A New Day @KateSutherland

A New Day

Kate Sutherland 2017-02-10 | Rise to greet you
Sun you bring your rays
I sing my gratitude
to witness such a stage~
the sacred birth
of a new day

Song and poem by Kate Sutherland
Beautiful sunrise photos by Susan Oling

~
Living from Heart
www.katesutherland.ca

IF I HAD by Kate Sutherland - Teaching Breakdown

Kate Sutherland 2025-09-11 | If I had one day
in this world to live
it would be alright
it would be alright

If I had one gift in this world to give
it would be my heart
it would be my heart

Love is the work of my hands
Love is the work of my hands

May I make the most of my life every day
I am blessed with this heart
with these hands

#songmedicine

ONLY LOVE CAN DO THAT - by Kate Sutherland - Song Teaching Breakdown

Kate Sutherland 2025-09-11 | "Darkness cannot drive out darkness

Only light can do that

Hate cannot drive out hate

Only love can do that."

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." -Eleanor Roosevelt

SACRED WOMAN - Singing together is a beautiful and powerful thing! #harmoniouschorale #songmedicine

Kate Sutherland 2025-06-15 | ...

SACRED WOMAN with Verses - by Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2025-05-12 | Sacred Woman is a well-travelled song that is absolutely complete as it is. Recently verses came to me for this song, which allow the classic song to be the chorus. Consider this an extended variation for when you're feeling more wordy 😊

Sacred Woman I am
with bare feet I walk across the river stones
Water in my blood and the earth in my bones
I tend the fire in my heart so I am never alone
Sacred Woman I am

I am one woman I have one voice
Two hands to tend and two eyes to see
I cry my grief and I sing my joy
The beauty of creation moves through me
Moves through me

I am a sister to many
I am a citizen of the wild world
I am a daughter of the changing moon
A keeper of the dream and stories of old
Stories of old

I remember my power
I remember my worth
I remember that I belong
I'm a woman of the earth
A woman of the earth

ROOTED THROUGH DARKNESS version2

Kate Sutherland 2025-04-03 | ...

ROOTED THROUGH DARKNESS #acapella #communitysinging #medicinesongs #harmony #songmedicine #mantra

Kate Sutherland 2025-04-03 | ...

PATIENCE CHILD by Kate Sutherland #acapella #communitysinging #harmony #medicinesongs #songmantras

Kate Sutherland 2025-04-03 | ...

SOARING EAGLE - Kate Sutherland #acapella #medicinesongs #eaglesong #songmantra #communitysinging

Kate Sutherland 2025-03-13 | ...

WEEK 46 Pray, Practice Love Teaching Breakdown

Kate Sutherland 2025-01-22 | ...

AWAKE YOUR WILD - Kate Sutherland Live at the Friends House

Kate Sutherland 2025-01-03 | Enjoy a little snippet of my more recent workshop in Toronto! I look forward to singing with you soon....

Check out my pop-up choir for 2025 at www.katesutherland.ca/songfire-choir

#songmedicine #singforjoy #songfirechoir #katesutherlandsongs

instagram @katesutherlandsongs

OOH HEYA - Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2024-06-02 | #songmedicine #medicinesongs #healingmusic #healingsongs #mantras #musicalmedicine #slowdown

JOURNEY FAR - Kate Sutherland #songmedicine #medicinesongs #communitysong #musicalmedicine

Kate Sutherland 2024-06-01 | ...

TEACH ME TO SLOW DOWN - Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2024-05-29 | Roots holding ground
be my deep foundation
teach me to slow down
with solidness and patience

branches in the sky
reach into forever
teach me to slow down
with lightness and surrender

standing stone
the world around you changes
teach me to slow down
with humour and with faith in
all life, all life, all life

Teach me to slow down
slow down down down
go slowly, so slowly
slow down, slow down

#songmedicine #healingsongs #songmantra #slowdown

OPEN ARMS, OPEN HEART - Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2024-04-03 | I will love with my arms open
I will lead with an open heart

I will follow
Where the light leads me
May I always have the courage to walk that way

