This Sunday, Follow the Sound into the Gardens
Everywhen brings song, laughter, Tibetan sound, cacao, and sunset to a private Aptos garden on August 9.
This Sunday, August 9, Everywhen is gathering at an exquisite private garden in Aptos for an evening of music, community singing, laughter yoga, massage, cacao, and a deep sound journey into twilight. Doors open at 4 p.m., with the main program running from 5 to 9 p.m. The place is genuinely special, and the program has been arranged so the whole evening unfolds as one experience.
Call it a party, a ceremony, a concert, or a very Santa Cruz answer to the question, “What are we doing Sunday?” It is a little of each.
Here is how the afternoon and evening will unfold:
The evening has an arc
You’ll arrive to welcoming music and enough time to settle into the garden. Wander a little. Find your people. Have some cacao.
A short invocation will gather everyone into the space before the evening moves through a carefully chosen progression: communal singing with Sarah MacEwan, laughter yoga with Carla Brown, and an extended performance from Kalden Kho and Ya Mei Wolf as the light begins to leave the garden.
First we open our voices, then we loosen up and laugh together. By the time Kalden and Ya Mei begin, the floor will be padded, the pillows will be out, and you can sit back or lie down and listen.
Come sing, even if you insist that you cannot
Jacqueline “Sarah” MacEwan is a licensed therapist and the creator of Singing Heals Song Circles. Her gatherings use simple chants, rounds, call-and-response, and layered songs to help people get out of their heads and back into their bodies.
No singing experience is required. You do not have to prepare anything, perform a solo, or prove that you know the right notes. Sarah builds the music gradually, giving each person an easy way into the collective sound. Her work begins with a simple belief: singing belongs to all of us, and something changes when we use our voices together. (Healing is Happening)
This is the kind of singing where the person next to you may be a trained vocalist, or they may only sing alone in the car on Highway 1. Both are welcome.
Then we laugh!
Next, Carla H. Brown will lead the gathering through laughter yoga.
For anyone new to it, laughter yoga is less about yoga poses and more about breath, play, eye contact, and the strange but reliable way that intentional laughter becomes real laughter once a group gets going. Carla has facilitated laughter yoga since 2009 in hospitals, universities, schools, hospice programs, and community gatherings. She has also earned recognition as a World Laughter Champion. (Living From Joy)
Expect to feel a little silly. That is part of the deal. Expect the room to get louder, lighter, and considerably less self-conscious.
By the end, everyone will be moving toward the floor, finding a pillow, and getting comfortable for what comes next.
Spring 2026: Ya Mei Wolf at the Everywhen in the Woods event in Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Settle In for the Sound Journey
Kalden Kho brings a remarkable life story to his work. Originally from eastern Tibet, he became a monk at age five, continued his monastic studies until age 23, and completed a three-year retreat before eventually making his way to India and later the United States. His sound experiences draw upon Tibetan chanting, traditional instruments, breath work, and decades of spiritual and cultural study. (Tibetan Sowa)
Beside him will be Ya Mei Wolf, a Santa Cruz vocalist who sings nature songs, channels ancestral sounds, and creates what she calls “prayerformances”—offerings that live somewhere between prayer, ritual, and musical performance. Her voice can feel ancient one moment and almost otherworldly the next. (Ya Mei Wolf)
Together, Kalden and Ya Mei will create an extended sound experience with singing bowls, gong, didgeridoo, chanting, and ethereal voice. You can close your eyes and lie down, remain seated in a chair, or simply watch the garden change as evening arrives. The floor will be padded, with pillows and chairs available throughout the space.
This is the slow part of the evening. No conversations to follow. No screen to check. Just sound moving through the rotunda, the garden growing darker around you, and a little time to be still.
Getting There Is Easy
We know the carpool and arrival question has made some people hesitate. You can let that part go.
Everywhen will be running continuous shuttle service from a nearby meeting point to the property and back. The private Aptos address, meeting location, and arrival instructions will be sent to attendees on Sunday.
Arrive at the meeting point, check in, and take the shuttle up. No elaborate carpool choreography required. The ride is short, and someone will be available to get you back whenever you are ready to leave.
Your ticket supports what comes next
Everywhen at the Gardens is a benefit for The Everywhen Project. Ticket proceeds help pay the artists, produce the gathering, and support the art, infrastructure, and community experiences that Everywhen is building next.
Sunday moves from welcoming music and an opening invocation into community singing, laughter, and a final sound journey as daylight fades over the garden. You do not need to arrive with a group, know the songs, or be in any particular state of mind. Just come ready to take part.
This gathering will happen once, with this group of artists, in this remarkable place. Get your ticket, bring someone you would love to share it with, and meet us at the shuttle. We’ll take it from there.
