With Dani Leah Strauss & Ros Schwartz

Kirtan is a practice of call-and-response chanting, designed to help us to chart a path inward toward self-acceptance and joy. This practice soothes the thinking mind and opens the door to the heart with the support of mantra, vibration, and the surrender of the self to something greater.

When we chant, we literally use the vibration of mantras to burst through the knots that bind our energy and clarify the connection between the heart and the throat.

Kirtan is designed for every emotion – we offer all our feelings to the universe and clear out our internal cobwebs. By singing together, we support and strengthen each other, and are reminded that we are in community.

Kirtan is an ancient Bhakti yoga practice using sacred song and the fuel of our emotions as an expression of devotion and gratitude. It was introduced to the world by Sri Krishna Chaitanya – he offered his first public kirtan in 1510 in Bengal.

We do not present ourselves as experts on this practice. We have gleaned joy from these songs, and endeavor to offer that opportunity for others, in full acknowledgement that this is not the tradition of our birth.