Last Wednesday morning I found myself standing in the centre of a circle of 30 people with my eyes closed, tingles running through my body and an unstoppable smile on my face.
Not your regular Wednesday morning activity and not what I had expected I’d be doing when I decided to attend a singing workshop at Mount Pleasant Eco Park. But then again, I don’t know what I did expect.
I have always loved to sing. Some of my earliest memories are signing along to Elvis with my Grandad, performing in my living room to Top of the Pops, screeching along to any love song out of my bedroom window and being 8 years old jumping until I couldn’t breathe at my first concert (Take That – in case you were wondering). This love has never left me. Music can affect us on an emotional and spiritual level – a good song can change your mood, can revive lost memories,
The singing workshop was run by a wonderful lady called Claire Ingleheart, a master at using music to lift spirits. Within 90 minutes Claire had taken a group of 30+ relative strangers and turned us into one harmonious ecstatic rabble. There was laughter, tears and you could watch peoples posture changing and confidence growing. It got me thinking that the feeling of positivity, healing and connection I get from music is exactly the same whether it’s in a barn in Cornwall, a field in Glastonbury or an Ashram in Guatemala.
In 2014 I was blessed to attend a Cacao ceremony hosted by the Hanuman Project at the Yoga Forest in lake Atitlan, Guatemala. It was here that I discovered Kirtan – a call and response musical meditation that is one of the fundamental practices of Bhakti Yoga—the yoga of grace, love and devotion. I was in a new place, with new people, having a completely new experience and all I felt was love and acceptance. There is a brilliant quote that sums it all up for me:
“Kirtan is a means of finding our way back to the core of our Being, to our heart, and to our connection with each other.” Ragani
So what I have learnt is that singing, in any form, isn’t about the tone of your voice or the quality of your performance, it’s about a journey and a connection to your self and others around you.
Singing loud is freedom, it is complete release and we should all be doing it at least once a day. Or….Better yet….let 2017 be the year you finally join that choir.
The BBC have a ‘find a choir’ page for the UK: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sing/findachoir.shtml
If you prefer Bhakti Yoga or Kirtan then this website is a great source of information for UK gatherings: http://www.ukbhakti.org
Cornwall Choirs
Monday Evenings – 5.30-7.30pm @ Troon Primary School, near Camborne, Cornwall. TR14 9ED
http://www.ingleheartsingers.co.uk
Thursday Mornings – 9.30-11am @ Zed Shed, Jubilee Wharf, Commercial Road, Penryn, TR10 8FG
http://www.jubileewharf.co.uk/zedshed/choir
Guatemala Family
The Yoga Forest http://www.theyogaforest.org
Hanuman Project http://hanumanproject.org