#songmedicine #mantras #healingmusic #medicinesongs #communitysong

Pray, Have Faith, Surrender

Kate Sutherland 2024-03-26 | I have faith I surrender
I pray for loving kindness
I pray for joy and peace
The fortitude to carry on

I pray
to be brave
to be strong
to have faith

#songmedicine #healingmusic #mantras #communitysong

(flame video by Janaka Dharmasena, sourced from Pixabay)

THE OCEAN AND THE STARS by Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2024-03-20 | Oh in my soul, there’s a living dream
I know where I come from
The ocean and the stars
Oh with my heart, I will pray for peace
We all come from the same place
The ocean and the stars

#songmedicine #healingmusic #mantras #medicinesongs #healingjourney #rememberwhoyouare

SONGBIRD STAY by Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2024-02-25 | I think we're just past it now, but dang, there were many many weeks in a row of grey skies this winter in Ontario! My soul craved the sun. I went outside one morning and heard a chickadee's mating call and it warmed my heart with thoughts of spring. Lifted my spirits in a similar way the sun does when it finally peaks out from behind seemingly endless clouds.

Lyrics:

Oooh the days are grey
the sun feels far away
The days are grey
and then I see a song bird
a pretty little songbird
on my window sill
Songbird, songbird, stay

ALIGNMENT by Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2024-02-16 | I breathe in
I am one with everything
I deeply breathe

I breathe out
prayerful intention
for the tracks I leave
I deeply breathe

Outer expression
inner refinement
with body, mind, spirit and heart
in alignment

#medicinesongs #songmantras #breathing #healingmusic

BE STILL NOW - Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2024-01-28 | Slow down, slow down
be still now
I take my time
take in what's around me

I invite deep stillness
and a quiet mind
I clear my head to fill it
with this moment in time

I will stand in wonder
curious and alive
I breathe into the oneness
I am when I arrive

#healingjourney #healingmusic #mantras #songmedicine #stillnesswithin #stillnesspractice #quietmind

QUIET WINTER - Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2024-01-25 | quiet winter
still and dark
my dreams are resting
in my heart

blanket of snow
cover my soul

#healingmusic #medicinesongs #songmedicine #mantras #wintersongs
#snowsongs #rest

WILD MOON - Kate Sutherland #songmedicine #griefprocess #healingjourney #fullmoon

Kate Sutherland 2024-01-25 | Snow come down
more than a blanket
it is a burial shroud
I let go relax my hold
on past protectors
who are now only holding me back

and now I will say no
time after time
and you'll keep pleading
I won't forget the safe place
that you showed to me then
thank you
but I'm healing now

#medicinesongs #mantras #goodintentions #griefprocess #healingjourney #healingmusic

BURIAL SHROUD - Kate Sutherland

AWAKE YOUR WILD 🔥 Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2022-12-17 | Open up your heart and be free
you've got to get into your body
yeah, move your body

Go, get outside!
Find your soul,
lose your mind

Awake your wild
Sacred Child

WORTHY - Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2022-12-17 | ...

BEAUTY TRAIL - by Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2022-12-01 | BEAUTY TRAIL

Walk walk walk the beauty trail

Leaves fall

Skin shed

Ouroboros chase your tail

There is light

There is dark

There’s the path I choose

Lessons learned

Fires burned

Try again, try and fail

From dream to vision to heart- take root

Drop seeds upon my womb

I reach my arms to the sky open wide

Feet grounded on a path that seeks the truth

Rebirth, rebirth, rebirth myself

Every cycle reveals a need to grow and to heal

A tender child of authenticity

leads with grace and imperfection

You’ve seen my strength

I’ve hidden my shadow

But I need to rest, make room to feel

Be at home in this vulnerability

and find deeper connection

I am on The Beauty Trail - I am walking

I am on The Beauty Trail - keep on walking

Walk walk walk the beauty trail

Leaves fall

Skin shed

Ouroboros chase your tail

Celebrate - by Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2022-11-29 | Celebrate
Celebrate each day
the sun rises once more
Celebrate each day
We are so provided for

Dark Days of November - by Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2022-11-29 | This time of the year calls me into deep reflection on the past year, to celebrate the work and the harvests of the growing season, to acknowledge and be grateful, to release, to ready my heart for winter.

