This Workshop series was developed by Kirtan to provide a rich, lush, unique yoga experience. Each installment of the series will feature incredible musicians who will enhance the Asana practice with live music, and enchant us with stories, parables and mantras.
The inaugural SoundBody, SoundMind exploration will feature GauraVani on flutes, drums and harmonium, and Jahnavi Harrison on South Indian violin and vocals. Our focus will be the Mystical Lotus Flower. Across the globe, this exquisite flower has intrigued and captivated humanity for thousands of years. Through story-telling, singing and Asana, we will delve into the mythological symbolism of the Lotus, it’s place in the pantheon of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, as well as it’s meaning in Hatha-Vinayasa Yoga and the energetic body.
The Workshop is developed with students of all levels.

$30 Members
$40 Non-members
Registering online will be possible later this week at: www.ExhaleSpa.com

View the Website for Sacred Sounds Event Here

2021 14th St. NW [at V St.], Washington, DC.

Hey Everybody!
Here is a great opportunity to support our dear friend Sharon Gannon. She has just produced an amazing CD. I just Purchased it and listening it to it right now. In connection to the selling and promotion of her music, she is supporting the beautiful cause of Animal Rights. The goal is to make it to the top of the charts! So far the album has made it to the top ten in just one day! If you purchase the album today there are many bonuses.

Music has the power to change hearts, minds and consciousness. History shows there are messages inherent in music that create peaceful and revolutionary change for freedom and civil rights. Animal Rights Activists/music artists such as Paul McCartney, Emmylou Harris, Morrissey and Moby successfully use music as the message to speak up for animals.

Every decade or so, an extraordinary artist comes along – who carries us to the newest, important musical frontier. “Sharanam” by our friend and animal rights activist Sharon Gannon, is a CD that gives the listener the direct and powerful experience of healing our emotional, spiritual, psychological and ecological disconnection with ourselves and with the world through Sanskrit Mantras.

Mantra is a Sanskrit word that translates to: Man means “mind”, Tra means to “to protect” or “to cross over.” Sharanam means “Refuge.” By listening to and singing with Sharanam’s mantras, we can take refuge, strength and inspiration to change our perception of our ability to create positive change in our world.

Sharanam is a healing mantra and prayer offering for all beings- especially animals.

Today, Wednesday October 27, we are requesting your participation in a special offer for this extraordinary CD called “Healing the World with Mantra – Sharanam -” an online campaign. TODAY only, anyone who purchases a copy of Sharanam through Amazon.com will be eligible to receive an array of gifts. http://www.amazon.com/Sharanam-Sharon Gannon/dp/B002L1AV78/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1287577495&sr=8-2

Many generous friends and supporters have donated excellent, exclusive gifts and prizes to anyone who purchases Sharanam (on Wednesday October 27th only.)

As a thank you for participating, Jivamukti Yoga Schools and some of their friends around the world are offering a wide range of cruelty free gifts. These includes: FREE yoga classes , downloadable CDs and MP3 songs from artists such as world renowned mantra singers Jai Uttal, MC Yogi, Cheb I Sabbah, Deva Premal and Miten, Sharon Gannon, David Newman, Sura das, vegan recipes, discount coupons, plus enter your name for a chance to win amazing prizes (such as a one of a kind Yantra painting!)

With over 20 cruelty free gifts and prizes, everyone who buys Sharanam via amazon.com on October 27 (only) is eligible to receive them. After you purchase the album, simply enter your Amazon.com order number on the gift page to receive your free gifts: http://jivamuktiyoga.com/promo.html

With your participation in purchasing Sharanam via Amazon.com we want to create a tipping point that will change global consciousness, encouraging healing, freedom, kindness and happiness for all beings – animal and human.

To learn more about the album, the campaign, or to redeem your free gifts, please visit:

http://jivamuktiyoga.com/promo.html

Sincerely,

Gaura Vani and AKS

P.S. – You are more than welcome to share this special offer with your family, friends and social networks to encourage them to join our campaign of freedom and happiness. This is not an exclusive offer.- The more of us who join, the better to transform our world.- Again, this is a one-day offer only – October 27. Thank you.

