Blog
What's the difference between a Mantra and an Affirmation?
I can't tell you how many people have asked, "What's the difference between a Mantra and an Affirmation?" It's such a great question, since the terms Mantra and Affirmation commonly get used synonomously when in fact they're distinct.
The word "mantra" has been appropriated for different usages. For instance, saying "I can do it" or "I'm good enough, I'm okay just as I am" are affirmations. These affirmations, when repeated, have a mantra-like effect as they help protect you from negative thinking or self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors.
However, the uniqueness of...
Top 10 Unpopular Insights into Sound Yoga Therapy, Mantra, Kirtan & Sound Healing
Yep, you read that right! Here's a collection of some of my slightly shocking, radically empowering views on the current state of all things sound and mantra, kīrtan and nāda yoga, vibrational sound healing therapy etc.
1. Radical analogy about Sanskrit anatomy (and why you don't want to miss out!)
2. Why I don't play the guru card?
3. Is kīrtan a cringy word for you?
4. My mantra "OH S*^T!" moment that changed my life
5. I am not the Sanskrit police but I DO want YOU to FEEL the SOUND
6. 50 years of chanting and a Sanskrit PhD but never had a mystical connection...
Sound Yoga Therapy: Interview with Anandra
Recently I had the pleasure of doing a video interview with Daniel Aaron from The Art of Vibrant Living, and we got into some wonderful topics.
Sound and Mantra Therapy Conversation Topics:
- Sound yoga therapy and nervous system self-regulation
- Sound and music as a path of self-expression vs. sound as self-inquiry
- Defining the interoceptive approach to sound yoga therapy, mantra therapy
- What's the most interesting, powerful, effective way of using sound or being with sound for transformation...
A mantra and nada yoga chant retreat on Kaua'i is for you if…
Calling all chant lovers!
We’re gathering on Kaua’i, my home island of 27 years, to retreat into the Heart of Sound.
This retreat is for you if:
you feel like you’ve lost touch with what it feels like to be perfectly tuned and in a good rhythmic flow
you want to reconnect with your love of sound, music, mantra and singing for your pleasure (not for anyone else)
there’s a dissonant gap between your potential and the life you’re living, and you want to bring it into harmony
you crave a space and time for yourself to listen deeply to your...
The more you know, the more you know you don’t know…
The more you know, the more you know you don’t know…
Is there any realm in which this is not true?
People.
The longer you know someone, the more you realize that you have no idea what is really going on for them deep inside. They hold multitudes of mysteries, complex trauma, perceptual, differences, patterns, and habits built on foundations that you can never understand fully, because you have not lived at yourself.
Mantra.
Are used to think that learning how to chant, more mantras, sing more songs, do more complex, and longer chance meant that I...
Is it OK to mix mantras? Do we risk cultural appropriation or misuse of mantra?
For chant leaders and mantra recording artists, the question of mixing mantras for chanting is one that has intrigued many, prompting inquiries about the permissibility of blending deities and languages in spiritual practice. For some, the idea of combining "oṁ namaḥ śivāya" with "wahe guru" in a single chant may feel intuitively right, but is it ethically sound? Let's delve into this complex topic, which I also cover in depth in my sound and mantra teacher training course.
Q. (From a graduate of our 500hr Sound & Mantra Training course who teaches mantra...
Is it OM or AUM? Which is correct?
In my Sanskrit mantra workshops and sound healing yoga training courses around the world, one of the most common questions I hear is about the timeless mantra OM. It can be written in different ways, and there is a lot confusion about it, because different teachers like to share what has worked well for them, but they might not know the experience of others.
Especially with a mantra like OM, it’s important to understand different perspectives and open ourselves up to the direct magical experience of the sound, rather than get limited by dogmatic ideas.
...
10 Key Features that Define a Revolutionary Sound & Mantra Training
Not all sound healing and mantra trainings are alike! There's something for everyone in ALL of the bhakti yoga trainings, kirtan leadership courses, mantra teacher trainings, etc. but since this is our 10 year anniversary of creating the world's first and only 200HR yoga teacher training school focused entirely on the transformative power of sound, we're celebrating!
Here are 10 key features that make our Advanced Sound Training Course a one-of-a-kind, visionary evolution:
1
Reverent and Devotional: We go beyond trends, offering a reverent and devotional...
