Nada Yoga in Rishikesh
Participants performing special early morning yoga session in the International Yoga and Music Festival at the Kunajapuri Temple, Uttarakhand
Nada Yoga, a form of yoga that involves working with sound, is the focus of International Yoga and Music Festival happening in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand.
Yoga’s benefits have not remained a secret to the world anymore and India being the flag bearer of this spiritual practice has been actively involved in promoting this ancient Indian practice.
Nada Yoga is a branch in the field of Yoga, where sound or music is used for inner transformation. A ‘yoga of sound’ which is based on the philosophy of, ‘union through sound’.
This year’s International Yoga and Music Festival, organised by the Nada Yoga Trust, a non-profit organisation, is taking place from November 1-7, 2017. The organisation aims at spreading awareness on Nada Yoga and other forms of Yoga. This year marks the ninth year of this celebration.
The event also allows participants to learn Indian classical music and witness performances by some renowned trained professionals. The unique idea of collaborating yoga with Indian classical music is a fresh approach to yoga and attracts learners in large number from all over the world.
Yogacharya Bhuwan Chandra, a professional Indian classical musician and nada yogi, founded the Nada Yoga Trust in 2008, to spread his knowledge on this unique form of yoga. He then began organising the annual International Yoga and Music Festival. Bhuwan Chandravis is believed to have an in-depth knowledge of an intricate connection between music and the chakra mechanism of the body. He has devised a holistic approach to yoga through the science of music.
It is also said that through intensive research on Nada Yoga, he has developed various new techniques to perform yoga. His followers would mention his Sitar performance that allegedly can incite the innermost sentiments and energise the nadis (nerve centres).
Nada yoga is based on the philosophy that revolves around the understanding of the entire cosmos and everything in it being made of sound vibrations or nadas. The practice involves working with sounds at different levels; