Sound to Serenity
Hello, I'm Karen. I was born with a condition called moebius syndrome. The condition is characterised by the underdevelopment of the 6th and 7th cranial nerves responsible for facial expression and eye movement. I learnt very early on, that although I was unable to use my face in the conventional way, I was able to use my voice, both in terms of my singing voice and speaking voice. When I was singing, there was no moebius. Singing became my passion. I started having singing lessons at 14, and then I eventually I studied singing at the Royal Academy of Music, obtaining my professional certificate and LRAM. I then went on to do a postgraduate singing course at Trinity College of Music, having been awarded the Countess of Munster Musical Trust Scholarship. I am a soprano.
I pursued a career in music publishing before my son was born, and then when he was tiny, started volunteering for the National Childbirth Trust. I went on to train as a breastfeeding counsellor and then an antenatal teacher, qualifying in 2010 and 2016 respectively, which I am still doing to this day, and consider it such a privilege to be a very small part of new parents' journeys to parenthood.
My first love, however, has always to be able to use sound holistically in some way. I’m incredibly privileged that from a very young age, I knew that I had the capacity to move people with my voice. In addition to church services and concerts, when I was young, my school and church choirs regularly sang at our local old people’s home, and we sang carols around the wards of our local hospital. I had wanted to train to be a music therapist; I could see the effect that music had on people, but unfortunately my piano skills weren’t good enough. One Christmas, either just before, or during Covid, my husband bought me a Himalayan singing bowl. I instantly fell in love with the sound, and the calming effect it had on my nervous system, and started my journey into sound healing. During the pandemic, I began training, and subsequently qualified as a Group Sound Relaxation Therapist with BAST (The British Academy of Sound Therapy).
I hold weekly public sound baths in Hillingdon, but am available for private and corporate events. Please reach out to me for more information.