Beginning Nada Yoga (the yoga of sound and chant)

A disciple of master yogi Sri Hanuman, who teaches Hindustani Style internationally (and at home in southern France), Mimi Seton offers her Beginners' Workshop to groups in private homes, yoga centers, community centers, human development programs, etc.

Sri Hanuman's approach is gentle, slow, disciplined, and non-judgmental. Imagine doing Hatha Yoga with your voice! (accompanied on harmonium, as is traditional in India.)

The Process:

1. OM. Relax the mind.
2. Sing the 'That' (mode/scale) ~ generally chosen from the basic 10 modes in Indian music. We sing a prescribed sequence of pitches on the 'Sargam' ~ the Indian Solfege.
3. Sing the Vowel Series on the same sequence of pitches as we sang the Sargam.
4. Sing more challenging Short Phrases within the 'That', exploring the different relationships between the pitches.
5. Sing Short Improvisational Phrases. In the oral tradition of India, the teacher sings first, and the class repeats.
6. Sing a Simple Devotional Song or Mantra.

The above sounds like a standard Western singing class, doesn't it? But there are huge differences in philosophy and approach.

For starters: Although it is based in Indian classical music, Nada Yoga is a much slower, meditative approach. Imagine maintaining a meditative state while you are vocalizing.

Indian music is melodic ~ rather than harmonic. There's a tremendous regard for the human voice as the primary instrument in Creation.

A good Indian musician has a highly developed sense of the inter-connectedness of pitches ~ pitches are not conceived of as separate entities ~ they exist in the context of the other pitches.

Indian musicians have a heightened sensitivity to (and enjoyment of ) singing the micro-tones ~ those pitches that exist between the principle pitches in both our systems. (When we sing a micro-tone in the West we are generally considered to be singing 'sharp' or 'flat' ~ making "mistakes").

Because Indian music is a melodic music which puts the voice first, there is a fairly large number of acceptable ways to ornament vocally that keep listeners' interest. These slides, trills, shadowing and so forth are among the characteristics that make the Music recognizable to anyone in the world.

The improvisational openness of Hindustani music likens it to jazz, where the imagination of the singer is allowed free reign within the boundaries of the 'That' (scale) and the rhythmic structure.

Indian music is exceptionally sophisticated rhythmically too ~ but we don't work on complex rhythms in this workshop. Our focus is on widening your capacity to hear ever more subtle pitches.

You do not have to be Hindu to enjoy Indian chanting. Yet ~ if you have a sincere and open heart and a reverence for Life (or a heart-felt devotion to God if you prefer those terms), you will probably connect more deeply to the essential spirit of this devotional music. The songs are songs of praise and worship, but as they are in Sanskrit many people don't know the exact cognitive meanings of the texts they are chanting. It doesn't really matter; you still reap the benefits:

1. Relaxation
2. Community
3. Sense of peace and happiness
4. Increased ability to concentrate
5. Improved discernment of musical pitches and greater sensitivity to the world of sound in which you live.
6. As with all singing, chanting creates more 'alpha waves' in your brain and the two hemispheres work better together. This is not only relaxing, it gives you access to creative ideas, intuitions and inspirations.