Lectures about multiple benefits of music and kirtan yoga
In lectures about music and many positive effects of music and kirtan yoga, we introduce all interested people with ways of spontaneous transformation through participation in workshops. We speak, in great detail, what is actually music, where does it originate from, what are all the benefits of music if we dedicate to it in the right and devoted manner. We speak about what role music has in yoga and why exactly through it, it is possible to very fast and successfully advance on a spiritual pathway. Lectures are usually being held before the workshop of kirtan yoga. Before the lecture itself, yoga instructor givess a short class of yoga asanas, exercises of stretching and breathing. After kirtan yoga, a short, lead meditation is being done, on breathing and channeling all the energies and contents which were initiated during kirtan, so that all participants would properly “ground”, and so that they would manage to keep the state they received during the workshop long after the kirtan has finished, when they return to the usual activities.
Kirtan Yoga Workshops
We initiated different music projects and workshops. We especially point out kirtan yoga workshops which are based on active participation, for in this way all participants have multiple benefits, on psycho-physical level. Kirtan yoga projects proved to be very successful, because they initiate in all participants inner calming and liberate from tensions and everyday stress. They bring deep relaxation and a positive state that lasts for long after the workshop. It also comes, which is very important – to opening in all aspects, on emotional, psychic and spiritual level.
Kirtan yoga or bhakti yoga (yoga of devotion), as it is also being called, is an old spiritual technique of Nada yoga – yoga of sound, through which anyone can experience positive changes and liberate from certain emotional, psychic and karmic obstacles in a very painless and pleasant way.
About Kirtan
Kirtan is a different kind of music. Its very basis is established on ancient writings – mantras. Unlike the usual concerts and music performances where the musicians play and the listeners are passive, in kirtan all are included in the happening, all are active. It is an ideal setting of a kirtan, for the emphasis is not on passivization and meditation, but on active participation, through which occur different changes in consciousness, purification of useless contents in the mind and its calming. Very often, if a participator of a kirtan relaxes and joins the flow, a special sentiment (bhava) appears, which translated from Sanskrit means – to be, to exist, and which can be ecstatic. The setting of a kirtan is such that the performers (musicians) and the audience are very connected. Usually one person (or more persons) that leads the kirtan first chants a specific mantra – melody, which is very simple and easy to chant. After that, all present chant the same mantra. It most often begins in light pace (but this is not an exclusive rule) and in time the kirtan speeds up. Other than chanting, in kirtan, participators can participate in various ways: clapping hands in the rhythm, playing some instrument (most often these are rattles, tambourines, various percussion instruments, kartal and others), and very often participators start to dance spontaneously.
The origine of kirtan is India, so most songs are being chanted in Sanskrit, the ancient language from which derived contemporary indo-european languages, but it could be stated that the kirtan itself is a sort of a universal language of the spirit, the song of the soul. The word Kirtan(a) means – to sing, to recite and express devotion.
Kirtan yoga is a very freeing and simple spiritual practice which in a subtle way can lead to deep sense of the Self (Being). Various spiritual authorities all across the world and ancient writings point to kirtan as one of the best spiritual techniques in this period of spiritual evolution of the Earth. Purification of karmic leftovers, psycho-physical relaxation, emotional opening, subtle energization on all levels are just some of the gifts of kirtan.