Just off the busiest street in all of Europe, is a small temple, that has existed since 1969. Inside are the most beautiful deities of Radha Londonisvara (meaning Krishna, the Lord of London) and a family of wonderful devotees that has grown from four in 1969, to hundreds in 2009!

stopped through London on our way to South Africa to take part in the celebrations. On the night before the anniversary, a huge event was held at the stylish Troxy club in the East End. Hundreds of volunteers teamed up to decorate, organise, cook, run sound and lighting, host, photograph and video and perform for the event, all in honour of the contribution that this beautiful temple has made to the city of London since its inception.

It was our honour to perform ‘Govindam’ prayers (two verses from the Brahma Samhita – spoken by Lord Brahma to Lord Krishna at the beginning of creation) with Yamuna devi, one of the original six who gave their lives to start the temple in the 60s. These six struggled through every kind of difficulty imaginable, and within a very short time began to achieve great success, striking up a friendship with George Harrison and John Lennon that eventually resultedin the famous Harrison produced ‘Radha Krishna Temple’ album.  The ‘Govindam’ prayers from this album are now played in ISKCON temples daily all over the world, and it was a real treat to accompany Yamuna devi’s devotion-filled, soulful singing.

We were also blessed to collaborate with many other friends in London, including Tulasi, jahnavai’s sister, who sang beautifully and played kartals; Jaggi, who also sang sweet harmonies and played electric guitar; the Subhadra dancers- four local young Bharatanatyam dancers who specially  choreographed a dance to ‘Hey Nath’; and our new dear friend Colin, whose crazy saxophone playing and infectious humour brightened every moment of our experience.

You can see more photos from the events courtesy of David Crick, who kindly sent us the links:

The Troxy – Saturday 21st November

view: http://davidc.zenfolio.com/troxy/slideshow

download: http://davidc.zenfolio.com/troxy

Soho Street – Sunday 22nd November

view: http://davidc.zenfolio.com/40years22ndnov/slideshow

download: http://davidc.zenfolio.com/40years22ndnov

We had a fun time squishing into the tiny studio and got to have a couple of short kirtans, answering some funny questions in between (watch the video for more).

Our week was a little more relaxed than the previous one, after the intensity and high energy surrounding the book launch. We had some opportunities to visit local pilgrimage spots. Not far from the temple is Banganga, a huge water tank said to be fed by an unexplainable water source. The water is considered non different from the holy Ganges and it is also said that Shri Chaitanya, the founder of kirtan, came here to bathe and pay his respects hundreds of years ago. We dropped some of the water on our heads, and explored the village streets around the tank. Despite being so close to the middle of the city, the atmosphere was rural, with geese running here and there, and old temples squeezed between every few houses. Just as we were about to leave, a middle aged woman with a bright face approached us and practically begged us to come to her temple down the road.
‘Please,’ she pleaded, ‘You come see my Lord. You will like very much.’
We followed, a little hesitantly. She led us into a tiny dark stairway, and up a small flight of water logged steps.’Be careful, your head,’ she warned as we ducked under the low doorway.

We found ourselves in a room the size of a closet, where an old man lay on a string cot. He jumped up when we entered, welcoming us in broken English. They both ushered us into the adjoining room, where to our surprise, a beautiful, black stone deity of Lord Balarama, Krishna’s brother stood. The lady explained that the deity had been in her family for generations, and right now, just her and her father cared for him. As her father sat us down and eagerly served out blessed food from the deity (Indian tea biscuits and rock candy!) she told us the story of their life and in suprisingly good English, explained how she wanted to build a three storey temple here, so that many people would be attracted to come and worship Lord Balarama. We were enlivened by her devotion and touched to unexpectedly see the old deity – in kirtan, we always pray to Lord Balarama, as he is represented by all of the instruments used to glorify Lord Krishna.

Other highlights of the week included getting to know many sincere and devoted members of the community; seeing, hearing and driving through the raucous Ganesh Chaturthi festivities that put the city at a standstill as countless processions take to the streets; and getting to enjoy many wonderful early morning kirtans with the Chowpatty temple residents. Their enthusiasm has rightly gained a reputation, and their spontaneous dancing has to be seen to be believed!

