AUTISM, SENSORY INTEGRATION

“First, I must say that for me personally, this CD has become an essential element in my daily life. It is my favorite music to create by (I am a mixed media artist and like to work in a muse, which the jellies accommodate nicely!) Aside from getting the creative juices flowing, it has helped me parent more effectively! As you can imagine, mothering 3 boys under the age of ten (One with Asperger’s Syndrome and one with, most likely, ADHD) can be a bit like maneuvering through a land-mine laced obstacle course. The CD, for me, has had the power to erase my angry edges and too-frayed nerves at the end of the day, and to extend my patience to a measurable degree. As you can imagine, this effect alone has been beneficial to my sons. Nurturing, Creative and Open Mom is a far more welcome presence during the evening hours (typically our melt-down zone) then Snarling, Resentful and Burned-out Mom. So for this measure of peace the CD has afforded me, I thank you from my heart. My oldest, age 10, is our Asperger child. The CD has become very familiar to him. As with the other boys, the music delivers an "all's-right-with-the-world" message which helps soften his anxious edges. In our house it is known as "mom’s jellyfish music". He requests it at homework time especially, as it seems to help him tune out the stray ruckus raised by his brothers and allow him to tune in more effectively to the task at hand. Our youngest, age 5, is my wild child. I jokingly liken his behavior to that of a circus chimp, with the primary difference being that a circus chimp is trained to follow directions. He is extremely active, loud, verbose and impulsive. He is a human rock concert, an active mosh pit in a child’s body: reckless, exaggerated, deafening, energized, passionate. And yet...when the Jellies are playing, his body moves in a new way. The thundering tribal warrior begins to do...ballet. Really! He waltzes and prances and floats and swings his arms around like a windmill in slow motion. For him, the need to be in constant motion will not be denied, but he tunes in to the elegance of the music and moves to it, with it, on a very deep level. He is extremely musical, and loves to compose original songs with haiku-like lyrics. I think the Jellies allow him to be quieter on a very deep psychic level, and help reduce the chatter in his head long enough to feel content in his body. I am so grateful for this music. It is a staple in our home for the daily diet our ears and hearts and souls need, and has helped us in many ways. Many, many thanks.”

- Nici Derosier, mother of 3

“Ruth, we are so impressed with your work and the positive impact it has had for children with autism and their parents. Parents report seeing their children calm and focus, while it also helps them be better parents.”

- Jane Koomar, PhD, OTR, Director of Occupational Therapy Associates

 

“I’ve used the Jellies CD to help my children relax when they seem anxious or stressed or just need to focus, like during homework time. I’ve found the Jellies CD particularly helpful for one of my children with some sensory issues. Fluidly moving to the pleasant auditory input increases his body awareness and his understanding of physical space and timing. It also helps him relax at the end of the day and unwind from all the pressures and challenges he faces at school. The Jellies CD has been a wonderful tool for both of my children!”

 

- Christine E., mother of two

“My older son (almost 10) has sensory and anxiety issues. His psychologist directed him to find something calming to listen to. He hadn’t really found anything as all of the "nature" CD’s were kind of boring to him. He loves Amazing Jellies. He said it is very calming and relaxing.”

- Leigh Wear, mother of two

Schools, Children, Adults

“I use the Jellies CD to calm my students down and keep them focused. It is so soothing. I use it to calm myself down. After today...I needed it...I am really stressed. I am going to listen to Amazing Jellies now and take it home to listen at home. I know it will help.”

- Sharon L., 2nd grade teacher

“I have SO enjoyed this CD my kids love it too! I’m going to pass it on to their science teacher to use in class. What I’m finding is that when I play it (usually while I’m working in my library) it’s been evoking a very serene calm environment. My girls (11 & 6) play "school" there as well & usually have the CD playing in the background - guess what? Everything flows so nicely between them, thx so much!”

- Marie Koepke

“I purchased the Jellies CD for my Montessori classroom of ages 6-9. The music was recommended to me by a dear Montessori friend. When I heard it, I knew that our children would respond with a centered focus and calm. I have listened to the cd while practicing calligraphy and I found the same centering effect. It is so natural to feel the gratitude, the wonder, the peace, and the mystery with which life is entwined when listening to this cd. Thank you for including the stories of how the music came to be.”

