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𝖵𝖺𝗅 𝖡𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗌𝗈𝗇

@valbentson

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ᵇᵉ ᶜᵘʳⁱ ᵒ ᵘ ˢ
𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝
𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩
𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙧

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I’d like to preface this by saying that I’m sharing this at a point in my life where I feel the most connected to joy and possibility than I ever have:

I recorded me playing this song in early June. I didn’t plan what I was going to say but when I started to speak, I noticed how disconnected from hope I actually felt. How grim the future looked in that moment. And because of this, I felt called to share this with you. Because it’s honest.

I wrote this song a decade ago and it still feels relevant for those moments where grief, longing and disconnection are palpable.

This is a reminder that we are here to live this human experience: emotions, sensations, thought forms and all. It was never meant to be polished and perfect. We can only live in the highlight reels for so long.

For any of you who are swimming in hopelessness or despair - you are not alone. You are loved and you are love. You belong here. Things can change.

Is there one way that you can channel this feeling into beauty and art? by @valbentson

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4 months ago

When your soul remembers, the journey begins.
If you feel the call, connect with me through the link in my bio. Thanks to @pitaya.permaculture for this amazing videos 🌙#mentoring #ritualesconscientes #ceremoniassagradas #elementalwisdom #sacerdotisamoderna by @valbentson

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4 months ago

It was such a pleasure to play a set of many of our original and improvised songs this weekend at our shared home, The Nest, in Berkeley.

Living in and adjusting to the Bay has been a really sweet and complex journey! It’s quite different up here, coming from Southern California. I feel this land has offered such immense beauty and the caliber of humans have shown me what is possible with community. So many moments of closeness, honesty and shared resonance with kindred souls.
I feel very fortunate to be here at this stage in my life and incrementally trusting in the flow of life more and more. Some days are easier than others.

And yet, the music always has a way of stabilizing, affirming, and inspiring such beautiful expression and harmony. I feel honored to be in devotion to it and to sharing it as much as possible with the world. taken in Berkeley, California by @valbentson

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4 months ago

Sometimes instagram and reels make the process look like drive-through healing but I assure you this has been anything but “quick” and definitely not overnight, and it’s also not “finished” or “complete”, as much as my ego longs to buy into this capitalistic narrative.

There have been so many moments where I’ve gone into the inner realms, only to find - once again - those younger parts of myself struck with grief for something I really thought was completely metabolized. Haha. Silly

Perhaps it was never about completely dissolving the wound, but more about meeting it differently. With compassion and curiosity.

And so, we create rituals and ceremonies for ourselves and others to meet these inner parts in ways that are generative and in ways that can connect us to the greater living whole. And hopefully through the unfolding, we can show up with more care towards these parts that were all along, just trying to protect us and keep us safe.

Le siiiggghhhhh

To my younger self (and anyone who needs a reminder): I love you, I love you, I love you. You are worthy of being loved just as you are, you belong in this world, and your life is important.

Side note: this was my first rage ritual that was channeled by my dear friend @by.deone in an ancestral healing session, to execute, and I am so glad I followed through, as much of an edge it was for me to co-create with the land as a solo human.

I’m so glad I leaned in. Thank you plantcestors and madre tierra and so many other divine beings for holding me (and us) through the darkest of times. I’m listening. taken in Portola Redwoods State Park by @valbentson

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4 months ago

Getting ready for the Concert for Connection @ SF Commons next Friday.

Come get cozy with us :)

Event link here:
https://luma.com/8njb8ma1 by @valbentson

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7 months ago

Hello friends,

I’ve been meaning to share a fuller life update: I’m been in a relationship for a little over a year! His name is Kedar and he’s a musician, ceremonialist, and coach, and getting to know each other has been a deeply grounding and connective journey. One of the things I feel so lucky to experience is the opportunity to create music and collaborate in ceremony and workshops with someone who brings so much heart and depth to the world.

We’re excited to be co-facilitating an upcoming experience in San Francisco at The Commons called:

Resonance: A Concert for Connection

It’ll be next Friday April 3, 7-9:30pm. This will be an immersive, participatory space where you’ll not only receive music and sound to journey inward, but also be gently guided into moments of connection and relational practice, bridging that inner experience back out into connection with others. It’s a blend I don’t often see: sound, music, and in-depth connection woven together in one space.

We would love to have you there. And if you’re not in the Bay Area but know someone who is, feel free to pass this along; we’re excited to meet new faces and build community.

