Soundescapes
A SOUND WAY to Escape the Pressure of Work, School and Life
“Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” – Berthold Auerbach
A SONIC POWER NAP FOR BUSINESSES, HOSPITALS, RETREAT CENTERS & SCHOOLS
relieve stress
elevate mood
enhance cognition
support overall health & wellbeing
In a society with increasing health issues due to lack of quality rest, OTV provides the ultimate power nap and wake-up session to corporate employees, students and hospital staff. Amy McTear & Michael Ponte share their intelligent, well-researched and artistic approach, using Soundescapes cutting-edge combination of:
Therapeutic Sound & Voice: Classical, new age and exotic world instruments along with poetic affirmations and melodic voice are artfully combined in a live performance, to soothe and calm the central nervous system.
Brainwave Entrainment: Isochronic tones or pulses of sound are embedded within the music to induce various brain states, such as relaxation, deep meditation and sleep.
Aromatherapy: High-quality non-toxic essential oils are diffused lightly into the space to uplift mood and increase feeling of peacefulness and well-being. Participants can also choose to receive a drop on their palm to directly inhale for increased effect.
The Power of a Power Nap
Power naps are short periods of sleep during the day that are said to be most effective between 1pm and 4pm, and ideally lasting 10-30 minutes. (Longer naps run the risk of “sleep inertia” — or stage 3 sleep. Waking up during this period of sleep can result in that unpleasant, groggy feeling that takes a considerable amount of time to shake off. Naps later than 4:00 PM can disrupt your regular nighttime sleep.) Sleep scientists say power napping makes up for deficits in sleep and improves creative problem solving, verbal memory, perceptual learning, statistical learning, mathematical processing, logical reasoning, reaction times and symbol recognition. Naps are also shown to elevate mood and have proven beneficial for the heart, blood pressure, stress level reduction, and even weight management.
NAP RESEARCH
Planned naps have been shown to improve alertness and performance in emergency department physicians and nurses, along with first-year medical students. These and other studies indicate that naps can restore our focus, improve the quality of our work and help reduce mistakes. Naps also improve our ability to learn on the job. The positive effects of napping extend hours into our day. Check out this Ted Talk from Dr. Sara Mednick , Sleep Researcher and Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. (Go to 3:44 sec for exciting findings on the power of a daytime nap.)
A 2008 study showed that naps are better than caffeine when it comes to improving verbal memory, motor skills, and perceptual learning. Also, napping can help us manage our blood pressure. Researchers discovered that a 45-minute nap lowers blood pressure. An extensive 2007 study concluded that people who napped at least three times per week for an average of 30-minutes a day reduced their risk of dying from a heart-related disease by 37% . And, according to a letter published in the British Journal of Nutrition, obesity prevention may be as simple as turning off the television and having a nap.
What happens during a Soundescape?
Participants disengage from all tasks and responsibilities, turn off computers, cell phones etc.- We diffuse subtle amounts of high quality, non-toxic into the space to help participants relax.
- Participants have the option to receive a drop of an essential oil to rub on hands and inhale.
- Participants lie down on yoga mats or sit in a chair. We offer spa-quality eye pillows, blankets and neck rolls ( with removable washable covers).
- Ambient sound, created through skillful use of voice, new-age and classical instrumentation, isochronic tones and positive affirmation are performed live in a particular sequence to help participants relax.
- Participants are lead into a state of relaxation, receptivity, followed by sleep or deep rest for a period of 30 minutes.
- After the 30-minute power nap, participants experience a gentle wake-up session, avoiding sleep inertia, to best prepare them to return refreshed to their tasks and projects.
- Participants are eligible for a free download of one of our TrueVoiceTrax of their choice for their own use.
“Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges.” – Bryant McGill
About Therapeutic Sound
Sound is one of the quickest, simplest ways to effect the nervous system and change the 
energetic state. The cells of our bodies vibrate as do our brainwaves, heartbeat and respiration. Our native frequencies can become misaligned or otherwise altered through illness, environmental, emotional or physical stressors. Documented research shows that music can lower heart rate, alter our mood, stir emotions and enhance memory.
Sound therapy uses sound wave vibration to enhance the body’s ability to return to a coherent, balanced state. The vibrations from these sound tools, along with a skillful use of voice, can affect us beneath the cognitive level to trigger the release of stress chemicals, dissolve physical tension, help us access emotional clarity, achieve greater focus, energize, activate and even break negative patterns of thoughts.
About Brainwave Entrainment
BWE therapy can change brain wave activity, which is directly connected to our state of mind, using brainwave entrainment (pronounced: “ehn – TRAIN – mint”) – the process of externally presenting brainwave frequencies to the brain, to allow it to synchronize to those frequencies.
Snap your fingers. That sound just created an electronic reaction in your brain. If that snapping sound was constant and consistent at the same frequency associated with a calm state of mind, your brain waves would continue to react and would start to synchronize with that rhythm. Over time, you would actually begin to feel more relaxed. This effect can clearly seen using an EEG. Over 80 years of scientific investigation have revealed many useful applications for this method which are being widely used today.
Research has revealed Theta to be the most effective brainwave state for applying positive affirmations and hypnotic suggestions. When combined with the right neural stimulation, these techniques can bypass mental and emotional barriers that would normally make the mind resistant to change, making them far more effective. Combining brainwave entrainment and positive affirmations which are melodically and poetically composed, Soundescapes can help you shift negative thoughts, adjust your mood and increase positivity.
About Aromatherapy
Essential oils are natural aromatic liquids found in trees, flowers, bushes, roots, and seeds. 
Research shows that they have anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant, anti- bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-oxidant, immune supporting and regenerative properties and can even help with ADHD. They are relaxing, 
uplifting, enhance clarity of thought, and support emotional well-being. Each essential oil contains several to several hundred different kinds of molecules, each of which offers benefits in promoting good health, healing, and regeneration. They can be diffused in the air, or simply inhaled to uplift our mood and increase our feeling of peacefulness and well-being.
About Amy McTear & Michael Ponte
Multi-instrumentalists, singer-songwriter couple, Amy McTear & Michael Ponte, draw from eastern and western musical traditions and scientific research to bring you their inspiring, ambient mantra & meditation music.
With a background in sound healing, Amy masterfully evokes the otherworldly voice of the symphonic gong, crystal singing bowls, chimes, frame drum, keyboards and more, in combination with her own ethereal voice. She is an Author, Coach and Sound Therapist with a private practice in upstate New York. She is well-known regionally for her signature events which have touched thousands over the years, weaving voice, music, mindfulness, eclectic instrumentation and community song in a way that helps audiences disarm, bond, become more self-aware and motivated to improve their lives and contribute to a better world.
Michael brings an essential, in-the-world groundedness to their music with his rock sensibility, musical knowledge and singer-songwriter talents. His gentle but strong, masculine voice and soaring guitar leads bring an earthiness to Amy’s new-age instrumentation. Michael is a gear-head, guitar nerd and craftsman who is perpetually dismantling and rebuilding his guitars in pursuit of tone. He is a brainy electrician by trade, and music theory enthusiast with a laid back hippy sense.
