392 Odeya Nini’s “Free Voice” and Tanya Himeji Romero’s “Woodland Pantry”

Today on the show, I am joined by two magical women whose work has woven into my world in a special way. In the first half of the show I get to speak with Odeya Nini, a Los Angeles based interdisciplinary vocalist and composer. At the locus of her interests are performance practices, gesture, textural harmony, tonal animation, and the illumination of minute sounds, in works spanning chamber music to vocal pieces and collages of musique concrète. Her solo vocal work extends the dimension and expression of the voice and body, creating a sonic and physical panorama of silence to noise and tenderness to grandeur.

Odeya’s work has been presented at venues and festivals across the US and internationally, such as The LA Phil, Merkin Concert Hall, The Broad Museum, and MONA from Los Angeles to Australia, Mongolia, Madagascar and Vietnam. Her solo performance of I See You was included in the The New Yorker’s 10 notable performances of 2021. Odeya is also a member of the 3 time Grammy nominated ensemble Wild Up and is the founder of Free The Voice, leading vocal sound meditations, workshops and retreats exploring the transformative and healing qualities of embodying the voice.

Odeya holds a BFA from the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and an MFA in composition from California Institute of the Arts. She’s joining me by way of Zoom today for our talk, but she’ll be in Kingston soon, September 24th actually and offering HEALING VOICE OF DEEP RELEASE: A VOCAL EMBODIMENT WORKSHOP prior to Kelli Scarr’s Greater Mysteries Cave Experiences at the Widow Jane Mine September 26 and 27.

Then in the second half of the show, I am joined by Tanya Himeji Romero, a multi-disciplinary artist and energetic alchemist whose vision for over a decade has materialized in her work and devotional practices as a forest farmer, plant steward and intuitive culinary herbalist. While she believes any medium can be used to communicate our creativity, reverence and inherent connection, she is especially devoted to the realms of nourishment inspired by that which activates and attunes the inherent potential of our bodies as instrument, vessel and channel.

She has worked as a creative director in the fashion industry, as a team manager for the world’s largest wild simulated ginseng farm, in botanical product development and manufacturing, as well as a farmer and as a cook. The guidance of nature has led her home to her calling as a conduit for plant medicines to be regeneratively utilized in this world. All being is relatedness and at heart, we all desire to be heard, seen and respected. This is the reality she communicates and cultivates within her work.

Amongst other offerings here in the Hudson Valley, she is also a collaborator to Kelli Scarr’s Greater Mysteries Cave Experiences and will be offering an opportunity to nourish oneself and connect with EATING FROM THE TREE OF KIN – AN INTEGRATION NOURISHMENT EXPERIENCE on September 28th at The Bridge in Kingston. An intimate gathering of intentional co-nourishment to bridge and create greater integration in our relational field. Next up Tanya is offering sacred conscessions at the Misery Mother music and more gathering at The Local on October 24th.

Today’s show was engineered by Ian Seda from Radiokingston.org.

Our show music is from Shana Falana!

Feel free to email me, say hello: she@iwantwhatshehas.org

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372 Gargie Verma “Dhrupad, Vedic Music Medicine”

Gargie Verma is an award-winning, genre-defying artist whose voice carries the soul of centuries and the spark of modern fire. Gargie’s journey began in a traditional Vedic Hindu family in India, where she was immersed in ancient devotional music from birth. But her destiny was far from conventional. Drawn to the sounds of the world, she has traveled to over 17 countries, absorbing and collaborating across cultures, evolving into a singular voice in global music.

A rare force in today’s musical landscape, Gargie expresses her artistry through multiple powerful identities — each a portal to a different world of sound and spirit. As Halo Reminiscence, she unveils sensual, mystical pop infused with poetry and emotion. With Mama India Music, she offers sacred sound journeys rooted in Dhrupad, Nada Yoga, and rare Vedic traditions, awakening healing and presence through voice. And in her electrifying act Forbidden Lovers, Gargie fuses ancient Indian folk, Sufi, and classical melodies with English hip-hop, EDM, and modern dance music — delivering cinematic, high-energy performances that ignite the senses and turn every stage into a realm of story, rhythm, and rebellion. Forbidden Lovers is not just a show — it’s a dazzling fusion experience that turns the lamp on in the dark.

Having made her mark in Mumbai through Bollywood music and live performances, Gargie has since worked in films, cross-genre music projects, and global festivals, crafting a body of work that’s emotionally raw, spiritually charged, and artistically fearless.

Today, she is deeply rooted in the Dhrupad tradition and committed to preserving and reviving ancient, endangered musical forms from around the world. With every breath and every note, she bridges past and future, earth and cosmos.

Gargie Verma is not just an artist — she is a bridge between worlds, a living symphony of soul, story, and sound.

