I am so very excited to have my first guest writer on It's a Yoga Thang! As someone who is in-love with chanting/singing and understands the healing power behind these mantras, I am grateful that Allison Brooks reached out and wrote this article for me to share on this Blog. Thank you Allison!
Kirtan Yoga:
Moving out of the
studios and into the hospitals
Kirtan, as most of you probably know, is the sacred
expression of the language of the heart through sound and word. The exotic
sounds and the “call-and-response chanting”, promote inner-peace, inner-transformation,
and divine peace throughout the world. To intensify this mind+body
revitalization, traditional yoga poses are practiced while the kirtankars perform, hence Kirtan
Yoga.
Though a familiar term amongst avid yogis, the general
public probably has no clue what Kirtan Yoga is or what benefits it can bring. That
is why many practitioners and teachers have started moving their classes from
their studios to hospitals, schools, nursing homes and so on. So far the public reception of this healing
art has been positive. Many students claim that they feel more open and
revitalized after a Kirtan yoga class and some say they just go for the music.
The best part, the therapeutic effects of Kirtan not only
touch the patients, but as well as the doctors and nurses of the patients. Jennifer
Canfield, founder of the Call
and Response Foundation, reminisced on one of her Kirtans at a local mental hospital and talked how the staff was
moved to the point of tears by the chants.
“I talked to one staff member who said that their job puts
them in a constant state of tremendous stress, and as a result, many of them
develop their own serious health problems,” quoted Jennifer.
Some of the staff member at that hospital and other
facilities around started purchasing hand drums and other instruments to have
local kirtankars come in and give
lessons. Many hospitals and nursing have been incorporating weekly Kirtan session in their agendas to
promote healing and stress-relief. The staff and patients acclaim that the
session make them more positive and open-minded towards treatments, and more
opt to work with the nurses.
Multiple Cancer treatment facilities consider Kirtan a complementary therapy and now
recommend it for patients, especially those with a serious prognosis, like pancreatic or mesothelioma cancer. This
should not undermine the use of Kirtan
for any medical necessity, but doctors know that aggressive cancers need
aggressive treatments, and that this sudden change leads to stress and
reluctance towards treatment. Kirtan
as well as other forms of yoga are able to positively combat these negative
side-effects naturally, and help ease the physical and mental pain of
treatments.
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