Master craftsman, sound alchemist and artist, Lipa City, Philippines
LJ Navera is a Filipino master craftsman, sound alchemist and artist in Lipa City, Batangas.[1] He can play more than a hundred instruments and made most of them himself: didgeridoos, handpans, Native American flutes, African djembes and shamanic drums.[1] In 2023 he built the first handpan made in the Philippines.[2]
He was never trained in music. Everything he composes and everything he plays is intuitive.[1] He is also a recognised painter and sculptor, a professional tattoo artist and an art therapy facilitator.[4] He combines them when he works with others.
He was a pioneer resident sound healer and art therapy facilitator at The Farm at San Benito.[1] He has been in recovery from depression for more than twenty-five years and works as an addiction professional and a life coach,[4] and he was the resident sound healer at the 2022 National Mental Health Summit, run by Mind You with the Philippine Department of Health.[4]
Past the didgeridoos and handpans he builds, the range runs to Native American flutes, African djembes and shamanic drums, an African kora, Persian tonbaks, a Japanese koto, harps, sitars, tanpuras, tablas, Philippine boat lutes, Russian Rav drums, Latin American and Peruvian percussion, kalimba, Tibetan singing bowls, tingsha bells, guitars, violins and Afghan rubab.[1]
Asked which heals him more, the building process or the sound itself, he said he does not separate the two. The creative process and the frequency that comes out of the finished instrument are both part of it.[1]
The handpan is a steel instrument built from two welded half-spheres and played by hand, invented in Switzerland and popular across Europe.[2] Imported ones are out of reach for most Filipino players once shipping, duties and fees are added, so LJ set out to make one they could afford.[2]
The dream took ten years. He began building before the pandemic, stopped through lockdown, and had surrendered and accepted defeat when a Russian international artist craftsman reached out to him. Together they finished the first two within two weeks.[2] "The handpan is a very sophisticated and complex instrument and requires time energy dedication and resources," LJ said. "Our journey has brought us together sharing vibrations of love, kindness, and compassion."[2]
LJ runs sound healing for holistic wellness resorts and for private groups and individuals, holds concerts, and facilitates Earth Hour, cleansing and crystal charging rituals.[1] "Frequencies (even coming from others) can shift our energy and mood," he says.[1]
A 2022 episode of the Sound Bath Sessions podcast, recorded at his home in Lipa City, shows how he plays. He opens on a handpan made with his Russian collaborator, then layers didgeridoo and handpan through a loop pedal over a mini gong and his bowls, improvising as he goes.[3]
LJ advocates for mental health and substance abuse awareness, and he has facilitated at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre.[4]
The summit ran on 25 and 26 October 2022 at Samsung Hall, SM Aura Premier, Taguig, under the banner #FindHope.[4] LJ led the Sound Healing session on day two, working with vibration, vocal and instrumental, through gongs, Tibetan singing bowls and tuning forks, against anxiety, depression and insomnia.[4] Mind You called him "a living testimony that recovery exists."[4]
Yes. LJ Navera holds the mark Henosis Certified Practitioner, awarded after an assessment by a human being against the Henosis Standard. The mark is earned, never bought, and it can be revoked.
Henosis is a global network of practitioners and spaces that remember our eternal nature, each assessed by a human being against the Henosis Standard. The mark is earned, never bought. Read what the mark means.
This entry is maintained by Henosis and written from the sources listed on it. Claims we could not source have not been made. The mark on this profile was earned by assessment and was never purchased.
Entry 300105