4 Part Series: Angelika Schafer: Rising Through Trauma to Healing 🌅

Part One: 🌊 From an Ocean of Pain to the Power of Song 🎶

 “I asked, What should I do with my life? I asked with all my heart. And I heard a voice for the first time--this inner voice, like a cosmic voice. And it said healing through music."

🌍💔 Born in post war Germany, Angelika’s journey began in the shadows of trauma. After graduating from college, she left her homeland for Alaska, encountering bitter heartache and tragedy. But life had more in store for this amazing trailblazer of transformation.

Introducing Angelika Schafer, whose journey of sacred music 🎶, teaching, and healing has touched hearts and awakened souls around the world. 🌍✨ 

In this series, Angelika shares her transformative journey from her early years in post war Germany to being a global presence as a singer songwriter, teacher, healing practitioner and transformational coach.

“…It was like we were swimming in this ocean of pain.”

In Part One Angelika describes growing up in Germany in an ocean of war trauma pain, then describes life-changing experiences in Alaska--including becoming a bush pilot and the traumatic loss of her partner. She discusses the transformative power of nature, setting the stage for her spiritual awakening in Northern California through music and the importance of staying committed to the healing process.

At the end of our conversation you'll enjoy a taste of Angelika's healing music 🎵 while soaking in the wonder of how Divine Love guides her--and our, every step.

Here's the transcript from the upcoming We Be The Change podcast episode, the first of four parts of an exhilarating conversation with Angelika Schaefer and Colleen Akiko (in italics).

 Introduction: How Angelika's Healing Journey Intersected Mine

"I'm excited to introduce Angelika Shaffer. She's a generous soul who overflows with profound wisdom and global experience as a transformational coach, healing practitioner, teacher, singer songwriter, retreat leader, and more. You will hear Angelica describe her journey of transmuting the pain of ancestral and personal trauma into powerful healing--first for herself, then others through her music and other modalities like cognitive movement. Thank you, Angelika, for being here. So glad."

"Yeah me too. Thank you. We're kicking this off this new endeavor and it's wonderful to be in the start gate with you . I'm so grateful."

"Angelika and I go way way back and I want to just provide a short background in that you have stepped forward from your own pain, from trauma into a world of healing that includes music, writing, artistic expression, speaking, teaching and various healing modalities for which you have kicked the tires hard."

"I'm getting goosebumps as you say that. It's true."

"This is my experience of you. And I was just thinking this morning how I met you in a feature newspaper article before I met you in person. The article was about your healing music. Being a musician and a person who was in music in various ways all of my life, I was immediately intrigued by you because I had actually not at that point considered how broadly and deeply music could be used. And of course I was just coming in at that time to a greater awareness of frequency and resonance. So I read stories of people who had actually experienced not only emotional healing but physical healing. And it planted some seeds.

After that I met you in person at a gathering where you were one of three what were called "oneness bles sing givers," and the group went into a deep meditation together. I was blessed and it did clear a lot of confusion and blockages out of my life--of course I had to do my own work. I had to show up and be quiet, but I noticed in the quietness that things were a little different.

That's going back again quite a number of years and I did not realize at that time that you and my husband Chris were dear friends. And so we went on from there, and the the more I learn of you and the more I know you, I am so grateful for your transparency and I'm amazed at your adventurous spirit and how that is continuing to unfold."

 A Search for Answers: From Germany to Alaska

"Yes. It even surprises me constantly. So I grew up in Germany. And it was eight years after World War II had ended. My parents went through the war--my dad fought as a soldier in Russia, and my mom was a child when the city was heavily bombed. There was so much trauma and so much pain and also violence in the families.

My sister and I grew up with a lot of overwhelming pain; in the heaviness there was just no end. It was like this we were swimming in this ocean of pain. There was some violence; physical violence and stuff that was passed on of course from generation to generation and so there was a lot of trauma. And I remember being very unhappy and always wanted to get off this planet. I just felt like I couldn't handle this world. I'm sure the listeners can relate to that.

But it sent me on a search for answers.

And after college I became a teacher and got a university degree. But as soon as I had that degree, I left. And guess where I went? I went to Alaska! It's right; I wanted to! It's interesting, Germany was very regulated--lots of fences and walls still, even through Berlin there was a division through the whole country and so many rules and regulations and restrictions...

I was always a free spirit. And I felt like I was a stranger in a strange land. I always wanted to break through the barriers and I still do. I'm passionate about that! But now it's the inner barriers that I'm breaking through, and helping others to break through.

So that's the gist of my life purpose. I'm very grounded. I put everything I've got into it. I kept searching. It's been really amazing. Basically, in Alaska I was searching through nature. That healed a lot of things, the power of nature.

