Our first instrument is our voice.
For those who are closet singers such as myself, Kirtan, a form of sacred chanting, is one of the limbs of Bhakti Yoga, the Yoga of devotion.
Traditionally yogis have used the power of sound as a medium to transmit energy and thought. Sound creates vibrations which act upon the physical and energetic body, endowing one with creative energy. Kirtan expresses a longing and love for a relationship with the Divine.
Singing quiets the mind, allowing for a spaciousness in which one can feel the presence of the Divine.
For those of you who have any fears or negative conditioning around your singing voice, Kirtan is a simple practice to dissolve the constrictions and open up to your authentic voice.
In the West, we are so divided. There are singers and there are non-singers. In India, and now in the Western World, people get together to sing and chant as a group.
It is both supportive and empowering to be in the company of people who have their own individual sound, not trying to emulate anyone else, but each having their own private and unique relationship to the Divine.
Last weekend, I participated in a workshop with Wade Imre Morrisette (yes he is the twin brother of Alanis Morrisette, the famous pop singer/artist), in which Kirtan was the heart of our practice.
Fifty Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar) seemed a formidable challenge. Wade asked us not to focus on technique but on breath and flow.
Between poses we chanted Om, the most common mantra which creates a vibration in the body from the root of the spine to the crown of the head.
Om is the seed sound for the third eye centre, or Ajna chakra. Both masculine and feminine energies meet at this centre. This sound contains the Principle of Unity. Worry is dissolved and mind/body becomes infused with serenity.
Instead of feeling more fatigue as the minutes melded into hours, my body felt lighter. I was jumping into plank pose and jumping into forward bend from down dog with greater ease.
Emitting sound with the asanas opened more than my joints. It opened my heart.
On Saturday, we sat on the sand dunes of the Carcross Desert practising Nadi Shodhana, alternate nostril breathing; Kapalabhati, rapid inhalation and exhalation, also called the Breath of Fire or Skull Shining breath; Ujjayi Pranayama, nostril breathing with an audible breath; and Bakstrisa breath, with intent giving and receiving to and from the universe what we need and what the universe needs for healing.
All these techniques are just part of the tools in the tool kit to develop mental clarity and high level of mental health.
Surrounded by the majesty of the Carcross mountains, we sang Om Gum Ganapatayei Namah. Gum is the masculine seed sound for Ganapathi, an energy of the benevolent elephant-headed deity Ganesha, who symbolizes removal of all obstacles that prevent us from self-realization. Namah is reverence for.
While chanting, even the roar of four-wheel dirt bikes tearing through the desert closer to our circle than we wanted, sounded like Om.
Namaste.
