I was first intrigued at the beginning where someone had said, “I just had a crappy yoga practice.” My initial reaction to that statement was “It was your practice.” Whether a yoga class is good or bad depends on how I feel afterward or how the practice met whatever expectations I might have held for it. I can’t really fault the teacher since it was my practice and the results were up to me.
Kristin Luna Ray‘s fourth CD, One Shared Heart, is a wonderful Kirtan album. It’s beautifully arranged, a joy to listen to, and fun to sing along with. It’s full of energy, very uplifting and inspirational and you can feel the Bhakti. Playing this album is having a kirtan anytime, anywhere you want it.
Musicians include Chris Rosser, River Guerguerian, Alvin Young, Melanie Leenhouts, Joshua Canter, Girish, Wah!, John Wubbenhorst, Eric Scheider, and the Asheville Kirtan Choir
Songs:
Ganesha
Remover of obstacles
Sita Ram
Unbounded selfless love (In true love there is no fear)
Shankara Shiva
Transformation for recognition of your true nature (Every little thing is gonna be alright)
He Ma Durga
The fullness of the divine mother
Govinda Narayana
Celebration of the play of life
Gobinda Hare
Purification of mind (Wow God!)
Hare Krishna
The Maha (great) mantra, used for accelerated spiritual growth
One Shared Heart by Kristin Luna Ray is scheduled for international release on February 14, 2012 and will be distributed by Spirit Voyage.
My personal favorite is Sita Ram which I’ve loved since I first heard it last year at a Luna Rasa kirtan. I’ve also grown quite fond of Govinda Narayana.
The Soul of Voice Workshop & Kirtan with Kristin Luna Ray at Sri Yoga Center was an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Thanks to Michael and Melissa for hosting the event and to Kristin Luna Ray and Joshua Canter for the Bhakti and the music and for encouraging us to find our own voices.
I thought Melissa did rather well in her first harmonium lesson. Great job, Melissa!
Has it really been nearly a year since Luna, Joshua and Katy last brought the Bhakti Vinyasa Project to the Sri Yoga Center? I guess it has. As always, it was great to see Luna, Joshua and Katy again. It was also great to hear Luna play songs from her new album, One Shared Heart, and have Katy lead a lively and invigorating yoga class set to Luna’s music.
I was a little surprised at the turnout. At past BVP events I’ve attended, the floor of the large studio was nearly covered with yoga mats. Still, the energy was good and there was plenty of room to move around during the dance portion. It was a great practice and Savasana came much too soon.
I’m listening to the new CD and enjoying it immensely. I’ll post a review soon.
It looked as if I was going to be the only student in yesterday’s evening’s intermediate yoga flow class but a second student showed up during our opening chants. I like the dynamics and the energy of a larger class but sometimes a very small class is good too because I can get the kind of practice that fits my needs.
I mentioned that I was feeling a bit tight in the neck and shoulders and felt some quad stretches would be good. Sometimes I need to be careful of what I ask for. I found myself twisting in a low lunge, reaching back for my foot and feeling a very intense stretch in my quads. Of course, I had to repeat it on the other side.
Overall, it was an intense practice with a little bit of everything. It’s great to get the individual assistance and adjustments. It was almost like taking a private class.
After the flow class, I attended the first session of the 6-week course on Balance. This course focuses on yogic and ayurvedic concepts and techniques to bring balance to our natural cycles and promote well-being. I think this is going to be an interesting course.
This has been my year of kirtan. On Mothers’ Day I attended the Chants for Ma kirtan led by Michael and Melissa Brown at the Sri Yoga Center in Dayton. That simple kirtan was quite an emotionally charged event for me. Then in June I went to World Peace Yoga in Cincinnati with Michael and Melissa for the Jubiliee Kirtan & Hafla which they led. This kirtan featured Rebecca Hale and the World Peace Tribal Belly Dancers which added an interesting element. It was quite an enjoyable evening.
In July, I attended two kirtans within a week. On Sunday SRI Kirtan played at the Sri Yoga Center. They played several songs from their CD Live your Love. There was definitely a positive shift in the energy by the time they finished playing. I chanted myself hoarse.
On Saturday, I traveled to Yoga Springs in Yellow Springs for the Karen Johns kirtan. She conducted it almost like a class on kirtan and chanting but it was a lot of fun and very enjoyable. She played the harmonium with just the right touch and her set included some familiar chants and several new ones. At the end we chanted Ong Namo Gurudev Namo while lying in Savasana. That was a new experience.
I’m looking forward to more kirtan later this year. Kristin Luna Ray is scheduled to do the Bhakti Vinyasa Project and a kirtan at Sri Yoga in September and in November, she’s slated for a kirtan at Yoga Springs.
I don’t consider myself a Bhakti yogi but I do enjoy kirtan. I guess I get caught up in the energy and go with the flow. I guess kirtan brings out the bhakti.
After a vigorous flow class which felt more like hot yoga, the Sri Yoga Center Yoga Studies Class of 2011 graduated. It was a simple ceremony. Each of us was presented with a mala. Then while the class chanted the Durga Mantra we each made individual offerings to Durga. After group pictures, we retired to the Tea Lounge for vegetarian cupcakes.
The three months has passed so quickly. My knowledge and my practice have come a long way in that time. I’m sure my classmates can say much the same thing. Two of them have decided to move on to the Teacher Training Program. Right now I can’t really see myself as a yoga teacher but who knows? For now I’m going to take the knowledge and the tools I’ve acquired and use them in my own practice. Maybe there will be a Phase 2 class later on.
There is still one more class in which we’ll discuss the Purusharthas. The hot yoga class which follows is optional but I’ll probably partake in it.
"You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where your are resisting your natural state." Sharon Gannon
Recent Comments