The Heart Opening Power of Mantras in Munich!

The Heart Opening Power of Mantras

Chanting sacred mantras really serves to open the heart. Energetically the tongue is very closely connected to the heart and so the words we utter can either open our hearts or cause us to become emotionally shut down. I have also experienced how chanting mantras can therapeutically bring to light the things you may not even realise you have stored away in your unconscious mind. During the Munich Kirtan last Friday, I suddenly recognised something I had 'hidden away' and yet which had weighed heavily on my heart for many years......

Since time in memorial, knowledge has been a dangerous commodity. Dangerous only to authorities because it has potential to set the people free. When I was fourteen, like most teenagers I was on a mission. But unlike most other teenagers, my mission was to find out about all the enticing subjects that were considered contraband in my household. Hence my frequent trips to the town library (where no doubt my conservative Christian parents thought I couldn't possibly get up to too much mischief) became the highlight of my school holidays. Far more than the house parties I was never allowed to attend, or the local nightclub I would climb out of my bedroom window with my fake ID and hitch a ride to. Because there at the public library (this was just before the internet was available in my part of the world) I could sit and placate my adrenaline junkie nature, by pouring over books that made my heart pound and my stomach churn every time I turned a new page.

I know I sound like a super nerd don't I? Perhaps I was. I did after all grow up in a sheltered religious environment in Southern Africa. In some ways idealistic, in others rather oppressive. My parents were painfully sensitive to my strong willed nature and inexhaustible need to know, aware that they and their congregation might 'lose' me if they did not keep a tight rein with me. And as I navigated those generally angst-stricken adolescent years, I discovered that pretty much everything I found fascinating was thoroughly inappropriate and subject to grave disapproval. Me becoming a singer like Alanis Morissette in the 'immoral industry of music' was absolutely out of the question as was going to University. And furthermore Yoga was 'demonic', philosophy was not to be trusted and astrology was 'evil'. 

This made it all the more provocative for me!!  And so I read books about Yoga, Meditation, Wicca, Astrology, Tarot, Psychic phenomena, Socrates and Palm Reading. I would read all the books that frighted me and yet which held me captivated for hours, hidden, soaking up every scrap of information like a water starved tree, sitting in a corner for fear of being seen by someone in my congregation. And I never stopped singing. So if it wasn't for those secret trips to the library, and soon thereafter a serendipitous invitation to my first yoga class held at a girlfriend's house, perhaps this album would never have come about. When my parents found out about my attending yoga classes they banned me from going, but thankfully the yoga just kept coming back into my life.

Quick rehearsal with Peter and Erhard

I have found that chanting mantras opens the heart so much it releases emotional baggage that may have been stored away in your unconscious mind for many years. I recently wrote a song with some English lyrics about God to sing along side a beautiful Gurmukhi mantra, Ang Sung Wahe Guru, which means "The dynamic, living ecstasy of the universe is dancing within every cell of me".  Chanting Ang Sung Wahe Guru celebrates the realization that there is no piece or part of ourselves, no action, and no life that is not already the living vibration of the Infinite. It is all God and we are one. The English words were inspired while I was chanting the mantra.

YAM Yoga Studio, Munich

And so, at the Munich Kirtan last Friday, when I started this mantra together with the English words, a light bulb went on in my head and I recognised something that has been hidden away inside me for a long time, without consciously knowing that it has weighed heavily on my heart.

I became aware of how since my teenage years I have never really felt worthy of a true connection with God. Because somehow deep down I was convinced that I must be a really bad and unworthy person for wanting to do all the things my childhood religion taught me I should fear and hate. And as a result I have been treated as a pariah by my family for walking my own path, which has been one of the greatest challenges in my life to overcome so far.  And so these days I can easily sing about God in Sanskrit, however it is difficult for me to sing about God in English. Somehow it causes me a lot of discomfort and even pain to do so. 

The subject of my family has been on my mind quite a bit lately what with my tour and my album.  Hence it is no coincidence that I attracted this mantra to me.  I have known about it for years, but it is not until recently that I have begun to work with it. So when this mantra came to me, this new song was born and it has since been helping me to release some of the sadness I have related to my family dynamic. 

The right mantra will usually find you at the right time in your life to heal a certain aspect of your soul.  Which mantra resonates most with you? http://sarabdeva.bandcamp.com/

A big thank you to Oliver and Regina at YAM Yoga for kindly hosting our kirtan in their lovely space.  Also to Erhard Dengl and Peter Aigner my supporting musicians.

Sat nam and Namaste. May peace be on your journey. xxx

Meeting Deva Premal, Berlin and Gratitude - Uplifting Mantras for You Tour - 2013

Uplifting Mantras for You - Berlin

In the words of JFK, "Ich bin ein Berliner" or "I am a Berliner", and even though I was not born here, this is a city I just know I will continue to return to time and time again.   

