Sure you could go drink away your financial woes on a Saturday night but then you wake up Sunday with a hangover, regret and minus a bunch of precious cash. Or you could sing your way to a bliss that will have you floating on air as you face the week. It seems that the transcendent allure of Kirtan is appealing to more than dreadlocked hippies these days. Halls and places of worship are packing out as word of mouth spreads about how good it feels to “get your chant on”.
For those that aren’t familiar with the term, Kirtan is a musical call and response form of group singing designed to uplift, calm and focus the mind, relieving it from its usual chatter — grocery lists, money worries, petty arguments.
As westerners open up to the fact that yoga is much more than an “exercise class” the yogic lifestyle is finally shedding some of it’s preconceptions as “cult like” or just for hippie freaks. Meditation- all though growing in popularity too, is still a hard ask for a lot of us ADD types living in a sensory over load world. So I’m not surprised that “losing yourself in the music” is on the rise.
The proof is in the pudding so to speak -anyone that has experienced the joy of a Kirtan will attest to the fact that it’s good vibes…plain and simple. You soon realize that you don’t have to convert your religion or be a Hare Krishna…the universality of people coming together in song to “spread some love” is very attractive in these fearful times.
