FROM SOUND 

From Sound to Silence…..

We are indundated with sound. Noise has become the backdrop to our lives. We often use it as a distraction from being alone with ourselves, a mechanism for drowning out the chatter of our thoughts.

Sounds can also be emotive. A song may stir up forgotten emotions, memories. The ring-tone on your phone, for the millionth time that day, may incite stress. And then there is the white noise. The dull, background hum that is always present, but we barely acknowledge – the constant drone of traffic, the soft buzz of electrical devices, the etheric thrum of human life.

Contemplative traditions have always held silence in high esteem. Monasteries, ashrams, temples all radiate a hushed quietness, and residents and seekers spend long periods in silence, to deepen their spiritual practice. The Yogic term for silence is ‘mouna’. Mouna can be practiced for short periods whilst eating, leading up to several days for experienced practitioners.

Coming into silence can be a challenging practice. It creates a still space where we meet ourselves, and are forced to listen intently to the content of our mind. Mouna forms part of the practice of Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) – the 5th Limb of Yoga.

This workshop will lead you from the joy of sound, to the bliss of silence.

“You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts; And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime.” 
― Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

“When you sit in silence long enough, you learn that silence has a motion. It glides over you without shape or form, exactly like water. Its color is silver. And silence has a sound you hear only after hours of wading inside it. The sound is soft, like flute notes rising up, like the words of glass speaking.” 
― Anne Spollen, The Shape of Water

“Space and silence are two aspects of the same thing. The same no-thing. They are externalization of inner space and inner silence, which is stillness: the infinitely creative womb of all existence.”
― Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

“Let silence take you to the core of life.”
― Rumi

“Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation…tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego.”
― Jean Arp

Content

The session will begin with joyful sound, gradually quietening down and leading into contemplative silence.

•  Mantra Chanting to Open the Session

•  Short Kirtan style chanting

•  Asana with integrated Bija Mantras, Laughter Yoga, Sound Work and Sounded Breathwork

•  Japa Meditation

•  Yoga Nidra

•  Antar Mouna Meditation

•  Mouna