Why do I love it here? Well, I guess it's the fact that at anytime of the day there is always something going on....it has the excitement and cosmopolitan factors of London and New York but without the frenetic pace and exorbitant prices.  There are hoards of amazing musicians, poets, designers, dancers and artists spilling out of every street corner and for some reason it seems like all the great talents of the world seem to congregate here at some time or another. I heard it said once that Berlin is a 'protected city'. And I can believe it! There is, however the little issue of the weather!!!!!

As a born and bred authentic Berliner, my husband is certainly not particularly fond of the weather here (nor anywhere else in Germany for that matter), whether it be Winter or Summer, and he likes to (vocally) make that very clear at every opportunity.....in fact as I type this blog he is doing so right now (giggle). So, dare I say, that if it wasn't for the weather we would probably live here. Isn't he lucky that we can live in sunny South Africa the rest of the time because of me!! ;)

Anyway, I feel so blessed that I just happened to be in Berlin at the same time as four very special souls in the spiritual world. And I had the privilege of meeting them all in the same evening!  

I met and chatted with the enchanting Deva Premal, perhaps the most influential mantra singer of our time, at her concert.  She certainly has always been a great inspiration to me!

We also met the talented Dutch musician and producer Maneesh de Moor who has been touring with Deva Premal.

And just the cherry on the top, almost like a gift from the universe, I got to meet  Gurmukh Kaur Kalsa and Gurushabd Singh Khalsa, two of the world's most inspiring spiritual teachers alive today, thanks to my friend Brian Kapell, who organised Deva Premal's concert in Berlin.

As you can imagine I was feeling quite elated by the time the weekend swung around, and this put the Kirtans we offered on Friday and Saturday onto a whole new level.  I again became witness to how sacred these mantras are, and also to how they uplift not only me as the singer but all the people who hear and chant them together.

I was able to offer Kirtans supported by two wonderful musicians, Leigh Jonathan Thomas and Atul Krsna. Together we offered three beautiful Kirtans in two days! Jaya Jaya!!  
I am sure there will be more upon my return to Europe from the States in August.

Leigh, Sarab Deva and Atul at the two Kirtans in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg

Leigh, Sarab Deva and Atul at the Kirtan in Berlin Mitte 

To finish the weekend off I attended a half day workshop with Gurmukh Kaur Kalsa and Gurushabd Singh Khalsa at the Jivamukti Studio in Mitte.  The theme of the workshop was all about how the frequency of Gratitiude will carry us successfully through the Aquarian Age.  I do indeed have so much to be thankful for!  I personally feel so humbled and blessed to be able to do this work, and to be able to offer this healing energy to others.  

What are you grateful for? I am reminded of the the English words in my version of the Waah Yantee mantra on my album, which say "Open your eyes to all the beauty in your life".  You can listen to it here: http://sarabdeva.bandcamp.com/track/waah-yantee

Make your gratitude list today and meditate on it. It is guaranteed to make you smile and lift your mood...even despite the weather :)

Sat nam!

The creation of the album..... just when the world was ending: December 2012

Uplifting Mantras for You 2013 Tour

The Creation of Uplifting Mantras for You

In October 2012 we had no idea any of this would happen. Obviously we always said it would be good to put a mantra album out there because it is so closely tied to the work we do. One of the many thing I love about my husband is that any new idea/endeavour I come up with he fully supports and will even generally throw himself into it one hundred and fifty percent. So when we met a producer we resonated with on a fateful drive up the Garden Route that November, we made the spontaneous decision to compose the album, conceptualise it, record it and master and mix it by the end of April 2013(!) 

Never shy of a challenge, I locked myself away everyday for 20 days through December to create the ideas that would become Uplifting Mantras for You. I found a space wherein I could be held to keep a daily yoga and meditative practice and set myself the creative task of coming up with a new musical idea everyday. And so the album was born. At the back of my mind I thought “Well, I have nothing to lose.... if the world is going to end at least I will have done this last project I'm passionate about”. Luckily, existence as I knew it continued on into January 2013 and I was able to complete the album, and go on tour. Perhaps some higher power felt like the album was worth hanging on for. That's what I like to think anyway :O)

Of course we agonised over what the title of the album should be.  Fabian chose the title Uplifting Mantras for You and it kind of worked, considering the intention behind it.  We also agonised over an appropriate cover for the album for weeks.  Finally we settled on this one:

Album Cover designed by Graphic Design Artist Willeen Le Roux 

The Team

We chose to work with multiple SAMA award nominee and winner Howard Butcher at his studio in Knysna  http://www.edenmultimedia.co.za/

The studio is set in the lush and peaceful hard wood forests of the Garden Route, South Africa and this setting brought such a peaceful and calming energy to the album. 

Our view from the studio

Besides Howard's outstanding reputation in the South African Music Industry for the quality of his work, one of his signatures is the quirky application of interesting and unusual sounds in his album projects. This came across in particular in Ek Ong Kar, where we recreated the sound of a Norwegian Fiddle by using a bowed mandolin (!)

