LIVE WELL: Draw back the kirtan on meditative chanting
This yogini is hooked on a feeling. She’s high on believing in kirtan, also known as sacred chanting.
The loving way kirtan singer Heather Wertheimer describes it sounds enticing.
“It’s yoga practice that we’re singing.”
Wertheimer and her husband Benjy Wertheimer are the kirtan duo Shantala. They live in Portland, Ore., and travel around the world leading kirtans. They'll perform at the Fine Arts Center on Thursday as part of the “Conflict / Resolution” project.
What is kirtan?
Is kirtan a foreign word to you? Well, it is foreign, so don’t feel bad. It’s Sanskrit and means chanting or to repeat. Pronounce it like this: “keer-tawn.”
I’ve become aware of it in the past several years, enjoying tiny tastes of it in a yoga class here and there. Occasionally a teacher will begin class with a few minutes of chanting. That can mean simply repeating the word “aum” or “om” three or so times. Or sometimes hearing her melodically call out a Sanskrit mantra, and singing it back to her using the same melody. That’s how the exchange goes. She chants, we repeat.
The noise and vibrations created by the chanting both sound and feel beautiful. After even just a few minutes of the practice in a yoga room, the air holds a palpable charge to it and my body feels energized and happy.
At a kirtan such as the one put on by Shantala, the singing practice gets much deeper. An evening might last about two hours. Benjy Wertheimer, Heather’s husband, will accompany her vocals with instruments, including tabla, congas, percussion, esraj, guitar and keyboards.
Why should I try it?
Think about how good it feels to belt out a tune in your acoustic-friendly shower or the privacy of your car. I un-scientifically believe singing is one of the fastest and easiest ways to pull yourself up out of a blue mood. On a purely physical level, music and sound vibrates our brains. In a more enigmatic way, kirtan can create a general sense of well being.
My brother asked me, “Why does it feel so good?”
Victoria Manchester, the organizer of a local twice monthly kirtan at the Downtown Inner Space, believes kirtan brings peace of mind.
“It makes you happy and more of an uplifted, joyful mind. The term 'blissed out' is often used,” she said. “I think that engaging the voice helps to purify the whole body. Sound is healing. And you’re working with others, just like in any choral singing. It’s a teamwork thing.”
For Wertheimer, “The practice has a direct line that carries me into a really deep space of the heart and consciousness. I get swept into this, it’s beyond my petty little thoughts from moment to moment. I come out a better person at the end.”
Is it religious?
Kirtan’s roots are in Hinduism, yes. Can anybody of any religious faith practice it? Absolutely. The lineage of the mantras are from the Hindu religion, but there are also Hebrew and English mantras as well.
“I think for the general public, it’s more of a meditation, a contemplative practice,” Manchester said. Some people employ a silent, seated meditation. For others, that just doesn’t work, and chanting can be a more active form for them.
It’s all about opening up the heart, Manchester believes. “Just about everybody I know who loves doing it, it tends to soften up our attitudes.”
In her mind, there is no conflict between practicing kirtan and also practicing any other religious faith or none at all. The singing is considered devotional singing and the intention for your singing can be directed in any deity or idea you decide on.
Mantra might be another mysterious word. It can be a word, syllable, sound or group of words. Sometimes people use a mantra in a seated meditation. Mantra in this case is singing meditation.
“Some definitions would call mantra a tool for the mind. You put your mind into the mantra and it helps to calm the ripples of your mind so that you can sink into the depth below it,” Wertheimer said.
She believes the mantras are designed to open up the heart, and the practice of kirtan “... is a river flowing at all times. We can step into that current and we can step into it at anytime. It has its own life and its own intelligence. All we have to do is show up. Sometimes it feels incredible, the feelings of ecstasy. There’s an energy that rearranges us.”
This resonates as very true for me. I have become enamored with a few mantras in the past few years and found myself singing them over and over in my head. The repetitive notion of it and the lovely tunes of some of them are soothing. It’s just one more tool, in addition to the physical practice of yoga, to use in calming the manic race of the brain.
What if I can’t sing well?
This most definitely is not “American Idol.” You can have the most off-key voice and you will still be welcome at a kirtan.
“I’ve heard a lot of people who just bust out and don’t have a tune,” Manchester said. It truly is all about your intention. If you’re really opposed to singing in public, just show up and sit, soak up the good vibes. Maybe you’ll change your mind and add your voice to the mix.
Both Wertheimer and Manchester said they provide sheets of lyrics for people. They also go over the chant before they begin to sing it. Chants tend to be fairly simple and it’s repetitive, so you’ll get the hang of it after a bit.
Kirtan chant with Shantala
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 8
Where: Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St.
Cost: $20/$25 at the door; 634-5583 or csfineartscenter.org
Other kirtans
7-8:30 p.m. first and third Mondays, Downtown Inner Space, above the Poor Richard’s complex, 322 N. Tejon St., donations accepted; downtowninnerspace.com or ShaktiCreations.com.
