The Relaxation Company: 3 CD’s, each about 1 hr. running time 

RECITATION OF MANTRA (japa) has been part of yoga practice since earliest times.  Mantra can be either a spoken sound (such as a syllable, a word, or a sentence) or a subtle sound (nada) heard only by our inner “yoga ear”.  Some mantras have a literal meaning, while many are seemingly meaningless.  Traditionally mantras have three purposes: to ward off various personal calamities, to acquire supernormal powers (siddhis), and to invoke and identify ourselves with God.

Now The Yoga of Sound, an impressive three-CD package from Russill Paul, a talented singer-instrumentalist who teaches at the University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland, California, can help yoga students enhance the aural dimensions of their practice.  Each of the CD’s draws its material from different sources.

Shabda Yoga highlights Vedic mantras, including what is perhaps one of the most oft-recited mantra in the West, AUM (usually spelled OM), and the so-called “mother of all mantras,” the Gayatri (from the Rig Veda).

From Tantric tradition Shakti Yoga takes the monosyllabic seed mantras (lam, vam, ram, etc.), assigned to the six energy wheels of the subtle body, and the popular chant Om Namah Shivaya.

Bhava Yoga is a grab bag of mantras from diverse traditions such as Sufism and Vaisnavism (dedicated to the God Vishnu).  Each disc comes with a 20-page booklet that explains something about the tradition at hand and each of the included mantras and makes practical suggestion on sitting, breathing, hand-gestures, and the focus of self-awareness.

The background music, alternatively haunting and electrifying, is a melange of exotic instruments (flutes, drums, chimes, various Indian instruments) and nature sounds (rain, waves, wind, birds, crickets).   Accustomed to hearing mantra recited in a drone, I was pleasantly surprised by Paul’s emphatic and expressive delivery, which amplifies the sound’ primal rhythms and transformative power. This is a joyful spiritual sing-along of the first order, highly recommended to all levels of students.

Richard Rosen