Howard hard at work with Brent in studio

This little guy even added his own bit of music to the mix

We had some interesting visitors at the studio

We had a tight set of deadlines to get the album finished, because in February we already had my tour dates booked for Europe!! And as this is a purely self funded, self produced album, we had to take care of a lot of the admin with weeks spent organising and arranging music, schedules and the travel to Knysna from Cape Town before recording could commence.

The musicians we recruited were all astoundingly talented South Africans who added their own magical 'something special' to the mix. I had created a collection of demos which I had composed from scratch with my tiny midi keyboard and Logic Pro 9 and these guys turned each of those demos into masterpieces!

My musical director, Martin Wolfaardt is somewhat of a jazz virtuoso with a genius ear for abstract harmonies and arrangements (just how I like it). 

Martin Wolfaardt

Mostly I had a very clear idea of how I wanted the songs to sound and Martin helped me to knit the real instruments together in the fabric of the music so that all the music in my head could be heard by the world. Martin played piano and percussion, giving the album a lot of his energy, spirit and soul.

Me and Martin working on Whaa Yantee

We used two guitarists on the project; Ben Badenhorst on Kumbus and electric fretless guitar (who logged in virtually from Tel Aviv) and Brent Kozack on acoustic guitar.

Ben Badenhorst

I have to say that Ben is a wizard with the guitar and has created sounds for this album that seem to defy space and time. His style encompasses Maskanda, Jazz, Indian Classical, Progressive Rock, Middle Eastern and Avant Garde:  www.facebook.com/benbadass

The final and finishing touch to the feel of the album was the tabla, a classically Indian percussion instrument. I was soooo lucky (and relieved) that we managed to recruit Ronan Skillen who is undoubtedly South Africa's best tabla player.  He is usually in high demand and off touring internationally, but somehow just happened to be free on exactly the weekend we needed him: http://ronanskillen.com/

Ronan Skillen

And of course there was me on vocals and backing vocals (which spanned from the ridiculously low growling male type voice you hear in Namyoho Renge Kyo, to the unbelievably high pitched harmonies you hear in the Lokshmi mantra). I was also hauled in to play the peddle organ (to create the drone-like sound on Ek Ong Kar).  What can I say - this is how I hear music!  Complex and multi-layered! 

 Also perhaps a vague insight into how my mind works – ha ha!

The original photo we based the album cover on
taken by my dear friend Hazel Du Preez : http://www.hazeldupreez.com/

Lastly, my husband Fabian was always there sitting quietly in the corner of the studio, working furiously on the type setting of my album cover, working on my promotional campaign, cooking us food, making tea and generally fixing all and any of the IT issues (which cropped up frequently).  Thank you so much my love, you're the best!

You can find Uplifting Mantras for You here: http://sarabdeva.bandcamp.com

d

Uplifting Mantras for Your Tour 2013: Cologne - A rose by any other name...

Uplifting Mantras for Your Tour 2013 

Cologne - A rose by any other name...

 We arrived in Westerwaldt after a seven hour drive from Berlin (where we've been camped out for the last week). Unfortunately I tend towards motion sickness, especially in a moving car, and so I have found the best thing to do on long drives is to sleep! 

 

I gave an impromptu kirtan out at a healing retreat in the stunning Southern German countryside. I didn't plug into anything electric, keeping it fully acoustic and organic. I love it when I can feel everyone tuning into the mantras, and the energy in the room was so calm and peaceful after the chanting. 

We arrived to some rather miserable cold wet weather that weekend in the South of Germany, and yet on the day of my official kirtan in Cologne (or Köln)

 the sun shone brightly and it seemed as if spring had arrived in full force. 

Dating back to 39 B.C. Cologne is Germany's oldest major city, and is situated on both sides of the River Rhine. Each city has its own energy, and from what I felt about Cologne, it was thoroughly European, well contained, clean and the people I saw walking around on that Sunday afternoon (who probably all smelt very good) were all immaculately dressed! (Unlike Berlin which is far more cosmopolitan and grainy).  

We held the kirtan at YES!YOGA which is a stunning new ashtanga yoga studio in the city centre http://facebook.com/yesyoga.cologne 

It was great that we had a few people in the audience who had never experienced a kirtan before. I think it's wonderful that they decided to just take a chance and try something new on that sunny Sunday!  One gentleman came up to me afterwards and said that he was surprised at what feelings he experienced welling up in his heart while he was chanting along :)  Feedback like that really makes my day!!

So a BIG thank you to Maria at YES!YOGA for opening her beautiful space for our kirtan. 

And a special thank you to the two gorgeous ladies who traveled with us to Cologne and added some divine feminine energy to the mix (okay, so they are totally my groupies/

pom -pom girls, and I adore them for it!!)

And to my road crew - thank you all for your friendship and support :0) 

Our next Kirtan will be in Berlin this Saturday the 11th of May. 

 I'm super excited and looking forward to it.