Meet Nate Kojun Hayes | Sound Healer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nate Kojun Hayes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kojun, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I started a previous business almost ten years ago with the idea that it would see me into the future and produce enough income to make a decent living. What I didn’t know was how brutal the workload would be for a small business owner, and after almost six years of working myself to death with hardly anything to show for it, COVID came along and sank my ship. Afterwards, I decided to open another business, a sound-healing service, with a different intention: not just to make money and pave the way into the future, but to offer a service to those who need help now. Most of my life has been spent, in one way or another, in the “rat race” of “trying to make it”, and while I do need to keep my lights on, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life chasing after some idea of success; instead I’d like to spend the rest of my life trying to help others with sound and be of service to all who cross my path.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
So, I began experimenting with singing bowls years and years ago. Of course, I always found them therapeutic, but when teaching a friend some simple meditation techniques, I discovered the power of singing bowls. My friend was having difficulty staying focused, so I offered him the chance to take a break and try the singing bowls. I showed him the basics, and then as I watched him play them, I noticed he dropped into awareness and became fully present at the moment, something that he had been trying so hard to do with meditation, but the singing bowls gave him this effortlessly! So, I began genuinely diving deep into the world of sound healing.

I have zero musical training, so I went into this totally blind as to what I should do, so my sound healing service has grown entirely organically. It was challenging, however; I’ve found that every sound journey session I provide, whether for a crowd of 500 people at a music festival or a private one-on-one appointment, has much to teach me. The biggest challenge I have had to overcome is my idea of what this should be. When I am completely and genuinely a conduit, I can allow the sounds to vibrate out to the client freely. But when I focus on having them “like me” or “have a good experience”, it turns into a product that is not organic.

I want people to know that I don’t come to this service with an unlimited budget to spend on ludicrously expensive singing bowls and priceless antique gongs; I come to this with a humble spirit of service and believe that we have what we need in this life to spend our time giving to others and I’m blessed to have discovered this path.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Athens is bursting with exciting options for first-time visitors. Many friends love to use my house as a “home base” while enjoying the area. I would take visitors to excellent hiking areas near Strouds’ Run State Park. (including a dip in Strouds’ Run Lake), Some great dining spots include Purple Chopstix, which has an eclectic interior design and an incredible Asian Fusion menu. Athens has many interesting and unique artisanal shops, such as Kindred Market, Import House and Beads-N-Things. There are also art galleries and concert venues to check out live music and amazing art. Nearby are the many hiking trails of Hocking Hills State Park, eclectic small villages such as Amesville and Guysville, and the Marietta region is only 45 minutes away.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to thank the many friends who have listened patiently while I practised with singing bowls, gongs and who-knows-what-else I had my hands on as I pursued a path into Sound Healing.

Also, to Roy Whitmore and Janet Kasler, both of whom have been above and beyond supportive of my endeavour and have also been good friends.

And finally. a big shout-out to Maggie Fekete, who put me on the radar of the Shoutout Series.

Website: www.sacredwavessoundhealing.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacredwavessoundhealing/

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