The Yoga of Sound

Yoga and music, two powerful approaches to optimal health, have garnered enormous credibility in the western world in the last two decades. Health, we are fast realizing, is not simply the absence of disease: it is a condition of soul that invigorates our being, enabling us to derive the most from life. The Yoga of Sound is a powerful spiritual system that unifies the key principles of healing found in yoga and music into an effective practice.

The observable universe can be understood in terms of frequency, mass and energy, all terms that can be associated with the phenomenon of "sound", whether or not our physical ears can "hear" them. In relationship to life, we now understand that sound can be configured to "energize" or "de-energize", or in the case of inanimate objects, sound can "harmonically configure" or distort or destroy their structures. The Yoga of Sound is platform to understand not only the physical, psychological and spiritual properties of sound, but how such understanding can improve our lives, our world and our societies.

The Yoga of Sound, through the Indian tradition of Nada Yoga, is grounded in the millennia old comprehension of the role and value of sound in the personal as well as cosmic dimensions of our existence. This is not fanciful language: a vast quantity of hard scientific date now corroborates traditional, even esoteric understandings of the transformative power of sound as it relates to the physical and psychological dimensions of human life. In the Yoga of Sound, the word “sound” embraces everyday speech and communication, the development of listening skills and the enjoyment of music, all of which are integral to the experience of human life and community.

The word yoga implies “connectedness”. Through the Yoga of Sound, as a spiritual path, we grow in our understanding ofd how sound connects us, and all of nature, in an inseparable web of life, and through this understanding we learn how to channel and direct our energy toward greater fulfillment. The practitioner is not required to sing or have a good voice, or have any knowledge or skill in music. However, the use of exercises that involve sound production (internal as well as external), the employment of listening techniques, and the use of supportive music, all serve to enhance this experience. Participants learn to release toxic emotions, calm their mind and discover the joy of connecting to “source energy”. This is the essence of all Yoga and the heart of The Yoga of Sound!

Health and well being requires many components: proper nutrition, exercise, relaxation, mental attitude, and so on. The Yoga of Sound cannot take the place or substitute for any of these. However, through the wisdom of ancient traditions related to sound as yogic path, we seek to address a crucial dimension to the spiritual life -- the sacredness of sound -- one that is often overshadowed by other demands. The Yoga of Sound combines the use of sacred speech, music, chant, movement, breath and meditation in a holistic approach to the joy of vibrant health, spiritual awakening, personal empowerment. This is accomplished through the combination of understanding and applying how sound relates to our sense of health and well being and then applying relevant practices to implement this understanding in our daily life.

	WHAT IS THE YOGA OF SOUND? This article clarifies the use and significance of the term "Yoga of Sound" as a platform that effectively brings together many diverse approaches to sonic mysticism over the past 3500 years.

	WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM THE YOGA OF SOUND? This article explains how health care workers, psychotherapists, musicians, artists and all spiritual seekers can enjoy the benefits of mantra, in addition to the more obvious yoga practitioners.

	HOW DOES CHANTING IMPROVE OUR HEALTH AND WELL BEING? While music has gained enormous credibility as a therapeutic tool, this article reveals current discoveries that extoll the benefits of using our own voice to heal the imbalances of body and soul.

	WHY SANSKRIT FOR MANTRAS? WHY NOT ENGLISH? This article helps explain the value of Sanskrit over English, or other modern languages, when used as spiritual or therapeutic tool within the context of yoga practice.

	SHABDA YOGA: DEVELOPING THE VOICE OF WISDOM Shabda Yoga is the study of Vedic mantras and the application of such knowledge in the everyday use of language in all forms of communication as well as to manifest the conditions of life we desire.

	SHAKTI YOGA: DISCOVERING SOUND AS ENERGY Shakti Yoga addresses the use of Tantric mantras and their relationship to the flow of energy in the body as well as in those psycho-spiritual centers knows as the chakras.

	BHAVA YOGA: DEVOTIONAL MUSIC AND MANTRAS Bhava Yoga is the use music and mantras from the Bhakti tradition for the purpose of devotion. These sounds offer praise to the Divine and connect deeply to the heart.

	NADA YOGA; THE SCIENCE OF SOUND Nada Yoga is the official term - technical as well as traditional - for The Yoga of Sound. It covers a wide ranges of practices, the knowledge of music and meditation, and brings together the cosmology, philosophy and theology of sacred sound in Hinduism.

Several sections in the articles above are from the book The Yoga of Sound: Tapping the Hidden Power of Music and Chant published by New World Library, June 2004/2006. Permission to use passages should be obtained in writing from the publisher of this website, Guha Soulworks LLC, guha2000@cs.com. When quoting a short passage, considered acceptable by copyright law, due credit should be provided to the author (Russill Paul) and the complete title of the book, publisher and this website, should be properly cited. Additionally, if published on the web, kindly include a hyperlink to the appropriate page on this website.

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