This workshop is about opening our voice and heart to the healing effects of the mantras. It is neither necessary to sing “nicely” nor “correctly”, it is more about what you feel when singing. There are tips and tricks on how we can use our body as an instrument for mantra singing, especially for people who say they “cannot sing” but also for more experienced singers. Mantra-Chanting is a heart-opening practice.
I can count on years of experience in vocal and ear training, thanks to my classical music education in piano and singing. The Yoga-Teacher– Trainings have given me a deeper insight into the bodywork and opened the door to spiritual singing in Sanskrit, in the form of Kirtan. The fusion of these two disciplines, yoga and music education, gives me the basis to offer mantra singing workshops with the harmonium. This is a perfect way for me to open the door of Kirtan to more and more people. Basically a workshop consists of warm up exercises, voice opening, theory and practice of mantra singing and finally the Kirtan experience. More detailed it will be like this:
Every body can sing!
Warm up
The workshop starts with a series of warm up and breathing exercises for the body and the voice. To prepare our “instrument” properly for singing, we use exercises from yoga and classical vocal training.
Voice opening
The warm up turns into the voice opening. Here it is all about playing with your own voice for a new sound experience. Just by singing the simplest mantra OM with different techniques, the sound of your own voice can be re-experienced. By reciting a simple mantra like OM NAMO NARAYANAYA at different pitches, you can find your personal vocal range. This is an important aspect of Kirtan, because everyone is allowed to sing in their tone, even if the leader has another pitch. The opening of the voice is primarily intended for you to make sound freely and with an open heart.
Mantra singing
In the next step we look at the mantras more closely, the text and its meaning. Some people intuitively feel the energy of the mantra, others want to know the story behind it and the exact meaning of the Sanskrit words. Once we know the theme of the mantras, we can start experiencing them by singing together with the harmonium.
Kirtan
Finally, one of the mantras will be sung as Kirtan, in call and response. The music becomes faster and faster and may even turn ecstatic. Rhythmic instruments, clapping hands or dancing are welcome. This moment is about feeling the music in the whole body and giving expression to it. After Kirtan singing we go into silence and a meditative state might be experienced.
Themed based Workshops
To dive deeper in the world of mantras I offer Workshops for different themes and aspects of Mantras. This can be GANESHA, SHIVA SHAKTI, SITA RAM, RADHA KRISHNA etc..
Please write me an email, if you like me to offer a Mantra-Singing-Workshop at you studio or retreat.