- Sara, Montessori teacher

“The piece - ’Cochiti’ is a musical prayer. I felt completely encircled by the love and divine healing power of angels...”

- Marsia Gomes, musician/middle school teacher

“We very much enjoyed the Jellies exhibit (N.E. Aquarium), and my 15-year-old daughter was quite taken with the music.”

- K.L.

“Ruth...your music is hypnotic. I’m listening to it for the third time today. It seems to bridge the gap between the real world and some other-worldly plane that carries all our dreams and imaginings from a deeper side.....what we don’t understand with the rational mind, but know is there with the heart. I can tell your Amazing Jellies will become one of the staples of my daily routine. I can’t wait to use it as a prompt for my writing groups.”

- Deborah B., writer

“One afternoon, when I had four seven and eight year olds playing in my home, one of my children asked me to put on the Jellies CD. When I did, it was amazing how the tone of their play immediately changed! My family room was transformed from hurling pillows and action figures, with loud screaming and tackling, into kids calmly floating around the room, mimicking jellyfish in water, flowing in unison, moving in harmony, cooperatively...aware of each other. They seemed so focused, relaxed and engaged; it was really quite impressive.”

- Christine E., mother of two

Relaxation & Stress Reduction

“Ruth, thank you for creating the most inspired music I’ve heard in my 25 years of practice. I know of no other music that is so effective in helping to create the relaxation response so necessary to any healing experience. I will be using your music in my practice and in my teaching the clinical applications of Psychoneuroimmunology to mental health professionals. Thank you again.”

- Stanley Selib, Ph.D.

“I have SO enjoyed this CD my kids love it too! I’m going to pass it on to their science teacher to use in class. What I’m finding is that when I play it (usually while I’m working in my library) it’s been evoking a very serene calm environment. My girls (11 & 6) play "school" there as well & usually have the CD playing in the background - guess what? Everything flows so nicely between them, thx so much!”

- Marie Koepke

“I’ve just listened to your amazing CD and am about to press the start button again because I can’t get enough of it. It sounds like you’re channeling energies from a very serene and grounded place when you create and perform your music. Thank you so much for sharing your gifts with me! Not only do I totally enjoy your CD, but it’s been my soundtrack at work to keep me calm and focused while I design my current research project.”

- G. Hortense

“Your music is incredibly moving.”

- Kevin Barry, Lead Guitarist for Paula Cole and Mary Chapin Carpenter

“Just listened to your "Amazing Jellies" and found it mystical, magical and totally enchanting..”

- Maureen G., Yoga Instructor

“I love listening to it because it completely relaxes my mind!”

- Zoe, age 13

“I love the CD - and have enjoyed it with the family several times now. My three boys instantly connected with the mesmerizing tracks - and seemed to magically calm them all - bringing peace and tranquility to a normally hectic, boy-energy household!”

- Paul, father of three

“Ruth, I was so moved by your music. I had a difficult day and as I listened I felt my whole being become so much calmer. Please continue to make everyone’s heart lighter.”

- Linda J.

“I am working to the sound of "Jellies" Version 1 and 2 and loving the sense of peace they give. I must say the majesty in ‘Cochiti’ blows me away.”

- Lisa McAleney, Film Director/Producer

“When I started to listen to the music, I felt as though I was floating on velvet clouds.”

- Hannah D., age 12

“I listen to your Jellies CD all the time! Literally. My favorite time though was when we had the last big blizzard. Somewhere in the music was the sound of my birth and my future birth...I can’t explain.”

- K. Damiata

“Your CD is incredible! It’s really unique and so relaxing. I was moved to tears.”

- Helen B.

“I recommend that you take in the music from the "Amazing Jellies" This composition sonorously lifts you above the cares and confusions of the world to a place of transcendent serenity. In these turbulent and challenging times, never has the need been greater for music that evokes our better selves and artfully leads us to the "peace that passeth understanding.”

- Linda L. Schurman

“The Amazing Jellies CD is more enchanting than I could have imagined. The music transports me to a special place where I am removed from the stresses of everyday life and I instantly become calm and relaxed. This is an exceptional CD with a healing affect and I am grateful to have discovered it. I am eager to share this CD with family and friends.”

- Ellen I. Wetherell

“I have been listening to this music NONSTOP! Literally - it is all I listen to. I love it so much. The music just puts me in such a peaceful space - the music evokes such a relaxing response in me... and it always makes me see and feel light.”

