So first of all, I think that the part of the performance I would change or find a workaround is that outside/ambient noise. I think one issue is that whenever I have been at a sound bath/healing event, the immersion factor was super important. It wasn't the worst, but imo it prevented me reaching a deeper or more consistent trace state, as I had hoped.

However, I was able to reach trance several times, and "dozed" off. What I found most interesting was the experience of sensorial or somatic flashbacks; "triggers" in the environment and the music pulled out memory states/experiences from the past and wove them together into a form of existential sense-making. Personally notable, I was reminded of an illegal warehouse rave long ago, filled with heat and steam from the crowd in the dead of winter needing to be aired out. To avoid detection, all sound was cut, except for the barest minimum of the techno beat (reminsicent of the guiding sound of the heartbeat), as the windows were opened to the night. An icy and refreshing breeze wafted in as the crowd danced in unison in relative silence. This memory floated up, coaxed by the resonance of the emergent Astral landscape of the room full of bodies breathing and experiencing the music together. For me, it relates the present moment to the profound idea of the universality of the human need to find a way towards connection and commonality. I think that has been the main value of such sound experiences - the loss of a sense of individual self and a merging of consciousnesses. So the guiding heartbeat helps as a reminder and signpost, that we are all in the same place.

For me, there was a sense of permission and invitation toward embodiment, via the use of scent and the introductory group breathing exercise. The space felt like it was cozy and familial, and I did think the crowd was able to be both retain autonomy and also dissolve away individual identity. There was a definite loss of time and space (flow). I think a stronger dissolution will always be a challenge in an urban space, in a limited timeframe.

Have you ever tried being in the center of the room for this type of event? I know it's a buzzword right now but I feel events like these are deeply regenerative, and that is a different relationshp than the "performer/audience" arrangement. After the performance, I felt deeply refreshed and at peace; I can believe it led to some integration.

Nevertheless, it's awesome to feel like you are "in someone's brain" together with a big group of others.