The week came to a close with two events. First, a youth evening at Shanmukananda Hall, a 2500 seater auditorium which was filled with 3000 students for the duration of the evening! We were blessed to have many accomplished musicians from the community join us on stage, including Rupa Manjari singing, our friend Rupa Manjari (number two!) from Florida, playing piano, and Prabhu Gouranga, a senior student of Hariprasad Chaurasia, playing bamboo flute. Ananta Nitai and Bhakta Gauranga from the local temple kirtan band completed the group.

The next day was Radhastami, the holy birthday of Shri Radha, Lord Krishna’s eternal companion. Early in the day, after a thunderous morning kirtan, we got to do a special thank you kirtan for all of the staff of ‘Govinda’s’. This on-site restaurant serves hundreds of delicious dishes daily, including stone baked pizza that has an incredibly Italian flavour (almost unheard of in India). During our stay the staff had served us every day, doing everything possible to make us comfortable and cared for. Now we joined with them in singing the names of Krishna and Radha, who is the patron goddess of all who cook for Lord Krishna.

Later in the day, there was time for a few more hours of kirtan, as the deities were ceremonially bathed with susbstances such as coconut water, honey and fresh fruit juice. Hands were raised, bodies whirled, and every voice called out with great sincerity and joyful abandon, especially when Radhanath Swami joined us in leading the kirtan. We knew we had to leave at 9pm to make our flight back to London. By 9.20, we were still in the thick of the kirtan – we couldn’t even see the doorway and the balconies on either side of the room were packed with bodies. By 9.30, we had to drag ourselves away, completely overwhelmed by the spiritual mood of the day, and the incredible devotional attitude of everyone we came into contact with during the magical two weeks.

After driving for an hour, we reached the city oasis of the Radha Gopinath Temple, where we’d be staying for the next two weeks. The temple is a beautifully designed masterpiece of sandstone and carved wood, set amidst inner city apartment blocks. The main shrine upstairs boasts an amazing floor inlaid with semi-precious stones, what to speak of the deities of Radha Gopinath, so lovingly cared for by the temple monks and congregation.

The main event of our stay was the book launch of ‘The Journey Home: Autobiography of a American Swami’ by His Holiness Radhanath Swami. This book tells the story of a young American man’s journey through 1970s Europe and India, striving to find spiritual truth, and above all, a guru. After some incredible, often hair-raising adventures, that man eventually became Radhanath Swami, the founder and spiritual guide of the Radha Gopinath Temple.

We spent many days rehearsing at the offices of Swati Piramal, the mastermind and artistic director of the book launch. She’d put in many weeks of meticulous planning and organising for the event,  and we all wanted to do our best to make the evening a success. In between rehearsals, we had several newspaper interviews and photoshoots (often having to dress a bit Bollywood to make the media happy!), and even had an appearance on Radio Mirchi, Mumbai’s most popular radio station. The charismatic DJ, known as Jeeturaj (though no one knows his real name) has a huge influence on the youth of Mumbai through his daily show – if he says something is hot, it’s hot. He was very eccentric, but a lot of fun too, and he was completely amazed to learn that all of the band members had been born of devotee parents. When he learned that all the girls knew how to put on saris and that we could all sing in Sanskrit, he almost fell off his chair, proclaiming us ‘totally cool yaar!’

The book launch was an exciting evening, and despite a few technical hitches like Gaura’s guitar breaking 10 minutes before the curtain went up, and the sound man falling asleep in the middle of the show – everything went smoothly. The children of the temple community school, ‘Gopal’s Garden’, performed a fantastic abridged musical of the book, and we followed with our portion – bhajans from the ‘Ten Million Moons’ album, intertwined with passages read from the book by Radhanath Swami. Many influential Mumbai residents attended, including Bollywood star, Juhi Chawla, who came up after the show to thank us profusely, especially for ‘Krishna Murari (Mama Mana Mandire)’.

Sadly, that night Acyuta, Ananta and Janaki had to leave to make it back to work in New York on Monday morning. Gaura and I still had one more week to go, and many more adventures to come…