Sound Healer & Grief Recovery Specialist
Hello and welcome to Richard Lee, a Sound Healing therapist and a Grief Recovery Specialist. Originally from New York City, he now lives in Wexford, Ireland, sharing his gifts with his community. Richard’s love for music began at an early age, and possibly even another lifetime! Combining his passion for music with healing has taken him on an amazing journey. It’s my pleasure to have him here, so let’s get into In Conversation with Richard Lee!
Julie: Welcome, Richard, and thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with me today! To begin, please tell the readers a little about yourself and what you do.
Richard: Hello, and thanks for having me! So, I’m a Sound Healing therapist and a Grief Recovery Specialist. My Sound Healing practice offers a musical experience leading toward relaxation, restoration, rejuvenation, and holistic well-being.
Originally a drummer hailing from New York City, with roots in Brittany (France), I have established in Ireland's beautiful Sunny Southeast since 2017. I fell in love with the stunning countryside of Ireland and especially its wild sea, the history, spirituality, and profound mysteries of the island, and the deep and creative Irish people. I also feel a profound connection and certain familiarity here that may be the echo of my ancestral Brittany.
Julie: Wexford is a beautiful spot in Ireland! Can you tell us a little more about Sound Healing, and how you came to working in this field?
Richard: My path to Sound Healing starts with being a musician and a seeker. While performing and recording as an artist, it felt natural and effortless to combine this passion for music with my spiritual journey and in particular my practice of meditation. It then led me to start performing not just for entertainment but also for wellness purposes and spiritual development. By then, it had become clear to me that “making a difference” in people’s lives by helping them feel better and heal through the joy of music and its vibrations was where I needed to be. I feel my practice offers a rare blend of musical skills and therapeutic expertise.
There are several ways to look at Sound Healing.
Well-being is the primary function of Sound Healing and one can look at it as a powerful stress relief. Medical research estimates that between 90% and 95% of illnesses and diseases are stress-related. A properly crafted Sound Healing performance is a powerful relaxation and stress reduction tool that promotes physical and emotional well-being. It aims to restore balance and harmony within the body, mind, and spirit.
Healing is another essential function of Sound-Healing, albeit, to a somewhat greater extent when performed in a one-to-one session. One can look at it as a “vibrational therapy.” Specific frequencies are being generated around, near, on onto the body to correct certain imbalances and restore physiological harmony. This holistic approach to healing recognizes and addresses the interconnectedness of people’s physical, emotional, and energetic aspects and promotes healing that works on multiple levels.
Entertainment is also a function of Sound Healing and one can thus look at it as an art form of a spiritual nature. I have been a musician all my life and a professional for half of it. It is essential to me that I play and perform music, sounds, and sonic landscapes that make my Sound Healing a meaningful and unforgettable musical experience and journey. In that sense, I also attempt to facilitate spiritual and personal growth and transformation through sounds and music. By fostering a deep state of relaxation, Sound Healing promotes mindfulness, self-awareness, emotional release, and spiritual development.
Julie: What a fascinating journey your love for music has taken you on! With music such an integral part of your life, can you recall when you first experienced your deep connection with it?
Richard: It’s hard to tell because I was immersed in music immediately upon coming into this world. It also often feels that this Love of Music might predate my birth. I think I was always connected with Music.
My parents loved music; jazz and music from the world for my father, singer-songwriters, and classical music for my mother. Music was being played daily in my house as far as I can recall. My father, a fine drummer and percussionist, had loads of instruments at home and he rapidly had me play. I was hooked. When the constraints of living in an apartment frustrated me from further exploring drums and percussions, I learned to play several of the instruments I heard at home — the guitar, mandolin and banjo — as well as a myriad of less reputable instruments such as the bagpipes, zither, and the portable harmonium. I also learned to sing.
I have many vivid memories of songs and music that came out when I was little, as young as 2 years old. But the first awareness of my “deep connection” to music occurred when I was 4 or 5. On some special occasion, I was gifted a small portable radio, which came with a tiny single earbud. Every night, I would go to bed with my little radio under my pillow and my one earbud in my ear, and I would fall asleep to the tunes of a Jazz Music radio show and its enthralling theme music; “Blues March” by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messenger. It was magical and I was simultaneously mesmerized and completely at peace. This was the moment I realized that music was of divine inspiration and nature; far more to me than a mere pleasing artistic thing.
Julie: How does music form part of your personal daily practice? Do you listen with intention, or have music playing in the background as you go through your day? Perhaps it’s a bit of both?
Richard: Unsurprisingly, music is central and essential to my life. I listen to it and practice it daily. Music indeed often plays in the background. Even when my attention is elsewhere, its melody, harmony, and timbre still greatly influence my environment and my whole being, creating a positive atmosphere that I can feel and resonate with.
Quite as frequently, I also play or listen to music with specific purposes and intentions. For example, when I need soothing and comforting, motivation and energy, or simply when I feel great and want to be in the moment, dance, or sing out loud! Music is also an integral part of my meditation and spiritual practices.
