Blog
Science of Sound & Mantra Healing: A Research Resource Guide
When I read the research summaries offered in the links below, my personal experience corroborates a resounding “YES!” to the many benefits they describe. I’m grateful to have discovered the healing effects of sound, singing, mantra, group singing, and prayer long before medical science confirmed their value, and I’m sure it’s just the beginning. Many medical experts and visionaries agree that sound is the medicine of the future, as it has been an integral part of healing and rejuvenation in Ayurveda for millennia.
Links Connecting...
Sanskrit, Mantra & Harmonium Resource List
After reading my free e-book on mantra yoga or taking one of my mantra courses, you’ve probably decided you want to make precise Sanskrit a part of your chanting practice. Then what!? MOST of the mantra information online is frustratingly not accurate.
Here is a precious list of resources I’ve collected for you. Over the years this post has become a catch-all for other commonly asked questions, like "How do I type in transliterated Sanskrit?" and "What harmoniums do you recommend?" We'll keep updating it for you as we can.
SANSKRIT RESOURCES
Here’s...
3 Easy Steps to Better Sanskrit Mantra Pronunciation
If you don't know what you don't know, how can you learn?
This list is far from exhaustive, but can point you in the direction of learning more about mantras and their beautiful Sanskrit sounds. Since mispronunciation of mantra is widespread, the first step for most yogāsana teachers, mantra lovers, and kīrtan leaders is to learn where our own blind spots are.
I LOVE helping people learn Sanskrit pronunciation - not because I want to be the "Sanskrit Police" but because I want mantra lovers, sound healers, people offering sound bath trainings, and folks learning to...
The Sound Body: Remembering Wholeness through Nāda Yoga
Musings on the practical transformation I've experienced through my sound-based yoga practice... written while gazing out at the Himālayan range during a 2017 pilgrimage.
Ordinarily our awareness is limited to the sensations within the body. However, when we consciously enter sound, our awareness expands into the space within and surrounding our physical body. This vibratory sphere becomes our “sound body,” if you will, and gives us a visceral sense of transcendence. The dimensional quality is multi-directional; we can go within, to the point of...
Cultural Appropriation: Let's Learn a New Way Together
This post has been long-gestating within me, as I’ve grappled with my own deeply seated belief systems about “who I am,” and what rights I have to teach mantra and nāda yoga as a non-Indian white woman. My own story of horrifying mistakes and the long road I’m walking on towards integrity aside (I’ll tell it later), I’d like to offer this list of resources right away. (Scroll down to straight to it.) It’s a work in progress, coming home to truth… and the first step is educating ourselves so we can begin to have the...
Mercury Retrograde Mantra ~ 3 Sanskrit Mantra Therapies for Astrology
Mercury retrograde rocking your world? This blog post is series of #lifejacketmantra approaches for those just getting started in the wonderful world of Sanskrit mantra!
Planetary movement may be beyond our control, but our perspective is absolutely
within our power!
When Mercury (the planet of communication and intelligent discrimination) goes
retrograde, we’re told to expect communication and technological difficulties, avoid
signing contracts, and be extra careful not to make mistakes.
I’d like to invite you to lift your perspective on this astrological...
A Visionary Way Forward for Abuse & Sexual Harassment Claims
Aren't we all so very tired of hearing about the latest guru gone down? The latest abuse or sex scandal in spiritual communities? As an act towards peace, I seek to present a visionary way forward:
How a Leader & Community Can Handle Claims of Abuse & Sexual Harassment
NOTE: This post goes with the Code of Conduct for Spiritual and Yoga Festivals, which I was inspired to develop as a contribution to the International Yoga Festival in Rishikesh. (A team of Heart of Sound volunteers runs the Sacred Sound Stage which I started in 2017.) It takes up where the...
Code of Conduct for Spiritual and Yoga Festivals
Inspired by #metoo in the yoga and spiritual community... This is not a debate post, but an action-oriented solution post.
I have been working on developing a Code of Conduct for participants and presenters at yoga festivals and spiritual conferences. It includes bullet points of specific red flag behaviors and some sample narratives to be aware of when allegations of abuse are made public.
This is NOT my area of expertise, but I see a need for it and no one in my circle stepped up to volunteer for it, so I took a stab at a draft. Dozens of people have commented...
Healthy Airplane + Voice Care Travel Hacks
My healthy airplane travel / travel voice care routine includes:
- Wearing a mask at all times on the flight not only keeps viruses and germs away, it keeps the air I breathe more moist. Great for immunity + vocal care!
- A drop of Thieves (or Doterra OnGuard) oil inside the mask and under my nostrils
- A drop of sesame oil or ghee inside each nostril periodically throughout the flight, whenever my nose gets dry
- Drinking LOTS OF WATER with EmergenC (500 ml for every hour in the air, ideally)
- Walking around the airplane and stretching regulary. (I book an aisle...
Tantra and Sound
Tantra as we practice it in the Heart of Sound community can be summed up like this:
Total Embrace of Life
The penetrating vibrations of sound-based practices help us uncover our hidden patterning that has kept us locked in a dualistic fight with life. If we have subscribed to the very common cultural beliefs that heaven is separate from earth, or that spirit is superior to the body, opening ourselves up to an all-embracing Tantrik view can be radically healing and transformative.
Our approach to sound-based practice arises from a core Tantrik belief:
Life (and ALL of...
