A Sustainable Life with Sound Healer, Dorothea Barth Jörgensen

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

Usually, after kissing my fiancé good morning, I will start my day by preparing a small cacoa, oatmilk, and mushroom blend drink (ashwagandha, reishi, and AHCC powder) before heading to our dedicated sound healing room for a time of gratitude, stillness, meditation, and prayer.

What are you having for breakfast? 

It will vary, but homemade Scandic oats with a touch of turmeric, and then avocado toast and scrambled eggs with a small side of fresh fruit, are two of my current favourites!

What’s your daily beauty routine?   

Hot and cold showers and breath work opens my heart and I feel more fully alive…a good basis for any beauty routine. I’m learning more about our gut microbiome and its role in our overall health and have started experimenting with a biome supplement from Zach Bush. Topically, I like the Weleda rose cream for kids, it’s so great for my skin, and rose water. My friend Sam created “fam botanicals”, and his chamomile oil is so nourishing for the face. 

How would you describe your day to day style? 

I do currently love everything cozy…jumpsuits, and light, natural fabrics. For my healing work I prefer wearing whites.

How do you inform yourself throughout the day? What are you listening to, watching, reading? 

Like millions of others, I love listening to podcasts. The freedom of seemingly infinite on-demand teachings and conversations is so beautiful and powerful! Lately, I am enjoying Rupert Spira’s podcast, also an Australian podcast about Vedic Wisdom called ‘Mahasoma’, and ‘Buddha at the Gas Pump’ has a fun back catalogue of guests.

As for reading, I tend to have a few books going simultaneously, right now it’s just two, I’m reading ‘Eastern Body, Western Mind’ and ‘The Sophia Code’. 

Do you have any personal life hacks for getting through the day in the most sustainable way possible? 

We started cooking more at home this past year, particularly as all of the packaging that comes with take aways seems unfortunate. This has inspired more intentional trips to the farmer’s market. I love learning how to prepare new dishes…we’re getting better and better!

How did you get into sound healing and breathwork? And how do they support you on a daily basis? 

As a child in Sweden, I grew up in a sustainable and holistically minded town based on Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy. I went to a Waldorf school and got to spend a lot of time exploring different creative expressions. It taught me to trust my intuition, and to sense the more subtle layers of my being. A beautiful decade long journey in the fashion industry slowly developed into a desire for fresh types of creation and sharing. I felt a gentle calling to hold space for people, and to more deeply explore what it means to be in “sacred” and “healing” spaces together.  I shifted many things in my life, moved to LA from NY and started my journey and education in healing and energy work, it felt natural to me, like I was coming home again. I met the right teachers, and knew that breathwork and sound healing could support many, many people to awaken and remember their hearts wisdom. 

I play the alchemy crystal bowls before I meditate to support myself on a daily basis. If I have any tightness or places in the body that feels out of balance I do some sound healing around it. I’m also using the tuning forks if I have a stiff neck or hint of a headache. Breathwork I do to balance, cleanse, and restore and nurture the body and mind. It floods the body with oxygen and, when it comes, it really helps for a smooth moon cycle.

How do you wind down at the end of the day?

I have an infrared crystal mat that I love – it’s great for winding down and savouring the good from a full day, it cleanses the body, and feels really nurturing.

What’s your night-time beauty ritual? 

It’s very simple – I cleanse my face, put light cream on and some days I put some rose body oil on, light a candle, and do a little prayer before heading to bed.

What does sustainability mean to you?

I think it starts within, each of us waking up along their journey to our interconnectedness, choosing how to see how it’s all interrelated. We have to do some soul work, to let go of our lack mentally and any hidden unhealthy attachments, the hints of any scarcity, and to continually re-release the overly prevalent consumption mentality around us.

When we awaken within, we naturally want to restore and nurture our surroundings, because we love it, we love nature, we love the animals, the plants, and the fellow human beings. I believe we will start to receive creative ideas on how to help, how to support the ecosystem and the people and animals, from a space of unconditional passion, from a burst of life force and love of life, the actions we take will then be extremely powerful and impactful.

What drives you to live a sustainable life?

My love for our beautiful mother earth, and the responsibility we all have as grown ups for our future generations. Even the most simple actions multiply and can have a huge impact on nature. Everyone is always invited to do their part and watch the improvements multiply as our priorities continue to shift towards more sustainable living.

Finally, what are three changes you would like to take from this time to move forward with in a more sustainable way?

We have a country home, and retreat space in central Sweden with land where we can grow our vegetables and enjoy our fruit trees and simply live in closer connection with Earth. We will be spending more time there with others, and we will continue to prioritise investing in experiences and in having time with those we love, as opposed to in purchasing extra “things”.  For the essential products, and for the beautiful tangible additions to life, let’s all simply commit to do our research and find those artists, people, and companies in alignment with our values, those that are authentic and consistent in both word and deed.

Words from Dorothea Barth Jörgensen @dorotheabarth

Photography by Alexandra Gabrielle @iam_agabrielle