You can learn more and register through the link in my bio or here:

https://luma.com/8njb8ma1

Sending you loooooove🤍 taken in The Commons - San Francisco by @valbentson

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7 months ago

Hey ya'll I want to introduce you all to my partner, Valerie.

I don't normally do a formal introduction of partners of mine, but something about this feels really important, because we're about to be doing a lot of work in the world together.

One of the first times we hung out together, she was sharing and playing music she'd written. As soon as she opened her mouth and I heard the sweetness of her voice, my entire body melted and relaxed, and I knew that was a really good sign. Don't get yourself mistaken though; she is a wild beast of a woman, and it is an honor to be with her in her fullness of expression.

Shortly after we started dating, we wrote our first song together, and it was immediately obvious that medicine that our voices create and that our music creates is potent. As a medicine musician, this was incredibly exciting for me. The fact that I can write music in different languages with this person, that our voices blend the way they do, it has been a dream that I have always had

And now: next Friday, April 3rd, we're making our first public concert debut together.

It's called Resonance: A Concert for Connection, and it's happening at the SF Commons in San Francisco from 7–9:30 PM.

In a very Kedar fashion, we're not just doing a passive concert. This is going to be a whole interactive experience of connection inwards and connection outward, with some skillful facilitation throughout. You'll be meeting your fellow concert attendees, preparing for a deeply internal experience, and also an experience of connection between you and the people around you. Don't be surprised if you leave the concert having made a new close friend.

If you're in the Bay or have friends in the Bay Area, tell them to come check this out. This is going to be a really special evening. Link in the bio. by @valbentson

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7 months ago

Here for messiness, vulnerability, and not having it all figured out. Here for cracking the implied structures, formulas and ways of expressing that subconsciously perform superiority. Because this is the form of leadership that I trust: unpolished, human, and honest.

What kind of leadership do you trust? I’d love to know below. by @valbentson

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7 months ago

One of my mentors said to me a while back something that stuck with me about rage.

When we don’t have a healthy outlet for rage to be expressed, the rage gets caged in our system and then begins to compress and direct internally, towards ourselves.

Do you have healthy outlets to express your rage? I’d love to hear what woks for you in the comments below! by @valbentson

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7 months ago

Hello friends new and old,

Last week of February I will be bringing sound and vocal workshops to my hometown of Los Angeles and I really want you to know about it so you can come to all of them! Here’s a little breakdown of the juicy events:

Feb 22: Soma & Soul half-day immersion 🕺
I will be supporting the fabulous @alchemy.with.ash in her retreat (we will be taking this to @esalen March 13-15 folks and we are so stoked!!!) with a vocal activation group practice. Expect to be on your feet, have fun and feel into your tender edge through voice! More broadly, we will be creating an experience to recenter under pressure, resource, skill-up, and come back into our bodies together. (First two photos from Soma & Soul retreat by @kosmikclub in Oct 2025)

Feb 25: Sound Journey at Acme 5 🧘🏽‍♂️
Come receive sound, tea and delightful snacks at this lush and vibey furniture store in Santa Monica. You may make a new friend! (Photo by @lightbeacon_photography )

Feb 27: Threshold: A Vocal Activation Journey 🦋
This is a guided vocal, somatic and shamanic vocal journey designed to help you reconnect with the primal, expressive, instinctual part of you— the part that knows how to move, sound, feel, and respond before it edits itself! (Photo by @lightbeacon_photography )

Links for all these events in my bio. Looking forward to sounding, singing, and vibrating with y’all. Namaste

(Last photo by @ojodeagua_fotos ) taken in Los Angeles, California by @valbentson

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8 months ago

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I had an enlightening session with my mentor @brookewolfe_ yesterday where we addressed my dissociative part and how she (it) plays such a big role in my life; particularly when I am learning new things that feel challenging or am being stretched out of my comfort zone.

For those of you who who may not be familiar with this word, dissociation is a mental process where a person breaks from their thoughts, memory, identity, or sense of reality in any given moment that may feel like “too much”. It often serves as a protective coping mechanism for trauma, involving feelings of unreality, detachment from oneself, or the world.

Dissociation is also a form of freeze in the nervous system, and what I know about freeze is that singing through the freeze can often times be my way back into the warmth of presence and living in my body and being connected to my environment.

So after our session I took her advice and picked up my drum, and began singing a love song to Dissociation, in an effort to learn how to befriend her (instead of resent her which has lately been my mode).

I hope this concept of singing your feelings of the moment resonantes and you pick up a drum, rattle or anything that you can create a rhythm with and just sing from where you are. It is wildly effective.

The voice is medicine. 🦋 by @valbentson

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