Chanting is a way of getting in touch with yourself. It’s an opening of the heart and letting go of the mind and thoughts. It deepens the channel of grace, and it’s a way of being present in the moment. ~ Krishna Das

Chanting is highly sensory and causes our energetic vibration to rise to a higher frequency. Every cell, organ, and tissue in our bodies has its own vibration and since the beginning of time, sound has been used to create harmony and balance within ourselves and our environment. Everything in the universe has a vibration and a frequency. Everything that we think and feel causes our brain to emit waves of vibrations that create a sound. The frequency of this sound cannot be heard by humans but emits a frequency that makes the resonant energy of the universe align with us. These frequencies are the very things that create our reality.

In the early 90’s I was invited to see Krishna Das at a very small venue in Scottsdale, AZ that only held about 50 people and was packed with closer to 75. I was much younger then and most likely one of the youngest in the room that was filled with yoga and meditation instructors and reiki masters. I had just completed my Reiki 1 attunement level and was excited to be in such a highly energized room. Krishna Das, if you have ever seen him, is an incredibly humble and humorous man who emanates an authentic energetic vibration grounded in peace and love.

He begins his events in a sacred manner and his chants start off slow, fostering a sense of awareness, gratitude, and mindfulness for the fact that the chanting brings healing, balances energy, and raises consciousness through sound vibration. The instruments used include a tabla drum, cymbals and bells. As the chanting goes on, it becomes more lively and uplifting, you can feel the cells of your body dancing deep within you. As the beat and chanting continues to increase in sound and speed you are moved into the state of ecstatic chant and can barely sit still.

After a while, a bunch of us got up and danced. With that, the tempo and volume of the musicians increased even more. People were clapping their hands in rhythm to the beat of the chant. Ecstasy! The energy of the room was spinning and spiraling, the vibration of the room and everyone within it had exploded into a level of higher consciousness that cannot be explained, only experienced. This chant called Jaya Jagatambe basically means to cry out in wonder to the mother of the universe. It helps us to know that our hopes and dreams are our reality once we open up and surrender to the power of life-force energy.

Jaya Jagatambe he Maa Durgaa
Jaya Jagatambe Jagatambe Maa Durgaa
Maa Kaalee Durge namo namah

Last fall, twenty-two years later, I saw Krishna Das again in Durango, CO. The audience of about 400 people was filled with a wide range of ages, 20 somethings to 70+ somethings. As the music amped up I could no longer sit still. I didn’t see anyone dancing so I looked behind me towards the doors into the auditorium to find a handful of people dancing. As the vibration in the auditorium increased I bolted from my seat and joined them, feeling my entire being blaze with energy.

I also enjoy shamanic trance dancing which utilizes or incorporate any of the following: drums, chants, mantras, whistles, bells, and rattles to induce a state of ecstasy. I like this chant by Kan’nal. It is called Kodoish which in Hebrew means to unite the lower vibratory levels with the higher levels of Creation. Repeating the word Kodoish allows circulatory systems to operate with one cosmic heartbeat and enables the body to experience the higher consciousness of the universe. Kodoish, Kodoish, Kodoish can create a vortex of cosmic energy that places us in resonance with other levels of universal intelligence. Kodoish contains a resonant frequency that helps in opening the third eye that opens us to seeing and increases perception.

Chanting brings the sound vibration into our body and allows us to relax and rest while maintaining awareness. It is while in this restful state of awareness that we align with the universal frequency of life in form and we become whole, balanced, and restored in that state of merging with the cosmic oneness of being.

Keep dancing!