In the dark days of November
Fallen leaves covert the ground
I will be still
I will listen, yeah
I will lay my burden down

In the dark days of November
vibrant colours fade to grey
I will stay here
in my quiet heart
to remember and to pray

A New Morning - by Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2022-11-29 | I recorded this one with my pjs still on-- it's a great mantra to sing even before getting out of bed ☀️

Awake
awake to a new dawn
a new morning is here
a new morning is here

Awake to a new day
the gift of a fresh start
I can choose the way
that I will walk, yeah

Kung Fu Stone Break - Kates Black Sash Test

Kate Sutherland 2022-11-26 | Grand finale of my test for Black Sash, November 2020... breaking the stone.

The Way Is Open

Kate Sutherland 2022-11-26 | ...

The Way Is Open - Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2022-11-25 | The way is open
I release self-doubt
I release my hold
on what's holding me back

My Life is Beauty - Kate Sutherland (sketch for upcoming album release)

Kate Sutherland 2022-09-03 | ...

KATE SUTHERLAND Snow Falling Lullaby on Piano

Kate Sutherland 2022-01-19 | A revisit of an older multi-layer vocal song, this time single voice on piano.
Visit www.katesutherland.ca/music-store to listen to the original.

LYRICS:
Snow falling down
blankets the earth
there is a purity
in the quietest of sounds
I turn my face
towards this certainty

I feel the light
I spin around
crystals of white
drift to the ground

Snow falls with grace
upon my heart-- a silent settling
it's Winter's embrace
and it slows me down
I focus inwardly

I feel the light
I spin around
crystals of white
drift to the ground

Standing in Joy Book - FUND THIS AMAZING PROJECT!

Kate Sutherland 2022-01-16 | This video is a description of my latest creative project, and a call-out for support in getting it out into the world.

Support me on Indiegogo: indiegogo.com/projects/stay-in-joy-book/x/12892037

I am conceiving a book. My vision is to gather a collection of peoples’ passions and practices for staying grounded and staying in/coming back to joy during challenging times. I believe potential readers will benefit from hearing other peoples’ experiences, practices, stories, and simple wisdom for staying sane, knowing joy, staying grounded, and maintaining an overall positive outlook amidst uncertainty and difficulty. Ways that we can help each other, especially now as we find ourselves 2 year into a global pandemic experience.

Click here to purchase your copy in advance! indiegogo.com/projects/stay-in-joy-book/x/12892037

Dont Fall Asleep - Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2020-05-02 | A song for staying strong on the heart path, staying awake.

For the full Hope's Starlings Choir album visit www.katesutherland.ca/music-store
(The digital album is currently available at a pay-what-you-can rate)

Don't Fall Asleep my child
even as you close your eyes tonight until the morning
I pray you rest your body well
keep your heart channel open to what you know already

You are a child of the Earth
born already knowing what you're worth
You know who you are
You know who you are

Keep your eyes open my child
Even as they rock your cradle
soothe you into slumber
May you train your spirit well
be alive in your body
don't let them lull you under

You are a child of the Earth
born already knowing what you're worth
You know who you are
You know who you are
You know who you are

Walk of the Wild Ones - Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2020-05-02 | A song to remind us of our resilience!

For the complete album: www.katesutherland.ca/music-store

Lyrics:

Follow the Walk of the Wild Ones
Into the woods and the darkness
Rebirth the ways of the Ancient Ones
Whose tracks were washed away in blood
It falls to us now to open up
And taste beyond what we've been fed
Take up the Phoenix fire of cleansing change to light the path instead
Step by step through the unknown
I'll be your light and you'll be mine
In darkness let Love light the way
To feed the soil of changing times.

Beekeepers Song

Kate Sutherland 2019-08-09 | A shout-out to the Beekeepers of the world who tend these beauties with a true Caretaker's heart. Thanks for the good work you do.

As you'll hear, this song is meant to be sung with harmonies and in rounds, so have fun with it!

