LAKEPORT >> In the last month, House of Living Rhythm (HoLR) popped up at the blue steeple church in Lakeport. But what exactly is this new addition to the community? According to the founder, Jason Norris, PhD(c), “It”s a newly forming transformation learning center and a community event space,” he explained. “It”s a place to understand why we”re here and to build those relationships between our internal and external worlds that allow us to flourish and thrive.”
Norris is a musician and a student, a combination which has greatly benefited the project. “My background is in psychology and consciousness studies. My focus is on how sound and rhythm is used in cross cultural wisdom traditions My doctoral research is all around rhythm psychology,” he said. He studies something called entrainments, which explore how different rhythms sync up with one another. “That ties into a fundamental aspect of life, if we consider that all things have some kind of vibration.”
Norris” field of study and his personal experience as a musician lead him to explore how rhythm works to maintain mental, emotional and spiritual wellness within a person. “I”ve had this academic path of doing graduate degrees and diving really deep into research and also being a musician as my personal path,” he said. He was able to use the two contrasting experiences to create HoLR. “This project is all about getting in touch with what moves us in our core Being able to really embody our purpose and our passions in an authentic way. It connects us with something greater than ourselves.”
For a number of years, Norris sought out a space for HoLR, but never found the right building until relocating to Lake County this past summer from San Rafael. Though he”s not quite finished with his degree, he has completed his courses at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, which meant he finally had more freedom in choosing a location. “I was able to look for the space outside of the Bay Area,” he said. “I found the church and fell in love with this space. It was all about the building for me, finding this building and having a really strong connection with it.”
Part of the draw of the blue steeple church was its aesthetic appeal. “It was this beautiful space with views of the lake, really good energy.” he said. HoLR was all about, “saying yes to this mystery, leaping into the unknown here.”
To get the project up and running, Norris spent six months filing for mixed use permits and hammering out the details. “The main hall of the building hadn”t been used commercially in over 20 years. That was the point of the permits,” he explained. On Dec. 15, his plans were given the green light. “The planning commission unanimously approved the permits.”
But his work on the business end of this endeavor is far from over. “I”m working with a team of advisers both with local people and people from around the area, developing best practices and a business plan around moving forward,” he said. “We”re newly forming and we”re still kinda figuring out the details in regards to that.”
HoLR has been open for about a month now. So far, events have included drum circles and healing sound circles. He”s also planning to provide movement classes such as tai chi, belly dance classes and creative performances, among a variety of other events. “I”m also connected to a very large network of world renowned workshop facilitators, to give local residents the ability to attend workshops that they might not be able to normally attend without going down to the Bay,” he said.
The project is just as much a community center as a place for personal wellness. “I”ve never lived in this small of a town and one of the things that I love is this community aspect that I”m experiencing,” he said. “There seems to be so many musicians and artists. This is a venue not necessarily just for music but it”s related to music in a way that seems to be bringing a different flavor to the area.”
As a musician, Norris is connected to a number of musical artists around the country and beyond, so he has plans to hold occasional live events. “Everything here is acoustic based,” he said. He”ll bring in “world renowned musicians that work on acoustic instruments. To give a little bit different flavor of what”s going on in the community as far as music spaces go.”
Norris is also interested in offering the space out to individuals for their various needs. “If local community members want to hold their own events they can use this space to put together their own programs,” he said.
Aside from a community center and a wellness space, HoLR is also an art project of sorts. “The way that I hold art is that life is art,” Norris said. “I love the Balinese culture. In Bali there really is no separation between art and every day. In that sense it”s a living art. What”s offered here is a way to get in touch with our creative abilities as humans.”
And speaking of Bali, Norris also explained that the project seeks to bring more culture to the area. “From what I hear from locals is there”s nothing like this around, so what I”m offering is affordable access to arts and culture,” he said. He”ll be planning events around “transformative education” and different wellness practices from many parts of the world. “[HoLR is] giving people ways to empower themselves using methods that have been around in various cultures for millennia.”
Since opening, Norris has seen a decent number of people come by for events. “A lot of people in the community seem to know about us already and have heard about me and what I”m doing,” he said. On some days HoLR sees 20 or 30 people, but other days as few as 5 people show up for a program. “I”m still trying to figure out the best way to market and get the word out about events that are happening here. But so far it seems like the community is very excited about what I”m bring to the area and are very interested in getting involved.”
Norris hopes to see more people attending programs and improving their well being. “Come check out an event,” he urged. “It”s a safe space to creatively explore these aspects of ourselves that we don”t necessarily have another space to explore in our culture.”
House of Living Rhythm is located at 100 N. Forbes Street in Lakeport. Visit theholr.org for more information.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
