Carrie Lynn John shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Carrie Lynn, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
That is a great question and I am excited to answer! First of all, thank you Canvas Rebel and Readers for having me back! I truly enjoyed this process last year and look forward to catching you all up. I am a sound healing practitioner in Jacksonville, Florida and am most proud of building my sound healing business, “The Crystal Willow”. Do people get to see what is done day by day for my business to succeed? No. There are so many ideas of how to make it better. I am constantly working on this as well as myself. In following up with my last article, The Crystal Willow was created after I quit drinking in October of 2023. I am proud to say that alcohol does not have a role in my life anymore. It was the best decision for my family, friends, future, and me. Some days it’s about continuing education, finding a new instrument, making the sound space more serene, networking, or creating flyers for upcoming events. Other days are for going to AA meetings, having lunch with my sponsor, or taking care of the garden space surrounding The Crystal Willow. It’s this part that nobody really sees. While it may be days between new posts on my social media pages or support for others in their line of work, it may seem like I’m not interested or unsupportive, nothing could be farther from the truth. During these times, I am doing the most important work for my mind, body and soul. I am building a strong foundation, so that as my business grows, I will have all of the tools I need for success and for supporting others on their journeys.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hey Canvas Rebel Readers! My name is Carrie Lynn John and I am a sound healing practitioner in Jacksonville Florida. My mom once said, you truly find what you want to do with your life in your 40’s. I was probably around 12 when she said that. Growing up, I worked many jobs including theatre, modeling, sales, server, massage therapist, manager, event planner, film & television, circus… I wasn’t very clear on what I really wanted to do with my life. Today, I can honestly say, I know exactly what I want to do with my life. So you can probably guess what age I am now. My mom was right on!
In 2024, when I wrote my first article for Canvas Rebel, my business was a home sound studio in St. Augustine, Florida. I am very happy to announce that in 2025, my husband and I bought our very first home in Jacksonville, Fl. It is a certified Wildlife Habitat filled with beautiful gardens and a sign that was already placed at the end of the driveway. It reads: Dragonfly Cottage. This is our Sanctuary and the perfect place for The Crystal Willow.
To give you a good idea of a day in the life of sound healing from my perspective, I start by booking a sound bath session. This could be a private session at The Crystal Willow home studio, or a group session at another location. No matter what, I always begin with a Native American sage practice, known as smudging, which has proved its benefits time and time again. I begin my ritual by cleansing the crystal bowls and all other instruments with a piece of white sage in an abalone shell. All windows open, I light the sage and direct the smoke with a feather, asking for any negative energies to leave the space. This step is so important because many of my guests have a lot of different energies that need to be released. The crystal bowls and other instruments receive these energies. So if there happens to be any negative energies, it’s very important to remove them. This way the instruments are cleansed and ready to receive from guests in the next session. After the negative energies are removed, I come in with a bundle of what I call “Happy Sage”! This is where it gets fun. The music turns up as I light this sage and dance around the instruments and space. I’ve always had this fun and happy nature about me and never knew what to do with it. Now I do! I transfer all of my happy energy into the bowls in hopes that my guests will receive this type of energy. To end my ritual, I light Palo Santo (Holy Wood) to bless the space, instruments, and my Chakras, asking to receive what I need to receive so that I can give what I need to give. If it’s a sound bath in another location, I then pack up all of my equipment, sometimes with the help of my wonderful husband, and travel to share the love. If the session is at The Crystal Willow home studio, I set up the space with either yoga mats on the floor or zero gravity chairs. An important part of a sound bath is to be as comfortable as possible. It’s nice to add pillows, blankets, eye covers or anything else that adds to my guests’ happiness. I then set up my instruments which include, crystal bowls, Himalayan bowls, water disc, Koshi chimes, seedpod chimes, wind wand, thunder tube, tingsha bells, the gong, the drum and different size mallets for a variety of sounds. The collection grows!
Once everyone has arrived, we get comfortable. The most important aspect of my practice is holding space with intention. I always take the time before and after the session to make everyone feel welcome and seen. Then I will begin playing with sound as we all breathe together and decompress from the day. Sometimes I will lead with a meditation, or we create an intention. Sometimes we will just breathe and continue with the sound. Every sound bath is different. The type of sound bath I share is called Sound Nidra, which takes you through different layers, resembling a journey. At first it’s light and harmonic with crystal and Himalayan bowls. This creates vibrations that help slow brain waves, encouraging deep meditative states. Then I move to the emotional layer, creating dissonance. This is a great time to use one of my carefully picked songs from my sound bath playlist. The subwoofer and speaker I use create a vibration so deep, you can feel it throughout your entire body. As the speaker fades away, I keep building it up by traveling the room with sounds of nature, chimes, or drum. Then we make it to the bliss layer. The gong is really nice for this space as well as the water disc. It truly is the instrument choosing what is needed for the guests in the space at the time. I like to end by playing my crystal bowls in a harmonious way, working from the Crown Chakra down to the Root Chakra, ensuring that my guests will be nice and grounded.