- Carrie G.

“I noticed that my behavior improved after listening to your lovely music.”

- Art P.

“The Amazing Jellies CD is lovely. I have used it as accompaniment to receiving a massage. It’s the kind of sound that makes it easy to unwind, to float along for a while.”

- K. Loveall

Sleep Challenges

“Dear Ruth, I have received my CD and I am listening to it as I answer your email. I love the beautiful, peaceful music. I recently lost my husband, and your music is very soothing and helps me go to sleep at night..”

- Jane K.

“We love the Jellies! My kids are totally into it. As I suspected, it is an amazing calm-down-and-hit-the-sack influence, and we all love listening to it. And last night, when Sebastian wasn’t quite asleep after Cochiti ended, he started reproducing the drumming patterns with his hands on the mattress... Thanks for doing such an amazing soundtrack for what is generally the toughest time of the day for us. It is really helping the gathering of thoughts at the end of the day and calming down and centering.”

- Sara M., mother of two

“The Jellies CD is so soothing and relaxing, it’s my tranquility music. I also use it at night for getting to sleep.”

- Diane, age 15

Alternative Healing

“Ruth, what you bring to this world heals. It helps me calm my nerves, and center myself. I am soothed. I am relieved. Thank you for your commitment to this work. Thank you, thank you! Your work should reach as many souls as possible. I definitely will tell as many people as I can!”

- Sarah K., Multiple Sclerosis patient

“I am a Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Master with private practice in Portland, Maine. I enjoy for the Amazing Jellies CD so much that I have shared this wonderfully relaxing music with clients. It is the perfect music to listen to during a massage! My clients love it! They say it helps them to relax and they feel "cocooned" in a safe and peaceful space. Thanks so much for creating and sharing this music!”

- Silla Von Faulk, Massage Therapist

“As soon as I heard the first note, I felt my heart open. The music brings instant peace.”

- Diane Ducharme, Bikram Yoga Instructor

“I am a massage therapist. Working in a darkened room for hours on end can be taxing. The Jellies CD helps me relax and stay energized. It is joyously unrestrained. The tranquil, soothing sounds help my clients let go of stress and pain, and enjoy the massage with a heightened sense of awareness.”

- Amy, Massage Therapist, Chicago

“Ruth, As a teacher of Peace and Peaceful Solutions, the sounds of your jellyfish CD enhance a thousand fold the external Peace in my home (office) and gently cultivate my own inner Peace as I pray for all the souls in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc who so suddenly have been claimed by the Sea, and for the loved ones who miss them so.”

- Beatrice Ferreira

“My personal experience with the Jellies CD was one of the most exhilarating and yet relaxing journeys to peace and joy. The music transports me to another realm; a place so far away and yet so personal. With Jellies, the healing power of the ocean and the creatures that inhabit it are right there offering healing, peace and serenity...as if they were surrounding us with a beautiful vibration and a loving energy so true, so glorious and in such harmony that one can’t help but be lifted by it.”

- Anne Lynch, Vibrational Healer

“I find the music centering and calming, bringing me to a state of clarity, focus and creativity that allows me to resolve issues and clear out administrative details with ease and efficiency. I have also used the music as background for at least a dozen healings, and it is now one of my top three or four choices out of the twenty or so CD’s I have in my healing room.”

- Carol R., healer

“Dear Ruth, Your music is absolutely EXTRAORDINARY! As soon as I hear your music - it uplifts me out of my ordinary existence into a heavenly paradise - where I feel engulfed in Love, Light, and Beauty - It stirs a deep memory of a place long, long ago - where we lived in Harmony with all of Nature, where men lived in Peace and knew that we were ALL ONE. It’s music of profound depth and vision - where it reminds us of our Goodness, and points the way to the future. Your music is the Medicine for our society: It Heals, and Directs: As the Greeks used music to mold human nature, we need the magic of your music to transform and transfigure us back to WHO WE ARE - as Spiritual beings of Love and Light.”

- Sarah Takagi, Piano Faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music, Extension: Wellesley College

“The Amazing Jellies CD arrived and all of us love it! The music is so beautiful. You can feel the dimensions and the flow which guides us back to the mystery of our own souls. You have given a precious gift to all of us. I can imagine the benefits in so many different fields. The calming and soothing influence is wonderful.”