Other times, I enjoy being in silence. There is music there too!
Julie: I love music, too, Richard. When I’m writing, I always have music playing in the background and build playlists to inspire whatever I’m working on. As so many of our readers are tarot lovers, I have to ask if you use tarot or oracle cards? If so, what form does your practice take?
Richard: I am not surprised you love music, Julie. Words can be musical and I largely see writers as “composers.” There is a kindred spirit connection between musicians and writers. And their original arrangements sing to me, very much like notes in a musical piece.
I do use Oracle cards, although I would not strictly speaking call it a practice. Many times, there is no schedule, routine, particular occasions, or specific circumstances to my picking up a set of cards. It’s often random and on the spur of the moment. When it is more intentional, I use Oracle cards as a sort of inspirational tool; that is, to guide me and help me focus my thoughts and reflections. I feel they foster and even provide wisdom or initiate new pathways of reflection and I especially like it when the reading and lesson therein are completely unexpected.
I do not use Tarot cards because I prefer to leave them to professional and gifted practitioners. I enjoy experiencing the magic and mysticism of this ancient practice, particularly through the connection with the Tarot reader. I want to preserve the quality of that special and sacred moment.
Julie: Regardless of whether it’s tarot or oracle we pick up, I agree that there’s always a lesson waiting for us! It’s Friday night, the stage is set, the venue full, the lights on. What musician, living or passed, are you jamming with?
Richard: John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, and/or George Harrison.
Julie: What’s the most recent live gig you attended, and what three words would you use to describe how it made you feel?
Richard: An Irish traditional music session – with musicians on fiddle, flute, banjo, accordion, guitar, and Uillean pipes. It was genuine, emotional, and enthralling!
Julie: I love it! For someone who might be curious about healing with music, what advice can you offer?
Richard: Give me a call and let’s talk! I could share and explain how wonderful and meaningful Sound Healing sounds and makes you feel, and how it can help you heal, emotionally and physically. But ultimately, it needs to be experienced. Thus, my advice or guidance would be to attend a group Sound Bath or individual Sound Healing session. Give it a shot! Just like you would with a movie you’ve heard about. For just about the price of a movie, popcorn, and soda, you most probably will enjoy a unique musical experience that could have a meaningful impact on your life. I would highly advise attending the Sound Bath with an open mind and setting yourself to receive.
Julie: I attended my first Sound Healing a few weeks ago, and as I didn’t have a clue what to expect, I went in with an open mind. It was an amazing experience, and although I’m very much a newbie to this modality, I’m already recommending it to friends and family. What do you think lies in the future for Sound Healing? What are your hopes for its expansion?
Richard: With plenty of clinical studies and writing on this healing modality, Sound Healing is already being implemented outside of traditional holistic circles. There is a very good chance it will – in one form or another – enter the mainstream as a complementary healing therapy. Much like Yoga and Meditation are now often recommended by your local medical doctor. And that is a wonderful and exciting prospect because Sound Healing is non-invasive, affordable, and thoroughly enjoyable.
The risk, just like any holistic modality, is that the door is wide open to the unqualified, uninspired, and even unscrupulous. Harm through Sound Healing is rather unlikely at this point, so the danger resides elsewhere. Rather, I feel it would be a great loss for the general public if it were to dismiss Sound Healing as a mere strange practice and thus miss on such a wonderful and effective healing tool.
Julie: So . . . what’s next for Richard Lee?
Richard: Excitement! Loads of projects: a video blog on Sound Healing is in the works, a couple of recordings are underway, collaborations are organically developing, and festival participation and possibly a wellness convention are being conceived. And I always have room for the unexpected and the adventure. Exciting times are ahead indeed!
Julie: That all sounds so exciting and inspiring! I ask all my guests this next question, so here it is for you: What one wish do you have for the world at this time?
Richard: Conscious thoughtfulness. I wish we could raise our state of mind and spirit where we are more awake and aware, and we think, deeply, thoroughly, and with consideration for the needs of others.
Julie: Beautiful, Richard. Thank you. For those curious to learn more, where can people find and connect with you?
Richard: Thank you for your interest, Julie, it was a pleasure sharing my passion and life mission with you and your readers. Here are the different sites and social media platforms where I hang out, and where you can reach out to me.
Julie: Will you also share with the readers where they can listen to your musical talents?
Richard: Of course! I have records on Spotify and iTunes, including where I play on albums for other musicians, and I have slightly older works too.
BANDCAMP is the simplest way to find my latest and very own Sound Healing and Avant-Garde Jazz albums. https://richardleedrums.bandcamp.com
My Sound Healing record can be found here:
And to listen to my Avant-Garde Jazz record, click on this link:
Julie: Richard, it’s been lovely chatting to you.
Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge and passion for Sound Healing and music with us here today!
Would you like to feature as a guest on the blog?
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