“When you want to share with people what you know, you have people signing up.”

Susan Buller is finding her way in the culture of Iberia Parish by offering something innovative and new, Sound Bath Healing.

Susan grew up with involved parents who valued education. Fun had to be connected to learning. They put her sister Alice in tennis while Susan pursued music. She recalls, “I was emotional, unregulated. I was dramatic. Music became a way to channel my emotions, an anchor.”

Susan was a competitive opera singer in high school, making it all the way to a competition in Washington, DC. “I wanted to learn the hard stuff. Complexity of classical music was a game for me. I was focusing and practicing two hours a day.” Every Saturday for three and a half years Susan’s parents, Ken and Joyce Buller, drove her to Baton Rouge for voice lessons.

In college at Southeastern Louisiana University, she studied classical singing. There was never a conversation about music being a form of art. Music majors were expected to be a performer or a teacher.

Susan has studied the connection between our bodies to our emotions through the vagus nerve. The sensitivity of what you hear travels into the vocal cords. Anything you speak is directly tied to your emotions. Lump in your throat comes from the vagus nerve.

“I became so afraid of my voice teacher that I developed a tremolo in my voice.” Her vocal tone changed to reflect her emotions. She decided that she would not sing again competitively.

After college, Susan moved to Florida. “I was singing in church and had a music school and felt I was not being true to myself. I got to the point I was singing with a band on Saturday night and singing in church on Sunday.”

In 2013, she moved back to Jeanerette to be close to her parents and to get a new perspective. She started playing piano at Cooper Street Cafe. She started teaching yoga at The Gym. Her interests and her heart lead her to learn more about sound healing. She bought a harmonium and a harp and sought out training to play them. These two instruments are now the cornerstones of her sound healing practice.

Healthline.com defines sound healing as using “aspects of music to improve physical and emotional health and well-being. The person being treated partakes in the experience with a trained practitioner.”

Susan’s father bought her a house across the street from them in Jeanerette. She has made it into a studio she calls Bayou Lotus Yoga, Sound Healing and Meditation Studio. During the pandemic, she created videos on YouTube that are available to subscribers. She believes in being part of something that is unique and possibly cutting edge. This passion of hers keeps her here in Iberia Parish.

Communities sing together. We are connected through music. Susan knows this and uses this idea to be of service to our community. She has found that people have a longing for something that she can provide, a healing of the mind through music and meditation. The combination is powerful for emotional well-being.

Susan’s philosophy of living is grounded in gratitude.

“The basics are gratitude. The energy of gratitude is high frequency. Being grateful for where you are is enough.”