Yoga is much more than postures and controlled breathing. That mode of meditation is a toned-down version used to introduce people to the ancient Indian practice in a non-threatening way, says teacher Russill Paul. Paul will describe this tradition and demonstrate "The Yoga of Sound" at 7 p.m. today at St. Paul¹s Episcopal Church as part of the McMichael Lecture Series.
 

In the West, yoga movements and postures have been separated from their cultural and spiritual contexts, he says. In the Sanskrit language, yoga means "to yoke" or "to unite," referring to the union of one¹s soul with God. Yoga essentially offers "prayer at its deepest and fullest," says Paul, who lives in California. He teaches at Naropa University in Boulder, Colo., and the University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland, Calif.

Because of concern that yoga would threaten people¹s various faith traditions, it was given a secular appeal as a form of meditation, connecting body and mind, he says. The bottom line of yoga isn¹t religion, but rather a system that enhances one¹s experience, he says. And posture yoga makes the sound aspect more effective. In the Indian tradition, sound yoga is always used in combination with posture yoga, which configures the body to handle a prayer experience, Paul says.

3,500 YEARS OF TRADITION
The Hindu tradition of yoga contains more than 3,500 years of sacred poems passed down orally through the generations, Paul says. Yoga incorporates postures, breathing and meditation. Paul, 37, was gifted in music as a child, and went to a Hindu-Christian ashram ‹ or monastery ‹ in his late teens to live as a monk under Dom Bede Griffiths. He studied Sanskrit chanting and South Indian classical music, learning the rich tradition of sound and its connection to spirituality.

The native of India was reared in a Christian family but had Hindu ancestors. It was "wonderful to recover this other side to myself, to my own ancestry," Paul says. Yoga seeks to promote a sense of health and well-being. Sound has healing effects; it stabilizes emotions, produces natural painkillers in the body and lowers heart rate, Paul says.

"Sound has the capacity to dissolve blockage," Paul says. In the same way sound waves can be used to break up kidney stones, sound dismantles blocked energy and constrictions in the body, he says. “It¹s a form of medicine. It really helps us feel good," he says. “Once people begin to start using their voices, [they discover] an amazing and inexpensive way of taking care of ourselves," Paul says. Language inflections occur within a narrow spectrum, he says, while sound yoga activates a wide range of frequencies.

SCIENCE OF SOUND

There are four "streams" of sound yoga. Nada, the main one, combines sound and music for devotional and therapeutic purposes. Nada is the science of sound or intervals of tones, like those used in Gregorian chants. The three subpractices ‹ Shabda, Shakti and Bhava ‹ are governed by Nada yoga, Paul says.

Shabda, or yoga of the word, uses language as a spiritual art form, with sounds based on Sanskrit poetry. Shakti describes energy using tantric mantras, or sounds repeated many times in a formal way. Bhava, or devotional chanting, creates a deep feeling of rapture, he says.

One can begin to experience sound yoga through simply listening to CDs of chants, music and natural sounds, like those Paul produces. Next, one can advance to responding to the sounds by re-creating them in his body. Finally, one becomes able to create these sounds on his own, he says.

At tonight's demonstration, Paul will use a 10-string instrument, a hybrid of a sitar and guitar that he designed 16 years ago. He called it a unitar but, because he said people thought it had one string, changed it to avitar. The instrument has a range of about four octaves and movable frets to allow a range of musical intervals, he says.

EMOTIONAL RESPONSE

Music suspends the analytical mind and allows other portions of the brain to have expression, Paul says. Musical intervals stimulate different emotional responses, he said. "So often we come to spirituality with such an education around it that we take away the mystery. When we approach it in that way ... we don¹t discover the deeper and more mysterious nature of religious experience," Paul says.

The Rev. Lowell Grisham, rector at St. Paul¹s, is looking forward to bringing together sound and posture yoga. He has a particular interest in contemplation, mysticism and spirituality. "One thing that excites me is the sharing of the deep spiritual traditions among religions and cultures," Grisham says. From one tradition to the next, "there are profound similarities in our experience of the divine."

The Episcopal tradition uses physical expressions ‹ like standing, kneeling and procession and music during worship. The parish also offers weekly yoga classes for the community. Grisham said he is excited about tonight¹s visit by Paul , who has personal experience with Hindu and Christian religions. "These are two of the greatest religious traditions in the world. We can learn from each other," Grisham says.    

Michelle Parks

MICHELLE PARKS