Dateline: Years Ago at University at Albany, New York
In what I anticipated was a worthwhile endeavor at freshman student orientation, our group was asked to rank, in order of importance, the inventory of equipment that was scattered about after a NASA lunar lander crashed onto the surface of the moon.
In their eagerness to adapt to the role, a conscientious student presented an impassioned plea about how important a pouch of sardines was versus a spare tire for the manned Lunar Rover used on the later Apollo moon mission. Yes, here was holistic groupthink in the wild, so to speak. But I had other mundane ideas.
Without oxygen or water – and shelter until rescued – any other inventory was pointless. Yet, this was simply an exercise in groupthink. In other words, there was no right or wrong. Our proctor had engaged a routine developed to build cohesion and unity in our group.
Recently, as I watched Guardians of the Galaxy, I was taken by the main character's (Peter Quill) symbiosis with a mechanical cassette machine, I mean, I enjoy the nostalgia of Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling,” but I doubt I would slip it onto a Blue Origin spacecraft given the chance. Yet Quill would.
As I reflect upon our otherworldly college groupthink exercise, had I taken my brainstorm a step further; I would have adamantly asked for a Walkman like Peter Quill’s while in the throes of uncertainty about being rescued, and enjoyed the distant view of Earth. Which begs the inquiry: what could you survive without for a brief segment of your day? Coffee, donuts, news? Or perhaps, music?
(As a vague afterthought, while you’re driving, and inhaling a Dunkin' donut or latte, ask Alexa to play “Hooked on a Feeling” by Blue Swede and appreciate the soundtrack of your everyday life trajectory. “Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga!”)
As I imagined myself on the lunar surface with transparent face shield, I would be engaged, similar to Peter Quill, in an auditory concert of the music I loved. And while the old adage suggests “time heals all wounds,” in the lunar dust I would hastily sculpt, “music heals all wounds.”
I had to explore my tenet further. Would music imbue a therapeutic value in a holistic treatment program of an Earthbound human? I had to learn if, philosophically speaking, I was among the more insightful students at orientation. So I sought an expert in the arena of holistic health at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, a nonprofit donor-supported educational institution for holistic studies, which is a multidisciplinary approach that focuses on the whole person and their interconnected physical, mental, social and spiritual concerns. And I found one: Chrissa Santoro, Omega’s senior director of executive affairs.
On Sound as Healing
Joe Caplan: How do you see music and sound as tools for awakening the best in the human spirit?
Chrissa Santoro: At Omega, we’ve seen again and again that sound can be a direct route to presence. Music helps people soften out of the head and into the heart and body – sometimes faster than words can. Whether it’s a simple hum, a shared chant, a songwriting circle, or a deeply attentive listening experience, sound can invite us into a felt sense of connection, meaning, and aliveness. That “awakening” often looks like people remembering their own capacity for joy, honesty, courage, and belonging – qualities that are already there, and simply need the right conditions to emerge.
Chrissa Santoro of the Omega Institute.
JC: Do you incorporate sound healing, musical meditation, or chanting into your programs? How do people respond differently to sound versus silence?
CS: Yes – especially through programs where sound is the practice, not just [part of the] background. One clear example is our annual Labor Day gathering, “Voices Together Ecstatic Chant,” which explores Kirtan and devotional chant as a form of musical prayer and meditation. We also host music-centered workshops – songwriting, singing, and instrumental programs – that often become meditative through repetition, breath, rhythm, and group attention. Silence and sound can both be profound teachers. Silence can clarify what’s underneath. Sound can help people enter that clarity – especially if they feel intimidated by “quiet meditation,” or if their nervous system settles more readily through vibration and rhythm.
JC: Healing music versus music that heals – do you see a difference?
CS: Sometimes music is offered with a clear therapeutic or contemplative intention, [such as] structured sound experiences, chant, [or] breath-led vocal practices. Other times, the healing happens because music bypasses defenses: a lyric lands, a harmony opens emotion, a shared rhythm creates safety. In our experience, the most powerful moments are often less about a label and more about the conditions: skilled facilitation, consent and choice, a supportive container, and the freedom for each person’s experience to be their own.
Music-making at Omega.
On Community and Connection
JC: How does music deepen a person’s feeling of connection in retreat settings?
CS: Music is one of the fastest ways we know to turn a group of individuals into a community. When people sing together or keep time together, there’s a kind of shared physiology – breath syncing, listening, call-and-response. It creates a “we” without forcing anyone to speak. In a retreat setting, that can be especially meaningful, because people arrive carrying a lot [of baggage]. Music gives them a nonverbal way to belong.
JC: Have you witnessed music transform a group dynamic, in breaking down walls or helping people process emotions?
CS: Yes. We’ve seen moments where a room that feels guarded at the start becomes tender and connected within minutes of shared song, especially when the invitation is nonjudgmental and participation is flexible. Sometimes people find their voice for the first time in years. Sometimes they cry without needing to explain why. Sometimes they laugh in a way that feels like release. Those moments aren’t about performance – they’re about permission.
JC: Does communal music-making serve a different purpose than listening alone with headphones?
CS: Both have value, but they’re different experiences. Solo listening can be deeply regulating and reflective. Communal music-making adds relationship: you’re not just receiving sound; you’re co-creating the atmosphere. In a retreat context, that can be a powerful antidote to isolation, and it often mirrors what we hope people carry home: a renewed capacity to connect.
Songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore leads a seminar.
