Why I gave a pass
I’m at the gym sitting in the dry sauna alone on Sunday morning. It’s my meditation time. As I sit in the dry heat waiting for my body to sweat— to release toxins and improve blood flow — I’m enjoying the solitude. I place my hands on my lap in an upward position for about 15 mins. I say a prayer for my loved ones and friends and I begin listening to the voice within. When I finish meditating I grab my phone and start reading stories on Medium. I’m having a good ole time. I began reading a story about an extrovert turned introvert. I’m relating to the story big time.
Then a lady comes in to join me. As she walks in with her beats by Dre head phones on — the unexpected happens. She starts singing. Loud! I look over at her with a look of confusion that clearly said….Really? You’re gonna just spoil my fun. Isn’t it an unspoken rule that we keep quiet while in the gym’s sauna so that we can all sit in this small space together in peace? I ask myself am I being an introvert (as I just read about) or is she just rude. She was so enthralled in her singing that she didn’t notice my facial expression at all. I looked down and refocused my attention on my phone. I was not going to leave because I hadn’t broken a good sweat yet. Thank God she left in about 10 minutes. Guess she couldn’t take the heat. He he!
Shortly after, another lady arrives and she’s wearing headphones and is quiet as a mouse. I silently sent Thank you’s to the universe and I’m beginning to drop sweat all over my back and face. I stay longer so I can get a full drench. This lady left rather quickly as well and I’m alone again, profusely sweating and still trying to make since of the lady that chose to sing out loud in the sauna.
I’ll call her The Sauna Singer.
When I can’t make since of something immediately, I give it to the universe and a message usually comes to me later. This is exactly what happened and here’s how.
I went about my day, driving around running errands. I decided to listen to the Tiny desks of some of my favorite artists and I’m enjoying Yebba. Yebba’s voice sounds like a finely tuned instrument…so clear and crisp. Her Tiny Desk concert on YouTube multiplied her beautiful voice as she naturally goes from soulful to angelic easily. It was like listening to a concert in my car. I could hear every instrument in the live band and it sounds superb. The two Yebba songs ‘My Mind’ and ‘Distance’ brought me to tears. Literally, I’m driving around being the empath that I am crying to Yebba songs. Yebba’s riffs will make you feel something unless you are a psychopath. She has a sound similar to Adele, but unique to Yebba. I’m now sitting in front of Home Goods reading the comments under the video to see if anyone felt what I felt. You know how you loose track of time as you sit in front of a store scrolling on your phone — then you catch yourself. That was me.
There was a comment under the Yebba video on Youtube that brought clarity to me about the Sauna Singer experience. The commenter said: “I used to listen to this (referring to Yebba’s song ‘Distance’) on repeat when me and my husband lived in my car. I was pregnant and I used to sing it to my belly. It was a blessing to me. It got me through this time. She said her baby is 3 months old now and her family is moving into a new home.” I cried again.
Immediately I tied this to the sauna singer situation. It shifted my perspective. While The Sauna Singer disturbed me for a minute, I understand the power of music. It can regulate your mood — bring excitement, reduce anxiety, calm you down, bring you to tears and make you not only dance but……sing like no ones watching.
Maybe the Sauna Singer was listening to her favorite song and got carried away. Maybe she was going through something and the music lifted her spirits. For whatever reason the Sauna Singer sang out loud, I gladly sacrifice my quiet time if it helped in any way.
The Sauna Singer gets a pass.
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