Lyrics:

I am a Tender of Bees
Buzz of Wingsong fills the Sky
They shall keep their Honey
And I'll keep a Garden for them 'til I die

www.katesutherland.ca

Dont be Afraid

Kate Sutherland 2019-07-31 | I had a dream last night
Woke up in the silver light and stepped outside
Grandmother Moon am I glad to see you
I know the path, I just don't know what to do
That's when she looked into my eyes
said you'll never get there if you don't ever try

Oh my Beloved
Don't be afraid
To dive into darkness and makes some mistakes
Don't be afraid, don't be afraid
Because it's time it's time it's time
It's time to be brave

When I'm clearing out my river and I dig out a stone
There's always something there that wants me to leave it alone
Something not so pretty that's afraid of the light
Can I love it to Surrender?
I'm so tired of fighting
Can I look into my own eyes
Accept who I am on the out and the inside?

Oh my Beloved
Don't be afraid
To embrace all the beauty that's buried in shame
Don't be afraid, don't be afraid
Because it's time it's time it's time
It's time to be brave

Oh my Beloved
Don't be afraid
Lean into discomfort, examine those chains
Don't be afraid, don't be afraid
Because it's time it's time it's time
It's time to be brave

Oh my Beloved
You hold inside
All that you need to shine and to thrive
Don't be afraid, don't be afraid
Because it's time it's time it's time
It's time to be brave

Grief Warrior

Kate Sutherland 2019-03-18 | This song is a shout out to people who are in the practice of expressing Grief on a regular basis, for the good of us all. Only through embracing our grief and letting it move in us can we begin to experience the full depth of all of our emotions and the richness of living. It is part of us, as it is present in all the world. May all of humankind recognize the value of this major aspect of being fully alive and stepping into the vividness of our potential.

Wake up to What You Are

Kate Sutherland 2019-03-14 | Came to me in a dream (the part in quotations is in raw dream format). Lyrics:

Heard a Dream Bird sing a thing or two
"There exists a Truth that is truer than true
And there's a You that's you-er than you in that Truth,
So wake up to what you are."
Wake up, wake up to your Beauty,
Wake up, wake up to your Beauty
Wake up, wake up to your Beauty
Wake up to what you are

Cosmic Breath

Kate Sutherland 2019-03-12 | A song about the life force of the universe, air we take into our lungs, star food, which animates all living nations.

Meant for 2+ voices, to be sung layered.

Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe light from the stars
Into my body
The Cosmic Gift of animation
Breathe all the way down through my toes
Where fire meets water
(Breathe) and give rise to Earth as all Living Nations

Feel First by Kate Sutherland LIVING FROM HEART

Kate Sutherland 2019-02-26 | This three-part song arrived while at was at Riversong, a gathering hosted by Sing for Joy in southern Ontario this past summer. It is about giving more weight to the voices of Heart and Intuition. While the mind is a very useful tool, it is meant to assist the heart in the carrying out of its spiritual knowing of the right path. In the dominant culture where I live, it's more common to hand the reigns of decision-making over to the mind, which leads to fear-based life choices and constant worry about the trivial.
This song is a reminder to make that transformation from Mind to Heart and Spirit dominance in our daily conduct.

Dont Fall Asleep

Kate Sutherland 2018-07-21 | An acknowledgement of the unconscious wisdom babies are born with, a sense of belonging, a pureness of Being. This song also carries for me a quiet grief, that as we grow, we tend to forget this, we fall asleep. Some of us may never wake up again. Good luck on the journey, my Brothers and Sisters.

Don't fall asleep my child
Even as you close your eyes tonight
Until the morning
I pray you rest your body well
And keep your heart channel open
To what you know already
You are a child of the Earth
Born already knowing what you're worth
You know who you are

Oh World of Green ~ Kate Sutherland

Kate Sutherland 2017-07-29 | This song comes along with a shout-out to the organizers of the Heartwood Gathering, which celebrates the plant world and herbal work in all its medicine and mystery, and the elders and wisdom-holders who pass this priceless knowledge down for the future generations. The gathering was held in Ganaraska, Ontario this year (2017).

Oh World of Green

Oh world of green
of medicine and wonder
canopy of leaves
that I take shelter under
boughs hanging low
with fruit that's flourishing
blankets of weeds
to heal and nourish me

Spirit of the Ancient Ones
you've been around longer than I
honoured elder wisdom
our roots are timelessly entwined
Oooohhh

Oh World of Green

I Stand Still

Kate Sutherland 2017-07-29 | This video is a self-portrait of those moments I spend transitioning from action into quiet mind space... the sweet little human challenge of settling into stillness, inviting my busy mind to get out of my own way.

