Album Notes

Refuge in Meditation is Debra Carroll's newest guided meditation album, with a beautiful musical score provided by Adult Contemporary composer Martin Gregory. On this CD are three 20 minute tracks. That means you can choose whether to listen to any one of the 3 tracks for a 20 minute meditation, or to listen to 2 or 3 tracks back to back, for a 40 or 60 minute meditation. The title comes from the daily life practice of "taking refuge" from our human failings in the wisdom of enlightened beings. Track 1 is about focusing on the breath and its relationship to the body. This track is called "Getting Started," because most shamanic and meditative practices start with the breath. Track 2, "Chakra Journey," is a practice of bringing awarenesss of the source of all life and energy into each of the chakras, or energy centers, one at a time. This helps open and balance the centers, while also breaking through the illusions of the mind and the senses. Track 3, the title track, is called "Taking Refuge." This version is a non- denominational, cross-cultural synthesis of practices I learned in Peru 20 years ago and the Buddhist practice of Taking Refuge in the Buddha. It is about surrender and allowing oneself to be protected and guided by beings more self-realized than oneself. In addition to being an actress, singer, and voice-over artist, Debra Carroll was the founding editor of Shaman's Drum magazine, and has taught meditation, shamanic practices, and ritual drama for twenty years. Debra was fortunate to study with some of the last of a dying breed of shamans in Mexico, Peru and the Pacific, and has led travel intensives to South America, the Southwestern U.S., and Hawaii.