Welcome to the Sea of OM
with Joan Quinn

A Sea of OM: Finding Connection through Sound

A free monthly community offering every last Sunday of the month
Beginning August 30 | 11:00 AM–12:00 PM

**A $5 suggested donation will support Maine Needs, providing essential items to neighbors experiencing homelessness, families rebuilding after crisis, asylum seekers, foster families, and survivors of domestic violence.

There is something truly special about a room full of people creating one shared sound. As our individual voices blend together, we create a sense of sangha—the Sanskrit word for a supportive community that practices, grows, and supports one another. For a little while, there is no audience, no performance, and no need to be perfect. We simply breathe, sound, listen, and belong.

The beautiful thing about this practice is that you do not need a "good voice." This isn't singing—it is sounding, using your natural voice as a meditation practice. Every voice is welcome. Whether your sound is quiet, loud, high, low, shaky, or steady, it belongs. There is no right note or proper tone. If you can breathe, you can OM. And if you'd rather not sound, you're invited to simply listen and let the vibration of the collective OM hold you.

In the yogic tradition, OM (AUM) is considered the primordial sound—the vibration of wholeness and connection. From a scientific perspective, humming and chanting naturally lengthen the exhale, helping activate the body's "rest and restore" response through the parasympathetic nervous system. The vibration may also support vagal nerve activity, helping many people feel calmer, more grounded, and more present.

From a yogic perspective, sounding also nourishes the fifth chakra (Vishuddha), the energy center associated with authentic expression and truth. Many people experience a sense of openness or flow as vibration moves through the throat, heart, and mind. There is no right experience—only an invitation to notice what arises with curiosity.

As we use sound as our meditation object, the mind naturally settles. We feel the vibration within ourselves, hear the collective sound around us, and rest together in the silence that follows. Something beautiful happens when many voices become one: we remember that we are connected.

Come exactly as you are. There is nothing to perform and nothing to achieve. Simply breathe, sound—or simply receive—and experience what shifts within you and among us.

One breath. One vibration. Many voices. One community.