Your guide to free self-care: 8 L.A. wellness events you can't miss in May

9 min Click here to listen to this article Share via Close extra sharing options Email Facebook X LinkedIn Threads Reddit WhatsApp Copy Link URL Copied! Print 0:00 0:00 1x This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. Who doesn’t love a seaside soundbath or a spa day? But wellness is expensive — and self-care shouldn’t break the bank. So we’ve curated a handful of free wellness activities for the month of May to keep you stretched, sane and grounded. But first: One of these events is blending wellness, culture, community and healing in an interesting way. For more than 38 years the World Stage Performance Gallery, in South Los Angeles’ Leimert Park, has presented live music, poetry, spoken word and other forms of cultural expression in its performance gallery. On May 23, it will stage its first annual Sacred Music and Healing Festival in Leimert Park. It’s an ambitious undertaking, says Executive Director Dwight Trible. The idea behind the festival, he says, is that “music is medicine.” “At a time when many are seeking restoration, grounding and connection,” he said, “we are creating a space where sound, rhythm and collective presence become tools for healing.” From scalp detoxification to digital eye strain relief, wellness reporter Deborah Vankin shares her guide to the best specialized massages in Los Angeles from head to toe. We caught up with Trible to learn more about the free event in a conversation that has been edited for length and clarity. You’ve been thinking about staging this festival for years. Why finally do so now? The time is right to do this. Democracy is just barely visible and hanging on. I think we have a rogue administration and I do believe that they’re pushing swiftly towards a fascist regime. Most people that I encounter are very, very angry about [that]. And whenever there is some upheaval in the world, or in our community, Leimert Park has always been this galvanizing place where everybody comes together to learn what’s going on, to find out what the solutions are and what the marching orders are. Usually it’s about some kind of injustice that’s happening to the black and brown community. This time we just felt that the way of counteracting the upheaval and negativity that exists currently in our country was to look at it from a different perspective: with love, compassion, faith and education. (Illustration by Robbin Burnham WACSO / For The Times) How is the festival different than a traditional music festival? It’s a wellness experience shaped through culture, where jazz, Indigenous traditions and healing arts come together in one shared space. We wanted to make it as diverse as possible. To not only have the African-oriented or African American music, but music from Mexico, Indigenous Native American music, Asian music, so people can be exposed to different forms of spiritual music. Most of the time in South Los Angeles we will go to the church and hear this sort of gospel Baptist music — and there will be some of that too — but there are all sorts of ways to express your spiritual views. So we wanted to have something that everybody can relate to. How exactly is music healing, in your opinion? We’ve all been to concerts — whether symphonic music or jazz or new age music — and we go in with one mindset and when we come out, we have a completely different disposition. I think music is one of the strongest ways of healing. Music is medicine. It’s sometimes better than taking pharmaceutical drugs. It changes your mind, your mental state, your spiritual state. When you surrender to the music it’s definitely something that’s going to transform. Music has a direct impact on the nervous system. Hopefully it will calm the body, shift emotional states and create a sense of connection. I hope that people from all over the city will come. Forget the typical “namaste” — this class explores the intersection of shadow work and vinyasa in a setting complete with deep stretches and dark sounds. What other wellness offerings will be at the festival? We have a main stage, which will have [musicians]. But there will be two other tents. In one, there will be people doing yoga, tai chi — the more physical things of peace and healing. Then we have another tent where there will be presentations on herbs and meditation and other ways of healing people’s bodies. There will be about 25 booths with other people [showcasing] healing remedies and some of the hospitals will be talking about mental health. Who will be performing? One of our founders of the World Stage, he’s a poet, Kamau Daáood. We’ll have Carlos Niño & Friends and I’m sure he’ll bring a special guest. The great pianist Eric Reed. Jimetta Rose Voices of Creation. I do progressive music and I’ll have a group playing there as well. We’ll also have people from our spoken word workshop who will be doing presentations throughout the day. There’s a store called Nappily Naturals & Apothecary in

Your guide to free self-care: 8 L.A. wellness events you can't miss in May

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