On Nature and Sound
JC: How do you think about the relationship between natural soundscapes and human-made music on the Omega campus?
CS: On a campus like ours, [with] wooded trails, open fields, and a lot of living sound, nature becomes a kind of teacher. People start noticing rhythm and texture everywhere: wind through leaves, birdsong, the cadence of footsteps. When someone is surrounded by those soundscapes, “music” stops being only something we produce and becomes something we also receive.
JC: Do you guide people to listen to nature as if it were a symphony?
CS: Not in a one-size-fits-all way, but the invitation to listen differently is very much in the spirit of Omega. One beautiful example was “The Forest Within,” an immersive sound experience created for Omega by composer Pete M. Wyer. People could listen in our sanctuary or on their mobile devices while walking the forest trails, blending human voices and the sounds of nature. Experiences like that help people realize that listening itself can be a contemplative practice.
JC: Can a walk with no music be more “musical” than one with an audio soundtrack
CS: Absolutely. Sometimes the most “musical” walk is the one where you start hearing what you usually tune out. A curated soundtrack can be gorgeous, but an unscored walk can reveal a more intimate relationship with place, and with your own inner rhythm.
A garden path at Omega Institute.
On Integration and Balance
JC: Where does music fit in holistic wellness – of body, mind, and spirit?
CS: Often it’s all three, and it can also be different for different people. For some, music is primarily physical: breath, vibration, movement, energy. For others, it’s emotional and psychological: memory, meaning, catharsis. And for many, it’s spiritual in the simplest sense: it evokes reverence, gratitude, humility, and a sense of being part of something larger.
JC: Can music ever be a distraction from what people practice at Omega?
CS: It can, if it’s imposed, too loud, mismatched to the intention, or if someone’s nervous system is overwhelmed. That’s why choice matters. In a healthy retreat [setting], music is an invitation, not a requirement, and people are supported in finding the level of stimulation that helps them settle rather than brace.
On Transformation and Growth
JC: Can a song or sound be a catalyst for transformation the way a retreat can?
CS: Yes. A single piece of music can become a doorway – into grief, forgiveness, courage, or a long-forgotten part of the self. Retreats support transformation partly because they give people time, space, and community. Music can do something similar in an instant: it can make an inner truth undeniable, and it can help people feel resourced enough to meet it.
JC: Do people carry the music home with them as a touchstone?
CS: They do, especially with practices like chanting, where a simple melody can become a portable form of meditation. It becomes something they can call on in daily life.
On Teachers and Traditions
JC: Are there musical traditions that feel aligned with holistic wellness?
CS: Many traditions can be part of a holistic approach to wellness. At Omega, we see value in vocal work, songwriting, and communal singing that emphasizes authenticity over performance. What matters most is the integrity of the container: cultural respect, skillful facilitation, consent, and a focus on lived experience rather than spectacle. Omega brings together music and wellbeing through workshops led by experienced teachers. [See sidebar at the end of the article.]
On Accessibility and Inclusion
JC: Not everyone might have a positive relationship with sound. How do you honor different sensory needs?
CS: Our campus and programs offer people options: participate, step back, [or] visit quiet spaces like the sanctuary or the Ram Dass Library. We [have] facilitators who [explain] this explicitly, so participants can engage in ways that feel safe.
The sanctuary at Omega.
On Sustainability and Values
JC: Can music teach interconnection and sustainability in ways that words can’t?
CS: It can, because music is interdependence in real time. Harmony depends on listening. Rhythm depends on relationship. When people sing or play together, they feel – physically – that they are part of a larger whole. That embodied experience can mirror the deeper lesson of sustainability: nothing exists in isolation, and what we do affects the collective.
At Omega, we believe that the well-being of every individual is deeply connected to the well-being of all living things. Interdependence is at the core of that philosophy and it’s something we try to model in both [our] campus sustainability practices, and [in our] programming. The campus also includes the Omega Center for Sustainable Living, one of the greenest buildings in the world, where we reclaim 100 percent of Omega's wastewater with zero chemicals and zero net energy. Guests get to be part of a closed hydrological loop, and see the beauty that can come from “waste.”
Wild Cards
JC: If Omega had a “house song,” what would it feel like?
CS: It would feel welcoming and spacious, something you could enter from anywhere. More call-and-response than performance. Rooted, but not rigid. Joyful, but not forced. A song that makes room for many voices, many stories, and many ways of arriving.
JC: What was your most unexpected musical moment at Omega?
CS: Some of the most memorable moments are the unplanned ones – when a group keeps singing after a session ends, or someone starts a simple melody and others join in, and suddenly a walkway or porch becomes a gathering place. Those moments capture what a retreat can do: it reminds people they’re allowed to be human together.
Zen and the art of the ukulele with Stuart Fuchs.
Rhiannon leads a vocal improvisation seminar.
The following are some of the upcoming musical programs offered by Omega Institute.
Divine Relaxation & Celebration: Uplifting Music, Meditation & Yoga Experience
Radical Self-Compassion: A 5-Day Meditation & Sound Healing Retreat
Taoist Healing Sounds Qigong: Cleanse & Renew Your Life Force
Get Healthy with Sound: Tuning Forks & Voice for Vibrant Health
Music, Movement, Emotions & Healing: Reimagining the Power of Music on Body & Mind
Back to the Well: A Vocal Improvisation Summit
All images courtesy of the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, Rhinebeck, New York.
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