at a very high, pure frequency,” she explains. “As we come into resonance with the bowls, mental chatter slows or stops and the mind quiets. Within minutes, our nervous system starts to unwind. In a state of peaceful stillness, the ‘dial up’ to our higher self becomes accessible. This is the optimum state for healing to occur.” Ashana emphasizes that we are all
interconnected, so any healing work we do on ourselves affects all of humanity. “As we raise our personal frequency, we can become conscious tuning forks for divine energies to pour through us,” she believes. “We’re all holding a piece of the web.”
Healing Through Song “Since the dawn of time, humans have been sharing song in their tribe,” says Zurich, Switzerland, recording art- ist, educator and filmmaker Michael Stillwater. “Pop songs are modern tribal songs, although we have mostly become a culture of consumers and spectators, rather than participants.” The founder of Inner Harmony
Music and Song Without Borders, Still- water’s is a strong voice in an emerging grassroots global movement devoted to helping people reclaim their inner song. “As a vocal art, singing is unique,” he advises. “It’s deeply connected to our sense of self.” He also notes that if our voice or singing is criticized in our de- velopmental years, we may shut down our creative expression. “We then become like cave dwellers, hiding our voice; there are millions of vocal cave dwellers in our world,” he says. Finding your song—or chant or
mantra—almost inevitably becomes integrated with a pathway for rediscov- ering one’s authentic self. “It’s about letting your voice become part of your own healing medicine,” says Stillwater. His film documentary, In Search of the Great Song, celebrates the use of creative vocal expression for healing and transformation.
Experience Kirtan Kitzie Stern, producer of the New World Kirtan podcast, notes that kirtan, or sacred chanting, is known for bonding everyone in the moment of co-creation between audience and
natural awakenings December 2011 19
artists, followed by quiet meditation in community. Originating in India, kirtan is one of the oldest musical traditions in the world. The mantras used in kirtan open the
listener to the experience of peace. Stern explains, “The music that accompanies kirtan also helps our minds to turn off. As wallah (chant leader) Dave Stringer puts it, ‘The chant is the medicine, but the music is what helps it go down.’” One does not have to attend a live
kirtan performance to reap its benefits. Stern’s podcast plays a variety of chants
to help listeners tune into tranquility. She observes that, “Being able to access the quiet magnificence that exists within each one of us and live within it for some portion of the day helps us to stay sane in the turmoil of the modern world.”
Learn more at
SoundMovesWonder.com,
AshanaMusic.com,
InnerHarmony.com and
NewWorldKirtan.com.
Erin Floresca is a freelance writer in Portland, Oregon. Connect at
ErinLehnFloresca.com.
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