New World Kirtan > Calming Chants for a Crazy World

In the last podcast I shared that I was suffering through another back spasm, and since then many of you have written about back spasms with your stories and suggestions. Thank you for taking the time to share these with me — so many people suffer from this ailment. I thought I’d share with you some of the things that really helped me get through the latest spasm, and my request is that if you decide to purchase any of this stuff please do it through the Amazon portal here at the NWK website — it’s a great way to support the podcast. I’m not paid to endorse any of the things I’m going to mention, I’ve just used them & they worked well for me. I’ll tell you more about them in this week’s podcast. Jill Miller’s Yoga Tune-Up Balls Thermedic Heating Pad Healing Back Pain by John Sarno Back in Control by David Hascom: Dr. Mercola’s page on EFT meridian tapping The Tapping Solution for Autoimmune Disorders Kelly Howell’s Brain Sync programs These are all good tools to have in your toolbox, and the set this week is filled with chants for Divine Healing. I’m posting this from the Omega Institute’s Cafe at the Omega Fall Ecstatic chant weekend. It has been incredible so far, I’ll tell you all about it next time. Until then — Namaste.

This episode is a Fresh Tracks set, but it should be called The Return of the Back Spasm … Ugh. Although it’s been going on for several weeks the spasm hasn’t been as bad this time and I learned a few things from the last one — I’ll tell you about the journey in this week’s intro. These week’s Fresh Tracks 31 set has great chants from great artists. I love Deva Premal & Miten’s ‘Cosmic Connections Live’, listening to the track featured this week took me right back to hearing them perform at Bhakti Fest. This summer the soundtrack of my swimming & Yoga has been Suzin Green & Daniel Johnson’s new CD ‘Mantras of the Sun Volume 2’ with guest artist Nina Rao, and I’m re-featuring Johanna Beekman’s gorgeous ‘Om Shanti’ from her CD ‘Heart Beats One’ again because when I featured it the last time it was an earlier track that didn’t have Benji Wertheimer’s glorious sarod. Other artists featured this week are Mirabai Moon, Devadas, Shantdeep, Will Blunderfield & Blue Spirit Wheel’s haunting ‘Asatoma Ma’ from their new CD ‘Planetary Alignment’. Here’s the Unity prayer for protection I mention in the intro this week. “The light of God surrounds me; The love of God enfolds me; The power of God protects me; The presence of God watches over me. Wherever I am, God is — and all is well.” Next time from the Lovelight Festival my friends. Until then — Namaste.

This week’s podcast is an interview with Wynne Paris, director & producer of the Lovelight Yoga & Arts Festival, held in Darlington, Maryland August 26-28. There’s lots going on, and the kirtan lineup is stellar, starting with Krishna Das and Trevor Hall. The venue also sounds amazing, and it’s going to be a great weekend — I hope you’ll come join us. The chants I chose for this podcast are from artists who will be playing at the Lovelight Festival, and chants from these artists also helped me to express something this week. The set is my way of responding to the awful events of recent weeks. I hope you’ll listen & sing and send healing energy out to our world, because it’s sorely in need of peace, love & healing. Surround yourself with Love this summer dear hearts. Until next time — Namaste.

When I was looking over the results of the recent New World Kirtan listener survey I noticed lots of interest in local kirtan, and several of you expressed an interest in starting a band in your community. This week’s podcast will help you get started. Here’s a link to a songbook with chord charts, it has a lot of the chants our band covers when we play the kirtan service at the Unitarian Church here in town, and this week’s set has the originals of these chants so you can play along to learn them. In the future, find the link to the charts by going to the tab marked “What Is Kirtan” at the top of the page, and scroll down to “Charts”. If you’re curious to hear our band, we have a YouTube page with chants from our kirtans. I’ve just posted “He Maha Lakshmi’ from our kirtan in May — it’s a cover of a chant by David Newman. Next up is an interview with Wynne Paris, producer of the Lovelight Festival. Please consider going, it will be a blast. I’ve been listening to lots of new kirtan, and a Fresh Tracks set is almost ready to go so that’s coming up soon. Until then my friends — Namaste.