I Stand Still

In that place between
when I'm awake and when I dream
light visits me
I let visions wander
tell my hands to hold them lightly
so I can see
Still the pool I lie beside
my reflection clear, to deep within
when I move the ripples blur
call my mind back to the surface--
my human skin

Can I stand still
when the earth is moving
I stand still
and the earth is moving

Clarity in snatches
Oh my simple mind tries to catch it
hold it there
Give over to Spirit
so much easier to hear it
Get out of your own way
I hear the True One say

Can I stand still
when the earth is moving
I stand still
and the earth is moving

WEEK 52 Death Lights the Way

Kate Sutherland 2017-01-24 | Coming full-circle with this creative challenge of writing one song every week for a year is flooding me with a mix of feelings. Extreme pleasure in the success of birthing so many new song (sketches) into the world. Joy and humility at having had the process witnessed by and shared with you all. Grief that it's come to an end. Uncertainty and excitement as to how to carry the lessons and momentum forward. Gratitude for the accountability aspect that has really charged me with utilizing the gifts I walk with in this world. Gratitude also for the deepening of my understanding of what my music means to me, how it serves me in countless ways. Determination to continue on this path, and to forge new ones, that inspire me to access and draw from my own spirit-given tool-set for moving things through, processing.... life, and all it brings.

This week's song is a full-circle song, re-visiting the theme of life coming from death. Newness being born of the old, so that the two are barely distinguishable, they're just part of the same universe of living Spirit and its endless cycles.

I wonder about how life and death would be understood without the perception of time. Maybe they would be the same thing; rather than as opposite-pole-perpetuators of change, movement and growth, they might be perceived in their purest form: Life. Spirit itself.

Light the Way

The last breath
of a dying bird
becomes the wind
that carries the seed

The final flutter
of her wings
fans the fire
that rages through the decay

The light that fades
from her eyes
is the Spirit
that illuminates a long-forgotten darkness

Death lights the way
Death lights the way
Light the way
Light the way

WEEK 51 A Little Birdie Told Me

Kate Sutherland 2017-01-15 | This week's song is an upbeat little ditty. It's about Quiet Mind, and how when we're in that state, the feeling of oneness with all can be re-discovered. A grounding, connecting thing.

A Little Birdie Told Me

A little birdie told me to be still,
and when my mind was quiet I could fly
soaring through the endless blue I had new eyes
and all the world around me was inside

Over the river and through the woods
to a clearing where the fire burned
all life to ashes, and I understood:
to this state of oneness everything returns

WEEK 50 Temple of Fire

Kate Sutherland 2017-01-09 | The time has come to turn your heart
into a temple of fire
Your essence is gold hidden in dust
To reveal it's splendour you need to burn
in the fire of love
~Rumi

WEEK 49 Gotta Move This

Kate Sutherland 2017-01-02 | This song is about singing, dancing, praying and standing to keep things moving. when I'm up against a block, feel myself stuck (especially emotionally), song is usually my first go-to tool to just shift things a bit, shake things up, physically start to dislodge that lump in my throat or the knot in my chest. It helps. It works. We all have our tools, or are in the process of discovering them (so stick in whatever verb fits for you when singing this song-- yell, swim, paint, run, play, etc). Using those when it's called for is a whole other thing--- getting past ego, and/or mustering up the energy are challenges I find myself struggling with in those moments when I know exercising my gifts would be of benefit-- maybe you can relate.

This song is a little reminder of that-- use those tools! Maybe at this time of New Year's resolutions, it's particularly good to remember to assess the gifts we have, shake the dust off, and put them into practice.

Gotta Move This

Brother take my hand
sister take my hand
stand up
call in the light--
it is time.

It's time to sing
It's time to sing
gotta move this,
gotta move this

It's time to dance
It's time to dance
gotta move this,
gotta move this

It's time to pray
It's time to pray
gotta move this,
gotta move this

It's time to stand
It's time to stand
gotta move this,
gotta move this