- David and Faye Fields, Authors of Invisible Wedding: Exploring the Essence of Spiritual Partnership


Hospitals, Pain Management, Hospice

“Ruth, I consider your compositions to be beneficial and healing for both adults and children.”

- Dr. Julia Sturges, D.C.

“Ruth’s music is the perfect recipe for healing through sound and imagination.”

- Dr. Raffi Tachdjian, Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology at the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA

“Ruth, I just got my CD a few days ago, and I am loving it. I play it several times a day as relaxing music. I will be recommending it to many! At the end of March I will be leading a color workshop and will experiment with playing it during the workshop. I will also share it with my 14 year old grandson who has trouble focusing on his homework. Also a couple of massage therapists, and a friend who has a 16 year old grandson who is having a very rough time in life. Thank you!”

- Priscilla Durrell

“My sister gave her Amazing Jellies CD to my sister-in-law who has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma. She uses the CD in the car when going to and from the treatments which helps to relax her.”

- J. Koeberl

“Hello Ruth, I just wanted to let you know that my clients and I enjoy your CD. On a good but sad note, a friend/client passed away last week of liver cancer at age 42. She enjoyed the CD in our last massage session so I gave it to her to listen to at home. Her family said it was playing (she requested it) the last four hours before she peacefully died.”

- Ken St. Pierre, Massage Therapist

“I am writing you to thank you for your wonderful jellies music. When I received an email announcing your web site, my mother, who is 86 years old, was preparing to go into the hospital to have a facial tumor removed. Her speech therapist suggested that she could bring a tape recorder into the operating room to play music while she underwent the surgery. When I listened to the samples on your web site, I was astounded at the depth and quality of the music, so contacted you to see if I could get a copy quickly for her, as it was only a few days later that she was scheduled for surgery. The CD came in time, and I set up a player ear buds so they would not interfere with the surgeons. Well, she had them play the CD while she was in surgery, during recovery and almost the whole time she was in the hospital. She has played it daily since then and finds it very soothing. She was even trying to figure out how to play the themes on the piano. I have not seen her that interested in much lately, and it was very encouraging to see such interest in your music. From my point of view, I find the music vastly rich and healing. It is almost impossible to describe, but there is a warm flowing depth to it...your music is truly astounding, and I know that many others find it very healing also. I would like to order a number of copies for our non-profit organization to put in our little traveling store so we can share your wonderful music with others. I am also going to try using it in my psychotherapy practice, where I am sure it will have a very calming effect on my clients. Thank you for your work, and I can’t wait for your next ones.”

- Bert Gunn, Psychotherapist

Pain Management

“I have so enjoyed listening to the Jellies CD! I have been a practicing RN for over 25 years. My experience is vast across the continuum of life from Pediatrics to Hospice. Your music would be of great benefit in any type of health setting, but particularly for pain management. I listened to the CD while at the dentist. I do not have any local anesthesia injected because medications such as Xy locaine cause me to have PVCs. I found myself immersed in the music, feeling as if I was on a journey. It was so relaxing and clearing. The doctor had fiber optic light that projected an image of my teeth on a flat screen. He kept saying, "Look at this..." I didn’t want to open my eyes because I was so calm and peaceful. I was thinking of your CD recently when changing dressings for a patient with severe burns. Dressing changes can be very, very painful and patients that are able to practice techniques (focus/distract) experience less pain sensations. The music on the Jellies CD is so enchanting...if the practitioner understands the music, she/he can use breathing techniques or creative visualization that flow with the music. I think this would assist the patient to focus less on the painful stimuli.”

- Caro Ann Orrico, RN

“I have phlebitis. Before I put your Jellies CD on, my leg was in real trouble. But the music calmed me down to the point where I was no longer in pain. It almost makes me feel childlike again.”

- P. Gainer, age 61

“As a physician who deals with people suffering physically, mentally, and spiritually every day, I can only say how valuable an addition this music would be to the care of so many of my patients during difficult, anxious times. I look forward to working with Ruth to study the effect of music such as this on clinical outcomes of patients who are experiencing pain and anxiety in the inpatient and outpatient settings.”

- Somava Saha Stout, MD, Medical Director, Revere Family Health Center, Cambridge Health Alliance, Instructor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School