A Tragic Loss and a Spiritual Awakening

I did many adventures. I became a bush pilot. I was diving with the Alaskan fishing boats and you know almost died a few times. And I did construction, worked in a gold mine. . .

I did all these adventurous things, and I'm really glad I had a chance to do that in my 20s. But what happened is, my partner at that time and I were always flying around in this little single engine bush plane. I wasn't a pilot at that point yet. But he let me out one time where we lived in the gold mines, landing on this little dirt road. And then he went back up and did acrobatics. I even said to him as I got out of the plane, I'm glad you could spare me of those flip flops in the sky. I don't feel like doing that tonight.

And he went back up and he did some risky maneuvers and he crashed in front of me. So...this extreme loss and shock, and there was no therapy, there were no gurus; there was nothing!

“...when my partner crashed and died right in front of my eyes, I went searching even more deeply for the meaning..." 

I was just literally alone in the mountains in Alaska. There were some acquaintances, some friends--but nobody had any answers, Colleen.

Solace in Books

And at that time all I had was books. I had found a book I loved when I was in my teens in Germany. It was called Siddhartha. And it was about the story of the Buddha, you know, his life. And I could really relate to that. And then I also liked Hermann Hesse's books. They really spoke to my heart, and they kind of showed up like a thread to follow, like a little breadcrumb trail. And so when my partner crashed and died right in front of my eyes, I went searching even more deeply for the meaning.

I had read a book called Autobiography of a Yogi by Yogananda. And it really spoke to me as well. Then in Anchorage, walking by a bookstore, I saw another book called Autobiography of a Western Yogi and I thought, Oh, maybe that's as good as this other book. And I bought it and read it.

It was from a disciple of Yogananda who had founded an intentional spiritual community here where I still live in this area in Northern California near North San Juan near Nevada City. I went there to visit--at first as a work study, and I got introduced to yoga and meditation, which I had never heard of before. And I started to do these things.

Discovering Healing Through Music

Then I started hearing music in my head. I wasn't even much of a musician--I played a little bit of folk guitar that's it. And I heard these pieces, these songs--in Sanskrit, in German, in English... It literally was given to me as a gift. Because without the music I couldn't have survived this journey, honestly.

The music was the medicine that always kept me connected when I couldn't see  any solutions anywhere. I went through intense heartache and pain. And the music kind of guided me as a healing balm.

The Path of Healing Music

One time I sat at in a garden at Ananda in this community that I then moved to from Alaska and stayed for nine years. I asked, What should I do with my life? I asked with all my heart. And I heard a voice for the first time--I heard this inner voice, like a cosmic voice. And it said healing through music. And I was like startled to hear a voice that was so distinct. And then I asked what does that mean? And there was no further explanation.

In my little mind, I thought, oh, maybe it means music therapy. So I signed up in Sacramento University and started to enroll in music courses with the aim of getting a music therapy degree. But then I ran out of savings after two years, and I was commuting from Sacramento to Ananda; it was a long commute. Anyway, it wasn't the meaning that I thought it was. 

The music healed my own heart and it gave me the strength to go on through these dark times. And so I met many masters and saints and sages of East and West, both. I had much grace in my life--many of the Holy Mothers and other saints. I went to India many times. And they all encouraged me to keep singing from that place.

I intuitively knew how to sing from my divine place--from my divine space/source/connection. And that's why I called it healing music, because of the frequency. Even though in the musical realm there is no perfection here on earth, but the frequency that comes through is that spirit that heals all things.

And so I kept developing it--not so much consciously, but more by guidance. By inner guidance I was always taken to the next step, and the next step... And I was offered a lot of grace to be able to be a part of, for a while, the Oneness Movement, which took me all over the world. I was able to sing for many events.

So I didn't ever have to try to be a musician and hustle for gigs; I just was given.  I felt like I was working for the divine, and I was guided to where I needed to be next. That is still my experience but more strong, even more strong now."

Conclusion: A Taste of Angelika's Healing Music

To conclude Part One, let's soak in Angelica's healing music for the next three minutes before ending this episode.

(song "Kyrie Eleyson" © by Angelika Schafer; available HERE or at AngelikaHealingMusic.com)

Be sure to catch Part 2 of Angelika Schafer’s Rise from Trauma to Healing to hear her speak on Embracing Pain in Transformation. Here she'll share insights on the profound shifts in consciousness currently occurring on Earth. Angelika will also share her story of overcoming food addiction, and a recent experience that demonstrates the holistic nature of inner healing and the interconnectedness of all beings.  I so appreciate how Angelika models courageously setting new patterns in difficult times, and how she recognizes the living, co-creative relationship with the Divine in her healing work--an open door for us all. 

Angelika and I after a fun evening at a live comedy event in 2023.