Welcome! My inaugural post is an answer to the question I get most often from my amazing students: "what is that song you were playing?"
The music of Kundalini Yoga is what initially drew me to the practice. I was at a yoga retreat center, in the midst of debilitating grief and heartache and not having any sense of how I was to move through it. One morning I attended a lecture by a featured speaker and at the end of her lecture, she offered a Kundalini mantra for healing: "Ra Ma Da Sa." I had no knowledge of Kundalini Yoga or what the words meant, and I didn't really like meditating. But I just sat and listened to the music, mostly out of a desperate need to find some relief. The following day I remember waking up and feeling--for the first time since my world had turned upside down--that it was just a little easier to keep breathing than it had been the day before. And thus began my love affair with Kundalini music and the peace it continues to bring me.
There are so many wonderful Kundalini musicians, each with a distinct approach to the music and the mantras. I don't recommend researching mantras or their translations--at least not at first. I recommend just listening to a few songs by a few different artists with an open mind and let yourself be drawn to whatever it is that speaks to you. The following artists and songs have had a profound impact on me and my practice (all of which can be found on iTunes):
- Snatam Kaur: "Ra Ma Da Sa" (the song that started it all), and I also love: "Ong Namo," "Aad Guray Nameh," "Gobinday Mukunday," and "Ong Sohung."
- Nirinjan Kaur Khalsa: "Mool Mantra," "Rakhe Rakhanhar," and "Chattr Chakkr Vartee."
- Jai-Jagdeesh: "Aad Guray Namay" and "Aap Sahaaee Hoaa."
Happy listening. Sat Nam.