Once the session is complete, I love to sit with everyone in the room. We either talk about the experience or we sit in silence together, beaming from the many benefits the sound bath has provided. Sometimes guests will like to stand in the large Himalayan grounding bowl. As I strike the bowl with a large mallet, the vibrations travel up and through the body. This is a wonderful sensation and is a different experience for each person! If the session is at The Crystal Willow home studio, we typically step outside by the pool and gardens to sip tea and watch the sunset. Guests are also welcome to relax in the steaming waters of our Caldera Marina Spa!
The benefits of sound healing may include: Reduced stress and anxiety, deep relaxation, pain relief, sound sleep, removal of blockages and toxins from the body, help to recover after an illness or trauma, help to recover from addiction, balance both hemispheres of the brain, promote stillness, happiness, and well-being. If you have never had the experience of a sound bath, I encourage you to try MANY! The beautiful thing about this practice is that every sound healing practitioner is different. You may receive other types of experiences from different practitioners.
For now, my goal with The Crystal Willow sound studio is to make it as serene as possible. My husband and I have 300 salt bricks on the way! We will use these bricks to create an LED salt wall fireplace. This year, I would like to invest in bulk blankets and pillows, mats with logo, and have more of a social media presence. My long term goal for The Crystal Willow is to purchase commercial property and create a dome shaped building. With this I will not only experiment with sound and vibration, but with sight, smell, touch, and possibly taste. I am very excited to see how it will turn out. I hope you are too!
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
The very same person I am most proud of in my life. My Dad! When I was little, I used to follow my daddy around so much that I ended up with the nickname “Shadow”. I especially loved following him outside in the yard while he was gardening and mowing. I am sure that my green thumb came from him and his beautiful mother! Now 27 years sober, my dad told me recently that he always knew that I would quit drinking. He saw me before I could see myself. He is and always will be my inspiration!
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
The defining wound of my life was losing my mother to brain cancer in 2003. It was a horrible outcome for our family, especially for my brother, sister, dad, and me. At the time, I thought I was healing myself by drinking the pain away. 21 years later, I finally grew up. My husband and I found a great outpatient program where we lived at the time. This is where sound healing found me. I experienced my very first sound bath session there and knew that sound healing was what I wanted to do with my life. 2 years later it is still my passion. I want to help others who are also going through tough times. If you are reading this and you think you may need a change in your life, I encourage you to reach out for help. If you don’t have the funds for therapy, I suggest finding a local AA meeting. It’s a little change that could turn into a big new life. I don’t think I will ever be healed completely from losing my mom. It’s about progress, not perfection. My way of living now has improved tremendously! I begin my days with gratitude, prayer, meditation, and intention. Sound healing, the Twelve Steps of AA, and spending time with my wonderful family and friends continues my healing journey. Our mom lives on in our hearts, our memories, and through us. I know that she can see me now and that she is proud of me! She is proud of us all.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
No matter how long it takes, I will have what I really want for The Crystal Willow. A commercial building somewhere special, surrounded by Earth but can also be seen when driving by at a distance, just barely. Just enough for someone to look over and think, what is that? The building shape I have in mind is like a planetarium. A beautiful dome top full of vibrant color. Everything on the inside is created for sound travel, human connection, and pure relaxation. It may have a salt floating pool or a lazy river, different comfy areas to lie down for sound baths, and a spectacle for the eyes, ears, nose and more! I will always be committed to the harmony of The Crystal Willow and coming up with new ways to help people manifest their intentions!
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I can honestly say that I am doing what I was born to do! I did what I was told to do for 42 years. There were great times and there were not so great times but it was always for someone else’s dream. In these past 2 years, my dream has come alive! I have helped so many and worked with others to share the knowledge of sound healing. I look forward to learning all that I can about sound and vibrational healing and watching my business, The Crystal Willow, grow. You can achieve a lot when you are feeling your best self. It is my goal to help others by putting them in this great mind space. Imagine what we could come up with together?
If you are reading this and have attended one of my sound bath sessions, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for believing in me. It gives me the greatest pleasure to share what I have learned and watch the miracles of healing unfold.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thecrystalwillow.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.crystalwillow
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCrystalWillowSoundJourneys
Image Credits
Stacey Anjanette Photography by Stacey Anjanette Hasty
