Danny’s Therapeutic Music, Chanting and Kirtan
Therapeutic music? Kirtan? What is that you might be asking. Therapeutic music and kirtan are ways that we can regulate our nervous system and calm our minds. Therapeutic music is finding and listening to or engaging in the “Right Music for Right Now.” And what does that mean?
When we get in touch with our inner state, and we do that with our mindfulness practices of breathing and movement, we “know” what we might need in the moment. But, most of the time - myself included, we are craving the things that are keeping us out of balance. That is why it is hard being your own therapist! You need objectivity.
So, with therapeutic music we find the tempos and keys that give our state of mind a sense of ease and calm. Choosing the right music is sometimes tricky. For example. I sometimes am in an agitated state of mind. I’m edgy and short tempered. During those periods - if I am not mindful of my choices, I will choose music that matches my inner state. And then what happens?
Well, in the realm of Yoga Therapy, we practice with the concept of Like Attracts Like, and Opposites Balance. We will KEEP looping back to that concept on all our Yoga Therapy Practices. But, for now, If I am in that agitated and angry state of mind and I choose music that matches my feelings, I will INCREASE the agitation and anger in my mind.
So, we almost have to do the old George Castanza method of doing the opposite of our first instinct, at least until we employ more mindfulness practices into our daily routine. So, instead of Led Zeppelin, The Who, or other hard driving bands that I might gravitate towards during this phase of my mind, I choose The Carpenters, Neil Diamond, Sting, I will take on the qualities of that music.
So, don’t get me wrong here. I am not advocating you change your favorite groups or force yourself to listen to the Carpenters. It’s an example people! What I am saying is this. There is music that we can explore together that can enhance your inner state. Just as the breath can change our state so can music.
So, in Yoga Therapy, I will give you sound “tools” to be at your disposal to help with your mental emotional state. That way you can self-regulate and get back into a clearer state of mind in which you CAN enjoy all the things that bring you happiness and excitement in life. Believe me, when I am in a more balanced mind there is nothing better I like than to kick it up hard with some good pumping music. It enlivens us.
We start to think of anything that comes into our body and mind as potential forms of energy and nourishment. Just like food so is music. If I choose to eat a large pizza cause it just takes good, I have to understand that there could be a price to pay the next day. So it is with music. What we consume through our senses has the ability to regulate or deregulate us just as food does.
Now, we can turn towards even the subtler practices of Kirtan. Kirtan and mantras have a huge positive affect on our nervous system and can greatly change our brain chemistry and relationship we have with ourselves. How?
A kirtan is a special musical experience where two or more (often lots more) are singing back and forth to each other. If I were to be leading a kirtan I would “call” out a phrase, and you and everyone else would “respond” back what I just sang. It’s really special. What makes it even more beneficial to the mind, brain, and nervous system is what we are saying. In a kirtan we typically will sing or chant a mantra. STOP! It’s not what you might be thinking!
What is a mantra. Well, you know what a mantra is. Its a phrase that is repeated over and over. Like, I am lovable and capable. Like that, but in a different language. Why a different language you may ask? Good question! I am glad you are participating here. When we say or sing our mantra in our first language our mind is constantly labeling and bringing up situations in our past where those words or phrases have importance. That sounds good, right? Maybe.
If I sing a song that repeats over and over “She Loves Me Yeah Yeah Yeah” I initially go, Heck ya she loves me. I am all that. I love her too. This is great. However, I challenge any one of you to tell me you have not gone through a situation where Love, as beautiful and good as it can be, has not bit you in the behind. So, pretty soon my brain, as I keep singing She Loves Me…, will start to bring up those times when, well, maybe she doesn’t love me, and what about that person that left me. We were in love. And, damn it, my dog, I love him, and he’s gone. Believe m. The mind will do that. So, what can we do?
We sing, chant, repeat mantras in a language foreign to us. I chose Sanskrit and Gurmukhi as the language of choice for me, while others may chose native tongues or any other language in which you do not have fluency in. When we chant and sing something that has no dictionary meaning to our minds something magical happens. The brain stops labeling, judging, recalling and finally settles into a rare state of ease.
That is the simplest way I can explain why I chant and offer practices that involve chanting to my students. It is the quickest way to get the brain to SHUT UP and just rest. The mantras I choose of course have meanings in the native tongue of those speakers. However, the sounds are simply those in which capture, as best as possible, the essence of the Divine. And that is what we want to increase in us. Remember, Like Attracts Like. When I chant and sing mantras that are Divine in Essence in reminds me of the divinity and grace that resides in all of us. So has David Bowie should have put it, “Let’s Chant!”
