Resources to support your yoga practice: 
Chants and Invocations:
Chanting is a yoga practice called Nada Yoga, the yoga of sound. Chanting and singing have been used for centuries in many traditions to help people to connect to the divine spirit in themselves and the universe. Whether singing praises to god, chanting native or tribal songs, singing kirtan (call and response chanting), or chanting a personal or universal mantra, there is something within the singing itself that soothes the spirit and sets a tone of reverence and honor.
For this reason, we often chant as a part of yoga class. We find it helps people to settle into the deeper purpose of practice and to remember that the time spent in yoga is in honor of oneself and one’s health.
Chanting is said to raise the chanter’s vibrational level and to bring about feelings of peace, calm and well-being. Being the energy bodies that we are, chanting is one way to effect healing on a deep level within the body and spirit. Chanting has been shown, in medical studies, to lower heart rate and blood pressure and to produce endorphins (the body’s natural pain relievers) as well as support balanced metabolism.
A chant can be used as an invocation to open your yoga practice or a yoga class. This helps to set the tone and to create an enhanced space/environment for the reverential quality you may want to bring to the practice. It also reminds us that the practice has benefits beyond the purely physical ones attained through the asanas (postures). Closing chants help to close a yoga or meditation session and to support taking what was received in the practice into everyday life.
When we sing chants in yoga class, most of them are in Sanskrit which is said to be a language of the heart and so universal in its energetic effect on us.
There are many references to a wide variety of chants online and you can listen to a multiple renditions on YouTube and other sites.
Here you can download a PDF of Chants we sing at HeartSong Yoga and Wellness Center as well as their translations.
Music and CDs
Shantala: Benji and Heather Wertheimer are lovely musicians and kirtan singers, as well as good friends, from right here in Portland, Oregon. They have been part of the Portland yoga community for years and now travel all over the world singing kirtan and supporting yoga practitioners through music at retreats and workshops. Benji has a number of music cd's out that are great for listening to for relaxation, meditation and yoga practice or just ambient music while you work. Heather's "Church of Sky" is a beautiful and inspiring collection. The two of them together as Shantala, have released a number of great Kirtan (call and response chanting) CDs. Find Shantala's Music Online and at Benji Wertheimer Online. We also usually have some of their music available for sale at the studio.
Krishna Das: Krishna Das (or KD) was one of the first people to begin to popularize kirtan singing in the west. He is a personal favorite of Leslie's as his "Live On Earth" CD helped her through the last couple of stressful years of her healthcare career (with a 30-minute commute each way, she was able to begin and end her days with Krishna Das and truly felt a difference in how each day went!). She also breezed through a root canal listening to KD through the headphones the dentist provided for "relaxation" music. Learn More about Krishna Das and his music
Other recommended kirtan artists are Dave Stringer, David Newman, and Jaiuttal.
Other Recommended Resources:
Need help intercepting and managinging stress during this period of global turmoil?
We invite and enourage you to read De-Stress Kit for the Changing Times by Doc Childre, founder of HeartMath.
