Today we’d like to introduce you to Arlyn Ruddy.
Hi Arlyn, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My passion for music began in childhood. I grew up feeling like the black sheep of my family, and with emotionally unavailable parents, music became the force that raised me. It was my language, my emotional outlet, and my first teacher. I started writing poetry at eleven, then lyrics and songs a few years later, after my Aunt put me in guitar lessons to help keep me in line.
At seventeen, my backpack filled with years of poetry and songs was stolen. It felt like losing a part of myself. Around the same time, I was emancipated, struggling to stay afloat, and I eventually pawned my guitar just to survive. I drifted away from music for years, staying connected only through drum circles and mentoring underprivileged kids in nonprofit programs where I helped them write songs, play percussion, and even choreographed movement using martial arts and street dance styles.
My true return to music came around age twenty-seven, after leaving an abusive relationship. Music became my revival. I joined bands in San Diego, wrote lyrics again, and performed with hip hop groups. But after some crushing life events, I stepped back from music and entered therapy, beginning a much-needed healing journey.
When I later moved back to Charleston to spend time with my grandmother, a series of profound supernatural experiences led me to soundbath meditation. I became immersed in studying energetics, sound, and frequency. That devotion eventually became Awaken Spanda, my transformational sound meditation practice. I now guide immersive sound journeys and trainings, integrating aspects of knowledge and wisdom I gained through my practice as a therapeutic bodyworker & energy worker, life experience and pure intuition with a wide range of sound-based instruments.
But in my heart, I always knew I would return to music with my full voice. In 2023, a friend in the hip hop community handed me a beat, and something reawakened. I wrote my first comeback song, reclaiming my story and my power. Since then, I’ve been exploring my authentic expression as a conscious female rapper and sound artist.
Today, I curate multidimensional sound experiences that weave music, dance, art, meditation, and story into synergistic alignment. My work bridges transformational sound healing with creative expression — inviting people into deeper embodiment, emotional liberation, and frequency shifts through both sound and story.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’d love to say the road has been easy, but it’s been anything but. My journey has been shaped by constant hardship, yet those challenges have forged me into an unshakable, deeply resilient human. I’ve learned that where there is vision and belief, there is always a way forward.
Doing this work requires discipline, focus, and continuous integration. I can’t guide others through transformation without being willing to feel, face, and alchemize my own experiences. That inner work is what allows me to relate to people from all walks of life. I’ve dined with celebrities and I’ve slept alongside the homeless and I wouldn’t change any of it. Those contrasts gave me compassion, perspective, and the ability to truly serve.
I carry a mission to lead a new era where the archetype of the “struggling artist” ends. For generations, artists and musicians have been trapped in systems that made struggle seem inevitable. But I’ve always felt I’m here to usher in a different way of thinking, feeling and being. I see myself as a walking permission slip for others to thrive as their most authentic selves, to choose alignment over survival, purpose over limitation.
This is more than a career; it’s a movement. And together, we are already creating the new paradigm.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I currently specialize in training others to become integral soundbath facilitators and practitioners. Through Awaken Spanda, I teach people how to work with sound, frequency, and energetic alignment in a fundamental and deeply effective way. Beyond my trainings, I also curate special sound meditation events and fully immersive artistic experiences that blend my music as GiRL, free-form dance, intuitive art, writing, and storytelling.
I’m incredibly proud of what the past eight years of Awaken Spanda have created. We have held transformative space for countless souls throughout Charleston and beyond — all while pioneering a craft that was still new to much of the southern United States. I built this work without kickbacks, without a brick-and-mortar space, and without any guaranteed income. I built it by being a devoted artist, a traveler, a student of life, and by following the call of the work itself.
What sets me apart is the fusion of my unique background, cultural depth, and lived experience. I don’t compete with anyone — I compete only with who I was yesterday. My mission is to empower others, to help them rise, and to show that we all can win. I have been consistent in my integrity, my artistry, and my purpose from the very beginning, no matter what obstacles came my way.
This new era feels like a culmination — a moment where everything I’ve lived, learned, and loved is coming together. And I’m incredibly excited for what’s unfolding in this new era
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
From a young age, I was completely obsessed with music and a rebel to the constructs of society. I was quiet around large groups but outspoken and playful with my close friends, often feeling like the rebel outcast. I grew up surrounded by boys and a couple choice girls, which shaped most of my friendships, yet I was hardly- if ever interested in “going out”. My social circle was full of camaraderie, mischief, laughter, and wildly explorative energy — a space where I could be myself even if I didn’t fit in with the larger crowd. School wasn’t always easy — I got into trouble frequently and attended a school for at-risk students, even entering outpatient rehab at sixteen. Despite these challenges, my creativity and love for writing were constants. I excelled in writing throughout my school years, earning several awards, and by seventeen, I was emancipated and navigating life on my own. Cretivity, music and self-expression became my anchor through it all.
Pricing:
- Integral Sound Training -2 Days $600
- Integral Sound Training – 4 Days $1200
- Private Sound Events $350 and up
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.awakenspanda.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awaken_spanda?igsh=MTl1amN2NzR1cnc2Yg==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1ACMJhTtFC/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@awakenspanda9495?si=mrbP5loMLS9ABd5G
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/iIL0Yo3YOXbcpAEZSo