This podcast is the third and last of the series about where Western kirtan is headed, and features the second part of my conversation with Jai Uttal & Ben Leinbach that began in Part 2. We’ll also talk with Nina Rao, and she’ll tell us her view of the current kirtan scene, what happened with SiriusXM’s Krishna Das channel & how KD is doing on his sabbatical. On the listener survey several of you said the conversations with these various artists have gotten you thinking about the issues that have come up. If that impacts the choices you make around buying their music, I’m glad — that was the point of doing them. My hope is that these podcasts have opened up the conversation. Next up is a Fresh Tracks set! Until then my friends — Namaste. Photo by Lakshmi Grace Phoenix.

The next two podcasts will be released back to back, and they continue the conversation about where Western kirtan is headed. Creative artists today are facing unprecedented challenges, and our kirtan musicians are being deprived of income because of the growth of streaming. How can we turn this around in our kirtan community and support the artists that inspire us? In this show you’ll hear the second part of a conversation between Wah & Mike Cohen that began in the first podcast, and the beginning of a conversation with Jai Uttal & Ben Leinbach. This will be continued in the podcast to follow with an interview with Nina Rao, who will tell us about the how the Krishna Das channel was created & curated for SiriusXM Satellite Radio, and a change SiriusXM made that has been catastrophic for the artists in our community. Thanks to all of you who filled out the New World Kirtan listener survey — I’ll be telling you about the results soon! Photograph by Lakshmi Grace Phoenix.

I don’t repeat podcasts very often, but the Fresh Tracks shows are an exception. Fresh Tracks are podcasts with all new chants, and sometimes I bring them back because so often they deserve another listen. This week’s show posted about a year ago, and it has some of my very favorites. I hope you enjoy it also. Here’s the link to our listener survey. Please answer a few questions if you’d like to give me some feedback. Have a safe and happy Memorial Day!

This week’s New World Kirtan Podcast explores the deeper meaning of the Gayatri Mantra, one of the oldest & most powerful mantras in existence. Here’s a simple translation: “O Divine Mother, our hearts are filled with darkness. Please make this darkness distant from us and promote illumination within us.” The Gayatri is a prayer to lift our consciousness toward the light. Ian Boccio of the kirtan band Blue Spirit Wheel gives us an overview of the deeper meaning of the mantra, followed by several Gayatri chants so you can continue this exploration in meditation. Next week we’ll start a series on where Western kirtan is headed — so far I’ve recorded conversations with Dave Stringer, Madi Das, Nina Rao, Jai Uttal, Ben Leinbach, Wah, Mike Cohen, Ian Boccio & Gershone Hendelberg about the topic. Several things have brought this to a head — streaming is one but there are lots of other factors. The current model isn’t working — how can we as a community make a difference? Until then my friends. Namaste.

Winter Solstice is always special to me because it marks the anniversary of the launch of the New World Kirtan Podcast. It hardly seems possible that it has been seven years, and that many of you have been with me since the beginning of this journey. The podcast is produced for you, and it has become much more than just service for me. It’s my blessing and privilege to produce this show, and to have you as my audience. We have a lot planned for 2016 & a big announcement after the first of the year, so stay tuned! To keep you warm through the blustery weather here's a link to a recipe for my favorite chai, made with black tea & lots of spices. Have a beautiful Holiday my friends! I'll see you in 2016.

One beautiful day last month my son Jesse & I drove up from San Rafael to Ben Leinbach's studio where Jai Uttal was just beginning work on his next CD. The four of us had such a fun conversation about all kinds of things -- what Jai was for Halloween, letting children go, his thoughts on the new CD (it's songs he's performed but never recorded), the Marin community & the loss of Harbin Hot Springs. One of the songs on Jai's new CD is 'Sri Ram Jai Ram', one of my all-time favorite kirtan performances -- New World Kirtan recorded it during Jai's set at the 2014 Denver Chant Fest. It's an AMAZING set, featuring vocals by C.C. White & Sheila Bringi's magical flute. If you want to listen to the whole thing here's the link. If you loved Harbin Hot Springs, or have heard about it here's a video that shows the exquisite retreat that was destroyed by a wild fire this summer -- please contribute to the rebuilding effort if you're so moved. Enjoy the season my friends, and until next time. Namaste.

