Kirtan & Naada Yoga with Geeti & Gyan
Tuesdays 7.15 - 9pm at Shanti Space, Brookvale
This weekly kirtan & naada class will be a great opportunity for community to connect, sing & uplift each other, & send out intentions of goodwill to humanity & the Earth.
It will be a perfect way to unwind from the day, recharge & connect deeply with your authentic voice & self. Sessions will conclude with a nourishing & integrating sound bath.
Geeti & Gyan love sharing music & mantra to open the heart. They bring a joyful, uplifting, devotional & meditative quality to kirtan. They are part of Sydney’s popular kirtan group, Sound Samadhi, & offer regular music, mantra & movement classes, events, workshops & retreats in Sydney & beyond.
Classes will begin with a short naada yoga practice (naada = sound) which may include vocal toning, mantra & meditation, to help us let go of stress, connect to our voices, & invite us into own peaceful presence.
This will be followed by an hour or so of kirtan. Kirtan is an ancient yet very accessible call & response group singing yoga practice, often combining potent Sanskrit vibrational sounds called mantra with melody & rhythm in dynamic call & response to help bring us into a relaxed, balanced & expansive state of being.
It is the mantras carried by the organic flow of emotion & devotion which makes this such a transformative meditation practice.
Kirtan is a very joyful & efficient method to help us bypass the busy mind & connect us with our hearts & the present moment.
Kirtan can help elevate our thoughts & emotions, purify & boost our energy & expand our awareness.
It can be practised by everyone, regardless of age or experience. No musical experience is required, just a heart willing to sing, share and receive.
Kirtan with Geeti & Gyan
Geeti & Gyan's East meets West kirtan style fuses the traditional with the contemporary, & features a variety of instruments including harmonium, guitar, Indian & western drums, manjira, flute, piano & sitar.
Geeti & Gyan's kirtans are multicultural, reflecting their inclusivity of all cultures and religions. Many are in Sanskrit (the language of yoga and mantra), some are in English, others in Tibetan, Sufi and other languages. Within Sanskrit, they embrace all the deities - many of them may be sung to in a single evening of kirtan! The intention here is to tap into the many divine qualities of our being & consciousness.
Kirtan with Geeti & Gyan is often call & response, which is a combination of listening to & singing back that which you've just heard. Geeti & Gyan find this makes the kirtan a true spontaneous collaboration between facilitators & participants, & can potentially take everyone on an enthralling journey from slow, tender beginnings, to rhythmic dynamism, to ecstatic peaks & devotional yearning, dissolving into silence.
Often at some point during a call & response kirtan, everyone sings together. This can really expand the group harmony. Geeti & Gyan often then encourage participants to sing 'any part you like' - so everyone can find their own creative expression and place in the choir of voices.
They aim to make the kirtans as simple & accessible as possible, so everyone can join in as they wish. They warmly welcome those new to kirtan to give it a go and see if it resonates.
Geeti & Gyan hold space for everyone to feel, let go, release & express whatever they need to during kirtan. They give full permission for people to embrace their emotions & feelings in a safe & inclusive environment, which encourages participants to be their authentic selves.
A note about singing from Geeti & Gyan
We understand that singing may bring up all manner of uncomfortable feelings such as self-criticism & self-doubt... we hold space for this too. As Miten says in his song, 'Bring the song you fear to sing, all is welcome here.' And we are here also to support you to have a positive, transformative experience of kirtan!
The beauty & liberating thing about kirtan is that ultimately it really doesn't matter how our voices sound, if we sing out of tune or make mistakes. It is an offering from our hearts to the divine, or whatever we hold sacred.
Opening our hearts as best we can, being our authentic selves and singing from this place, is the aim - this is what really matters.
We intend to keep this heart-based approach to kirtan alive both when leading & supporting kirtan. Kirtan has captured our hearts because it asks of us each time to be real, to be ourselves... that's all & that's everything!
'I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think' - Rumi.
We look forward to singing & co-creating an experience that will nurture, uplift & inspire you.