We talk about Gargie’s life journey, her family, finding Dhrupad, her musical projects, freedom, fearlessness, and love.  She shares some live music, and we listen to Jugni a song she recorded about the free goddess. She has a sound bath on May 9th, Forbidden Lovers is performing at the Colony on July 11th, and she holds Dhrupad classes on Thursdays and Sundays in Woodstock. You can find all that on her Instagram Accounts MamaIndia, HaloForbidden Lovers, and on Facebook.

Today’s show was engineered by Ian Seda from Radiokingston.org.

Our show music is from Shana Falana!

Feel free to email me, say hello: she@iwantwhatshehas.org

** Please: SUBSCRIBE to the pod and leave a REVIEW wherever you are listening, it helps other users FIND IT

http://iwantwhatshehas.org/podcast

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ITUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-want-what-she-has/id1451648361?mt=2

SPOTIFY:https://open.spotify.com/show/77pmJwS2q9vTywz7Uhiyff?si=G2eYCjLjT3KltgdfA6XXCA

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328 Margaret Bensfield Sullivan “Following the Sun” and Tami Lynn Kent “Wild Mothering”

In the first half of today’s show I am joined by Margaret Bensfield Sullivan, an author, illustrator, and family photo curator, whose work combines her personal passion for archiving with visual storytelling skills she honed over nearly two decades in brand marketing. Margaret was a partner at WPP’s marketing and branded content agency Group SJR, where she designed storytelling campaigns on behalf of clients like TED, Target, Disney, and USAID. She left corporate life to spend a year with her husband and two young children crisscrossing the globe, visiting 29 countries and six continents. She wrote about their adventures in Following the Sun: Tales (and Fails) From a Year Around the World With Our Kids (December 5, 2023).

Our conversation just skims the surface of the richness of her book where she details: what to consider when planning a trip like this, the pitfalls and pluses of traveling with kids, how to keep marital and family peace during a year of togetherness, and the transformative and lasting effects of time away from life’s daily routine. I love that Margaret concluded our conversation with the notion that you don’t actually have to travel the world to get the benefits from ditching the treadmill of the daily routine.

If you are interested in this type of experience for yourself and your family, in addition to getting Margaret’s book, she suggests finding a Worldschooler group on Facebook.

________________________________________________________________

In the second half of the show, I am joined by the one and only Tami Lynn Kent, a women’s health physical therapist and the founder of Holistic Pelvic CareTM where she utilizes her ability to read energetic patterns of the body to help women reconnect to their bodies and feminine. Tami maintains a private practice and an international training program in Portland, Oregon. She has authored three previous books. Her latest, Wild Mothering: Finding Power, Spirit, and Joy in Birth and a Creative Motherhood (Atria Books, May 7, 2024), is a newly updated edition of her classic, Mothering from Your Center.

I first learned of Tami’s work back in 2016 when my dear friend Neslihan lent me her book, Wild Feminine. It was a life changing read that helped me to understand some of my own conditioning and subconscious biases as well as take me down a road of deep healing and a reconnecting with my own feminine energy. Today, Tami shares about the importance of reconnecting both physically and energetically with the pelvic bowl. Beyond the healing that is possible for an individual, it’s an important collective act for reclaiming the energy of the feminine and re-establishing its value in an imbalanced patriarchal society. Tami’s idea of Wild Mothering is offering permission and possibility to do mothering and life differently, from a place not solely lead by the head, but supported and embraced by both an inner compassion as well as a greater connection to the creative resources that exist beyond ourselves. She believes that every woman at her center has a wealth of creative resources for mothering. These abundant resources can provide guidance, bring energy when it’s needed, and restore the mother-child connection. To tap into them, it’s essential for women to connect with the energy medicine in their female centers. Wild Mothering — allows women to move beyond stereotypes and create the type of mothering that both sustains their families and also feeds their mothering souls.

As a part of our conversation, she touches on the energetics of birth and the birth field, what the feminine means to her, what Wild Mothering means and how to embody it, and how all bodies have access to the healing medicine of the feminine.

“What Tami has created here is nothing short of a bible for us. Wild Mothering elevates mothering to its rightful place as the axis of culture, requiring proper due and respect and refusing to accept the invisibility and the unrecognized labor of mothers that is all too common.” Kimberly Ann Johnson

Today’s show was engineered by Ian Seda from Radiokingston.org.

Our show music is from Shana Falana!

Feel free to email me, say hello: she@iwantwhatshehas.org

** Please: SUBSCRIBE to the pod and leave a REVIEW wherever you are listening, it helps other users FIND IT

http://iwantwhatshehas.org/podcast

ITUNES | SPOTIFY

ITUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-want-what-she-has/id1451648361?mt=2

SPOTIFY:https://open.spotify.com/show/77pmJwS2q9vTywz7Uhiyff?si=G2eYCjLjT3KltgdfA6XXCA

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