Chrysalis Coaching, Drum & Chant Circles

03/15/2026

Looking forward to hosting a Spring Equinox Chanting event next Sunday at 1pm @ Albany's Yoga Loft: 540 Delaware Ave. Albany
Hope to see many of you there!
Half of donations offered will be shared with CRSC as always 💚💜❤🧡💛💙🤎🖤🤍 Come celebrate our solidarity with Gaia & each other & learn a few songs shared from Singing Resistance 💝💞💖

01/29/2026

Celebrating MidWinter (Imbolc) this Sunday February 1st @ 1pm by leading a chant circle at Albany's Yoga Loft
(540 Delaware Ave. 2nd floor- no elevator)
Come sing in community to welcome returning light, warmth and growing solidarity!
more info: [email protected]

12/05/2020

So its December 2020 now and I think many of us are relieved to have made it this far in a year that has been more hellish for many /most of us than any we can remember. And since I keep seeing on my main Chrys Ballerano page that folks are checking out my Chrysalis Coaching, Drum & Chant Circles page, I thought I'd post something positive here for your viewing.

The best things about this year for me and probably for lots of us is that there was an uprising of solidarity among many people who are passionate about turning this country in a healthier direction- for the land, for the people, and for all beings. And many of us slowed down enough to get outside more in our gardens and surrounding landscapes to breathe the air and connect with Earth and received messages through that connection! I am incredibly privileged to be able to do both of these activities regularly- even was in the garden mulching yesterday when the temps were so much warmer than usual- and I urge us all to refrain from consuming more "crap" we don't need and supporting organizations that give access to less privileged folks who lack access to green spaces and clean air - organizations growing urban gardens and facilitating camps for inner city children to access. There are many worthy nonprofits and grassroots orgs out there. check out Yes Magazine for some suggestions if you don't know of any. They are committed to a positive future for all of us!

What Portland’s Smoky Summer Can Do for Air Quality Equity Across the Country Environmental advocates in Houston and Detroit are striking a balance between acting fast and making lasting change. Isabella Garcia | Nov 18, 2020

10/01/2020

Our last day of September. I am so grateful for all of the water here in the East even while we've been deprived of rain until today. Rain is not a scarcity like it is out west where the fires continue to burn. This month swimming became my spiritual practice. 11 days in a row of swimming outdoors in fresh water (lakes, ponds, creeks, rivers) from 9/18 through 9/28 enlivened my core, toned my muscles, hydrated my body and cleansed my spirit! I highly recommend it and can hardly wait until Springtime to begin again! All summer I've swam more than in summers past since my covid schedule has granted me more flexibility to shift my hours and work at night after swimming. I've been praying for Water to travel west and visit the Sierras and other places where wild Fire is burning~ praying for healing rain to gently end the devastation and awaken people to the power of Earth seeking balance.

02/19/2020

I am going through another period of listening to kirtan daily~ shared this earlier this week on my main page and nobody noticed so here it is again friends, for the love of it ❤️https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdjEgaND0n8

We are happy to share this professionally filmed and recorded video of Krishna Das singing "Baba Hanuman" live with you! There are lyrics in the video too, f...

01/10/2020

Bright blessings for 2020 friends and family! its been awhile since I've sat down and posted something here but I'm inspired by some unexpected happenings that are growing my wellness and joy this new year! So many of us are putting good intention into making 2020 positively transformative and I feel the magic happening in my life in small and big ways. So here's a somewhat lengthier post than usual:

Tomorrow I'll be certified as a CarePath Coach, through a program, my colleague and friend, Deb Faust, created through her work with her own family and w/support from MHANYS. I'm truly impressed and excited to share it with families coping with transitions from rehab or other challenging mental health or institutional settings. Super excited to incorporate the principles into various aspects of my work and way of being with my own family and community. I had no idea I'd get this opportunity but it showed up this week; I said yes, and my job was able to cover my tuition! Deb is encouraging me to use the training as part of my offerings as a holistic health and wellness coach since that's really what the program is based upon: supporting wellness for every individual and their "family", biological, or chosen.
I am so deeply grateful to Deb for creating this program! It is such a wonderful alternative to much of what's out there for folx and is deeply trauma-informed and culturally sensitive, based on mindful self-compassion and holding safe space for healing without judgments, agendas and clinical jargon. It resonates deeply with my spiritual path.

Also, while I was out in CA enjoying an extensive holiday visit w/my daughter Jessalyn and her partner, Chris, I took a chance and enrolled in a Pilates training that starts a month from now in Saratoga Springs. Tonight I attended my first Pilates class in years, at the Y where I teach yoga as a sub, and met a wonderful teacher who offered to support me with becoming an instructor after the training! I'm not in a hurry to do that as I mostly am taking the course for my own fitness training, but I'm so happy to know this community at the Y is just as my friend Dagny assured me it would be- very warmly supportive!

(So, yes, I am feeling super positive about 2020, despite the many horrible things going on politically that get me concerned enough to shake, rage and shout out loud!
I am holding on to hope and faith that we, the people, are coming together as empathetic beings to heal and shift the systems of oppression away from those few who invest themselves in mass misery in order to hoard their ultra material wealth; a shift to humane practices and policies that recognize the humanity in all people and the sentient nature and sacred truth of all living beings and their right to respect and dignity. So mote it be!)

Thank you friends for sharing this journey with me; in prayer and powerful solidarity! I love and cherish your subversive courage, creativity and playful ways of showing up for struggle, love, beauty, vigilance, and victory! Onward we move forward, as we honor the present moment and continue to breathe as one human family.

06/13/2019

Grateful to be invited by the Honest Weight Food Co-op to lead a drum circle for Summer Solstice: next Friday, 6/21 from 5pm-6:30pm outside the Co-op at 100 Watervliet Ave. Albany, NY https://www.honestweight.coop/