Our show this week features an interview with Vijay Krsna of the Kirtaniyas. Vijay is a rising star in the kirtan movement, and I loved his stories of ashrams, Krishna & Vrindavan. Here's a link to the chant "In Vrindavan" he talks about on the podcast. And here's a link to the wonderfully joyous video "Nitai Gauranga" with MC Yogi. The kirtan community here in Corvallis has a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. We're just finishing a wonderful month of kirtan events starting with Eugene band Narayani, and ending last weekend with Mike Cohen & Johanna Beekman. I'm filled up with love and the power of community. Have a beautiful Thanksgiving dear friends, and until next time -- Namaste.

The last few months I've been going to the gym a lot -- that back spasm last winter scared the beejeezus out of me, so working out has become a priority. But now autumn is coming on and lethargy is setting in. I mostly listen to other people's podcasts at the gym, but when I need a musical motivator I usually listen to New World Kirtan's 'Dance Dance Dance Evolution' sets. This week I put together a set of my favorites from those sets, plus a few new offerings, to get me out the door to the gym, I thought you would enjoy it also. And don't forget that Russill Paul is offering our listeners a discount on his wonderful courses -- I've taken several and they've been transformative. Mention New World Kirtan when you enroll and you'll receive a rebate. Here's the recipe for a delicious non-dairy Pumpkin Spice Latte from Elana's Pantry.Yummo!

In our last podcast I told you about beginning a Community Kirtan here in Corvallis. Our first was on a Friday night two weeks ago -- that afternoon yet another mass shooting occurred about 100 miles south of us at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg. In this week's show I'll tell you what that Friday night kirtan was like for us as we gathered in community. Affirming love was a powerful way to end a day filled with carnage. That's one reason this podcast is special. The other is because it contains a set that will bring you deeply into the energy of Ganesh ending with a meditation by Russill Paul to create successful outcomes. If this idea is intriguing, here's something you might like--Russill is offering a rebate for New World Kirtan listeners for his course 'Achieving Success With Mantra' -- this is where the meditation comes from. He’ll give you a 33% rebate if you email him after you purchase the program & let him know you heard about it through New World Kirtan. It makes a $150 program $99 for us — that’s a really good deal. Also, we’re about to start on a 49 day day chakra cleanse which will help us to shed old and unwanted energies that are sabotaging us, often unconsciously. We'll also learn to create new energy patterns that fortify our chakras with positive and healthy energies and some pretty cool Tantric energy and breath practices to facilitate energy flow in our chakras. Russill is giving us a 10% rebate on this course also if you mention our podcast. If you find this practice moves you, as I have, I hope you'll consider enrolling. See you next week dear friends. Namaste. There were two chants in this week's set I couldn't find in ITunes. The first is 'Ganesha Sharanam (trad kirtan from Jitendra Swami) by Daniel Paul, Gina Sala & the Kirtan All-Stars from Tabla Mantra (Songs Of Love & Rhythmic Rapture), and also 'Ganesha Japa' from Sarasvati Dreams, Jaya Lakshmi & Ananda.

A Community Kirtan!

I'm back from vacation with a new Fresh Tracks set! This one features some different offerings — an Island-influenced Krishna chant from the Hanumen, an African chant from Shantala, the beautiful flow of Jahnavi Harrison’s voice, Sufi chanting with HuDost, dance grooves with Donna DeLory, a sweet version of ‘Long Time Sun’ with Tina Malia, and a chant from Edo & Jo -- which comes with the sad news that beautiful Jo has left her body this week in Australia after a short illness. I met & interviewed Edo & Jo last year at Bhakti Fest and was so taken with Jo's sweet spirit & voice. She sings the chant “Om Namo Narayani” toward the end of the podcast — it’s the chant her husband Edo & her friends chanted to as she left her body. Godspeed dear Jo. Your beautiful gentle spirit touched more than you knew.  Enjoy the music my friends. See you next week.