "It's Happening!" in 2016 to nationally-acclaimed reviews.
The way ProcessSING was created was more or less a fluke. I had been playing piano and singing since I was young, but anytime I played or sang in front of people my throat would close, waves of fear and judgement would come crashing down upon me, and my voice would be small and my energy shaky. Even when no one was around me I had intense inner judgement around my voice, believing that my voice was a repellant towards others, that I would never have the voice I want, and that I just had to give up my dreams of being a singer and sharing my messages of love and transformation.
I KNEW with all of my heart that I HAD to be on stage, sharing my music and message with the world, and I had literally been killing myself by not sharing my voice. My wellbeing and health declined because the way I wanted to share myself- through music & song- wasn't being allowed to be expressed. After dealing with depression since I was 12, I decided something had to shift. The thing that I feared the most- singing in front of people- had to heal.
I started on a path of exploring my own stories and shame using Psychotherapy and Meditation to uncover the stories and patterns. From that point I started workshop-hopping, going to anything I could get my
hands on to help me heal my relationship with my self. After years of self-discovery I had come to a more loving place with my self, but my relationship to my voice was still very shut down. Despite that I started apprenticing and working directly with the teachers as assistants to learn as many healing modalities as possible.
After years of soul-searching and uncovering, I sat in a deep meditation group where singing was the main point after silence. Everyone started singing- and regardless of the inner work I had done I was still faced with deep shame around my voice. Instead of beating myself up, I sat with it and came back to the meditation group the next month. During this sit, I kept hearing something saying "You have been killing yourself by suppressing your voice. Singing will heal you, and you will help heal those around you through singing". And in that moment, heart racing, I knew I had to sing in front of others- and I did- and haven't stopped.
After that point, singing has been my life. I started volunteering and singing in hospitals and convalescent homes and drug rehab centers. I started playing with friends and then bands, and then friends started wanting to sing with me to help uncover their voice so I developed and created techniques to help others explore and release stage fright, fear of being seen & heard, and built a supportive network around creativity and training to access creative energy to write & receive songs.
Since 2012 I've perform for thousands throughout the Bay Area- at nightclubs, weddings, festivals, and other events, and I perform for "Bread & Roses", a non-profit that serves 32,000 people/year bringing hope, healing & joy through music throughout the Bay Area. I recorded my first album, "It's Happening" released in 2016 to glowing reviews. Click here to learn more.
I've dedicated my time to holding Women's circles and groups in Fairfax & Berkeley. Holding space for those to uncover their voice is literally the most important work I've ever done in my life. I understand first hand what it feels like to not have a voice- the shame that comes with hiding who we truly are- and it is my mission to help everyone I work with reclaim their voice, release their shame, and share their message with the world.
