We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gera Clark. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gera below.

Gera, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I was so very happy when Gera & T.M won the award for their album “Distant Lands” in the “Best In Native Heart Recording” category at the Native American Music Awards (non-Native category) this past November. It caused me to think back to when Covid hit in March 2020 and my nursing job in ambulatory care ended so abruptly. I was somehow led to go onto Facebook and to do guided meditations and playing my Native American flutes. I felt a need to remind people how to breathe in order to relieve themselves of all their anxiety and to offer positivity in the midst of those frenzied and sometimes very sad times. I realized then that we really have two choices in our lives. To lead with our heart or to lead with fear. Since those dark times, doors have opened for me through persistence and the love of the healing power of music and meditation. I never stop loving the music even though it comes with many ego challenging moments. Doing what you love and surrounding yourself with people who believe in you is really important.

Leaving my steady income was a huge risk considering I really was doing this healing and playing for no compensation. I became a teacher on the app Insight Timer and now have 1.6K followers. As you can see, my husband and I play music and I lead meditations and offer Yoga Nidras for self care. It is a never ending process of learning, being open to exploration, and testing your boundaries. Passing on what I have learned from many teachers of different traditions is what I love and continue to do whether it be music, meditation, or the age old practice of reading the map of the hand (commonly known as palmistry). Although the road may come with some steep terrain it continues to be a most wonderful and rewarding journey.

Gera , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

First off, we’re very excited to announce that Gera & T.M’s latest single, “It’s a Good Day” will be released on July 23rd, 2023! Please check it out and ‘Like’ this feel-good tune. It’ll be on all your favorite streaming platforms. Follow us and subscribe to my channels/website for more exciting news and features.

Thank you for your interest in me and my business. I have always been writing lyrics and playing music. At first, it played more of a supporting roll. I was kind of a closet artist, although I did enjoy some years of acting and improv. I then went back to school to become an RN to help my musician/producer husband after he had a major stoke. Three years later, after he died, I was naturally depressed. I went to revisit New Mexico and met a Native American gentleman sitting in his adobe in Taos Pueblo playing his Native American flute. The experience of hearing him play was so magical and then he gestured for me to come in and listen. That is how it all began. The gentlemen was John Rainer Jr., one of the foremost Native American players of the flute. That unplanned visit was the start of a long friendship. Later, I participated in a retreat that was led by RC Nakai who is possibly the greatest proponent and player of the Native American flute. I still was doing my nursing job at that time, but those two weeks in Montana, camping in a tepee (tipi) on the mountain forest floor and just playing, healed my heart so much I just kept playing through the nights.

I made an album called “Montana Crossings” by the duo NightDancers with John Sarantos. I hope to be re-releasing it very soon. That album led me to teaching at New York’s renowned “The Open Center.” The very popular class was named “Music for Peace & Inner Healing.” I still offer private lessons on my website, https://www.geraclark.com/booking-calendar/native-american-flute?referral=service_list_widget.
As I had mentioned, I just keep writing and even was honored to have my poem “Brigid’s Return” published in a compilation called “Brigid’s Light.” To date I have released 5 albums. Gera & T.M are presently involved in creating music for TV and film.

Being a singer-songwriter, a healer healing myself, I also work with people who wish to learn more about themselves and their relationship to life. I give insight to individuals through pointed conversation, reading the hand, and use of the tarot so my clients can learn more about who they are and allow for a deeper understanding of themselves and others. To learn more; https://www.geraclark.com/book-online

