Photography by Stephen Buchanan
Stacee Johnson gets peppered with the same question over and over: “When is your next class?” by those asking about the sound meditation classes she teaches for the Wellness House of Annapolis on the second Wednesday of every month. Her class participants include cancer patients who get emotional support from the Wellness House, along with their caregivers, and friends and family members.
Sound meditation is aimed at attaining focused awareness by using exotic instruments, including chimes, crystal and Himalayan singing bowls, and, in her case, a 36-inch wind gong. The 45-year-old also sings during the classes, which accommodate up to 15 participants.
Many of the attendees are dealing with depression, grief, anxiety, and insomnia. “It just puts a smile on their faces,” Johnson says of her music. “It can bring back good memories they have forgotten about. It also helps with sleep. It’s great to just hear people say they had a good night. All those beautiful things just keep me going.”
There was a reaction from one class participant that’s etched in Johnson’s mind. It made her realize the deep impact she was having.
“A lady told me she had been struggling with finding an answer to a problem,” Johnson says. “And she had been struggling with it for years. During the meditation, the answer was revealed. She came out of the class crying. They were tears of joy because she finally realized what her next steps were going to be. It’s a joy to know the impact that this has on people.”
The staff at Wellness House appreciate her dedication and adaptability. Johnson has been holding classes for five years and the pandemic didn’t stop her.
“We have a lot of practitioners that are continuing to offer their support,” Wellness House Operations Manager Nikki Malatesta says. “But there were others that are, like, ‘Yea, we are not going to do Zoom because it’s not our preferred method.’ Stacee has been very flexible in that regard.”
Before starting her practice, Johnson, an Odenton resident, worked for 18 years as a financial analyst. Johnson first began practicing yoga in 1999 as a way to relive her migraine symptoms and stress. She became certified after completing 500 hours of training and then opened her own practice in 2013.
When she started volunteering at the Wellness House, her classes were only yoga. Later, she added sound meditation and that’s what she teaches now.
“My whole aim is to create a beautiful landscape of sound that people can dive into,” she says. “It just takes them away from reality, even if it is for a short period of time.”
Johnson says that one of the beauties of sound meditation is that the participants really don’t have to do anything, other than relax and get comfortable. It’s a passive process with no movement involved. “You just shut your eyes and listen,” she says
It was a personal experience that led her to volunteer. In 2005, her mother was diagnosed with a rare form of sarcoma cancer, which proved fatal.
“Cancer has impacted my family in different ways,” says Johnson, noting her father had prostate cancer and her maternal grandfather suffered from colon cancer. “It’s not just my family. It is rampant in the country.”
It was these losses that inspired her to volunteer. “I thought it was a noble idea to serve the people of the community who are dealing with cancer in some way, shape, or form,” she says. “And not just the individual, but also their families, their caregivers—anybody who is impacted. When I visited the house for the first time, I thought, ‘This is a good fit.’ It just felt good.”
Wellness House Executive Director Mary Jermann says Johnson’s contributions are invaluable.
“She brings her talent in a way that heals people,” Jermann says. “That’s her generosity and spirit. She just continues to give.”
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