27 Dec Music, Mantra & Yoga
We are music! Life is Music! We are rhythmic with the beating of our heart, the pulse throbbing in our wrist head & stomach, our circulation, the working of the whole mechanism of our body. Music and sound can help us move beyond our limited sense of self to the realm of infinite love, compassion and connectedness.
Music can bring us back into a state of harmony. From dis-ease to ease. Illness is in-harmony – physical or mental in-harmony. Sound in its purest form can promote healing at the very deepest level of being. The sacred and medicinal uses of sound can be traced back at least to the third millennium B.C.E. A wealth of scientific evidence points to the healing power of sound.
We are living in such fast, hectic, chaotic anxiety ridden times. We need to return to the healing power of our true nature. MUSIC.
Since I discovered Mantra music and chanting my life has significantly changed. It has helped me overcome PTSD symptoms and has completely changed my life and the music I choose to listen too on a daily basis. Since I started singing Mantra music I have activated my voice and my confidence has grown and my overall mood and disposition have shifted into a more calm and spiritual realm. I notice the power of Mantra music on my daughter’s mood if she is unsettled or irritated I put on some Mantra music and almost instantly she calms down and her behavior shifts into a more peaceful state.
Singing Mantra’s harmonize the mentalfield drawing our consciousness into a state of stillness that is inspirational. Our voices and musical instruments are like tuning devices that enable us to be both the healer and the healed. We all have the power to do this for ourselves however it is quite common for people to be embarrassed or shy to use their voice or attempt to play a musical instrument out of fear. Singing and chanting together in a group is a great way to start to Mantra music is written in Sanskrit language. Sanskrit language tells us what Nature shows us. The Sanskrit language is code for the patterns of nature, sonic representations of the way nature works. The Sanskrit language was devised by Vedic rishis and seers that entered into deep states of meditation for long periods in nature and heard the sounds of nature and the cosmos. So chanting Mantras is really connecting and becoming one with nature.
I studied Piano for 8 years growing up in a little country town in Victoria Australia. Part of the exams for the Piano was singing scales. At that time of my life I was petrified to sing, so I just hummed them with my mouth firmly closed. It has taken decades for me overcome my insecurity to sing and speak confidently in public and develop my strength around being judged, heard and proud to sing and communicate openly and easily. Activating the 5th chakra through singing has a powerful rippling effect throughout your life. Once you start to activate the 5th chakra – the seat of communication – more and more confidence grows in other areas of your life. Voicing your needs, boundaries and beliefs in a more assertive confident way. It is such a liberation to finally overcome the fear of singing and harnessing the power of our own voices to help re-establish harmony. “This is my voice, my weapon of choice.”
I have been singing, playing Mantra music since 2011 in Bali and Australia. Playing Kirtan & Bhakti circles at Yoga centres ,Yoga retreats, teaching private music lessons ( guitar and voice), singing for Kundalini and Yin yoga classes. I have done 5 studio recordings of my original compositions and have just released a new album called ‘Auburn Ray’ www.Ktjewelmusic.com.
I am excited to now be offering Mantra yoga classes, workshops, Kirtan cirlces and charity concerts here at Desa Seni. I will be sharing knowledge about Mantra Music and sound healing. I will teach simple Sanskrit mantra’s and bhajans and explain their meaning and learn how to make smooth transitions from instruction into silence, into singing, into silence. I will do gentle yoga asanas that open the throat and heart chakra and move through sun salutations using BiJa seed mantras. There will be exercises to use the voice and I will guide students to embrace their voice and develop confidence in using this wonderful healing tool. I will guide and lead beautiful mantras that are easy to follow to allow students to experience the bliss of moving into a deeper state of harmony.
Harmony already exists at the core of every human life. We need harmony for the soul to grow.
By Kate Fleming