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My business partner is my husband. I like to tell this story because we actually met in college. T.M and I stayed in touch through the years as friends. Once in a while I would call to get some advice on which was the best musical equipment to purchase as I was delving into recording and that was his line of work. We started talking on the phone thanks to hands free cell phones, when I got stuck in traffic… still just friends. I found myself getting very attracted to him and the same was true for him. We began dating and I went to hear his rockin’ blues band “Dive Bar Dropouts.” T.M then played on my first solo album “Migration of the Soul.” By now we were communicating on a daily basis and I asked if he wanted to go to the Grammy Awards with me. He said “no”. Since “Migration of the Soul” was in several categories in the first round, I wanted to go so I made it a solo trip. He regretted not coming for the entire night I was there. The day I returned home was Valentine’s Day and he picked me up at the airport with red roses in his hand and a huge grin. Eventually the next year we both went and he surprised me in the middle of the long, red carpet walk with a song and a ring on bended knee at the Grammy Awards! I said “yes!” We’ve continued the legacy of creating and trying to balance the rocks in my head with the holes in his. All kidding aside, we are both equally stubborn and passionate so understanding each other can be challenging but when we have the finished song, show, or video done it is totally worth it! So what do you get when you marry a rockin’ blues artist with a new age, meditation artist-It’s called the songwriting team of Gera & T.M.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I have learned that everything revolves around relationships. I have spent time listening to nature and exploring its diversity…even seeing that some plants and trees have the ability to help each other…did you know that? When I was younger, I felt misunderstood and taken advantage of as a woman. My innocence began to vanish rapidly with every broken relationship. I played the victim a lot and was pretty co-dependent. I didn’t make the best choices and I felt like I didn’t have the right instructions to live a happy life. As a matter of fact, I was told as a teenager that to aspire to living a happy life was impossible and a waste of time. I was hurting alright, but I became numb to it…just as a survival mechanism. Does any of this sound familiar to you?

I was also attracted to colorful people and if they drank and partied, that was even better… but it was not healthy in any way. I was in the trap of “saving them” even though they didn’t want to be saved. I would say to myself, “They would be great if they just didn’t drink so much, smoke so much, or get so angry.” I was clueless! I didn’t really understand addiction as I do now. Recovery is a never ending process, but it is so worth it.
I have been doing spiritual coaching for a number of years. Practicing the age old science of reading hands has also given me a valuable insight as to how we tick. I love to read hands as they are connected to the brain and can record many of the experiences going on in our lives. It provides a map of who we are, where we have been, and where we might be headed. I say, “might,” because I have seen people change and their lines on their hands reflect that change. It is more of an empowering experience because you do have a certain amount of control of your destiny. Just because we are dealt a certain hand in life, it is what one does with it that can make all the difference.

I have found that it’s a priority to have a good relationship with yourself in order to have fruitful relationships with other people. I have also come to realize that if you have no personal experience with some of the trials or emotions that a person may have been through…it can make things a bit difficult…I like to remain receptive. One can struggle in their life like a caterpillar in the chrysalis does when metamorphosing into a butterfly. Then the day comes when the wings just suddenly unfurl as strong and brilliant and are ready to fly on the breeze.

Don’t give up…you can get help if you need it. Finding out you are worth it and to love yourself is huge. Plus, It’s great to be able to live a life beyond your wildest dreams.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.geraclark.com/ https://geraandtm.com/ https://www.lazygirlsyoga.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gerafluter/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gera.clark/ https://www.facebook.com/lazygirlyoga
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geraclark/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/geraclark
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gera+clark
• Other: Gera & T.M Spotify- Distant Lands https://open.spotify.com/artist/6LRyaRzAM2PmTglw4RU074?si=O8Tj9vDDSUiqHIyxsmLL4Q&nd=1 Distant Lands- Apple https://music.apple.com/us/artist/gera-t-m/1640417146 Distant Lands- Amazon https://www.amazon.com/music/player/artists/B08DWS9T9B/gera-t-m Dive Bar Dropouts-Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/4sUNo8e1G453tA7vamSV3h Brigid’s Light (book)- .https://www.amazon.com/Brigids-Light-Tending-Ancestral-Beloved/dp/1578637694/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2DRP11T05TXD&keywords=BRIGIDS+LIGHT&qid=1685112942&sprefix=brigids+light% Gera-https://www.geraclark.com/meditation https://www.geraclark.com/music Insight Timer- https://insighttimer.com/gera

Image Credits
Gera Clark, T.M Dubas, Rafael Freaner