Hi there, I’m Joy Hutchinson, co-founder of the Institute of Light and Joy. I am a seeker, teacher, learner and am very curious about sacred vibration! I accepted the name Joy (at the urging of some lovely trees in Findhorn, Scotland) in 2010 during a spiritual quest. The name serves to remind me everyday that I AM Joy. And so are you.

I’m passionate about sound healing through the voice because I’ve discovered I can change my own mood, the way my body feels, and my thoughts by using simple, yet ancient techniques of chanting and meditation.

I am a musician, sound healer and social change advocate who lives in the mountains outside of Santa Barbara, California. After 25 years working as a community organizer in low-income urban neighborhoods and in social change philanthropy, I returned to school at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), earning a Master’s Degree in Philosophy, Cosmology, & Consciousness. I also completed the year-long Certificate Program in Sound, Voice, Music Healing at CIIS and am a Certified Sound Healer.

I study (and play!) with the Vox Mundi Mystery School of the Voice, led by my beloved teacher, Silvia Nakkach. I hold a Certificate in Yoga of the Voice from Vox Mundi.

In January 2015, I traveled to India with Vox Mundi students to study singing with three master teachers in southern and northern India. I especially enjoy learning ragas, mantras, chants and songs in the ancient Sanskrit language, then practicing them and teaching them to others.

I have also been studying and practicing shamanic healing techniques for the last 22 years and continue to be in ceremonial spaces with circles of sincere seekers like myself. I’ve received training in shamanic journeying with the use of the drumbeat and other rhythmic instruments.

After a group performance in Auroville, India. January 2015.

I’m also co-founder of She Mob, a women-led experimental punk rock band that’s been around for 20 years. We’ve recorded four albums and I’ve written more than half of the band’s songs. In addition, I’ve written and recorded hundreds of songs on my own and I count song writing and composition as one of my strong points. I have performed on stage many times and can help coach people in performance techniques.

I still keep a foot in the social change world with the Windcall Institute, which is dedicated to nurturing and developing resilient leadership among community and labor organizers engaged in the work of social justice in low-income communities and communities of color in the United States. Windcall offers burnt-out activists a healing retreat in places of beautiful natural beauty and provides follow-up renewal programs that improve the quality, effectiveness, and vitality of social movements and the organizers who devote their lives to them. In addition, I serve as a voluntary Board member of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), a grassroots, member-led, statewide community organization working with more than 10,000 members across California. ACCE is dedicated to raising the voices of everyday Californians, neighborhood by neighborhood, to fight for the policies and programs we need to improve our communities and create a brighter future.