The Power of Sound Yoga Therapy, featured in Yoga Therapy Today
As a yoga therapist specializing in sound & mantra therapy, I'm honored to be featured in their Yoga Therapy Today journal, a trade publication for yoga therapists!
Since the magazine itself is only available if you are a C-IAYT yourself, or for purchase online, they've given me permission to share our interview with our Heart of Sound community.
Sound yoga therapy is so potent!
I got another gushing thank you from someone who told me mantra saved their life, just yesterday. I am inspired to keep doing this work so people FEEL the FULL POWER of sound and mantra in their lives.
It's an honor to be a C-IAYT and have the Heart of Sound training be a member school of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. IAYT is a great organization that is pushing forward to integrate rigorous accreditation standards that meet the medical community's standards for excellence in patient care.
How yoga therapists work: Healing with sound and mantra
My mother would say that I have been practicing sound yoga therapy since I was a small child. She used to hear me humming to myself and would ask me what I was singing. I wasn’t singing a tune; looking back, I see now that I was using the sound of my voice to make myself feel safe and connected to life.
As a young adult, I went to India. When I heard the mantras in the music and felt the full-hearted devotion of people connecting with sound, I knew I had found my true home.
Therapeutic devotion
I began to study and practice Sanskrit mantra regularly. Although I found teachers who held pieces of what I wanted to learn (I am forever grateful to those gurus), no one had the whole-being, embodied-mystic approach that made my heart sing. So most importantly, I studied the effect of the Sanskrit alphabet sounds, the mantra formulations, variations in vocal volume, musical moods, and so on. I devoted myself to the therapeutic power of sound and started a yoga school in 2014.
Now I work in private practice, with small groups, and in the teacher-training sphere. I get referrals from mental health professionals who want to stabilize the effects of neurofeedback sessions and cognitive behavioral therapy for clients. They also refer to me people who want to explore the benefits that can be obtained through microdosing without ingesting psychedelic substances—we instead “dose” with mantra meditation. I’ve had great results with clients who are tapering off their antidepressants under doctor supervision, teaching them to harness their mental power with mantra meditation.
The biggest obstacle I face in my yoga therapy practice is a lack of awareness of the potential of sound and mantra therapy to reduce unnecessary suffering and greatly enhance one’s life experience.
The promise of resilience
I see the future of yoga therapy as extraordinarily bright! Yoga therapists can help the people in our communities maintain equipoise so that we can harness our resilience and creative capacity to create sustainable futures in which we can thrive. I believe with all my heart that we can choose the trajectory we wish to move forward on, and if we are equipped with the right tools and are willing to apply them in our lives, we can make the best possible outcomes our reality.
Anandra George, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT, is a teacher of sound and mantra. She created the Heart of Sound, known as the world’s first (and likely only) 200-/500-hour yoga teacher training based entirely on the transformational power of sound.
Free Sound & Mantra Training Resources:
- Do you know that we have dozens of free sound & mantra training resources to help you deepen your love affair with sound & mantra? Anandra and a team of global chant-loving volunteers have poured their hearts into these free training courses for you! Start Your FREE Sound and Mantra Training Today!
- Dive deep with the world's first and only online sound and mantra 200HR & 500HR Teacher Training. Our approach is neither dogmatic, nor superficial... it is empowering, directed within, deliciously nuanced and overflowing with pleasure!Chant with us LIVE during our next FREE Online Yoga of Sound event
- More free sound baths and chant experiences of all different types are available at HeartofSound on YouTube / Sound Bath Playlist
- ☎️ Feel free to book a discovery call if you're curious about any of the above! We look forward to chanting with you again soon. :)
