In addition to my originals and rock and blues covers, I also sing and play Kirtan.

 

The practice of Kirtan began about 500 years ago in the Bhakti traditions of India. Most other spiritual and religious traditions have similar practices. They usually involve multiple repetitions of either unison or call and response chanting of sacred names or prayers.

 

This is a meditative and spiritual practice using sounds, music, our voices and breath. However it’s not a group performance or about needing to sing in a particular way. 

 

If you have Breath and vocal cords = you can chant wonderfully. 

 

Kirtan gives us a space to set aside our thinking and judging and comparing mind. And instead of letting our attention be on our wandering and worrying thoughts we focus our attention on the chant. And eventually we forget about ourselves and our thoughts. I think of this as a type of meditation and prayer using our voices.

 

In a way it’s nice to chant in another language that we don’t understand, for those of us from the west, so then we get to be in the energy and power of the prayers physically without the distractions of thoughts. It is also a lot of fun and you may soon be caught up in the Bhav (spirit or bliss) and dancing away...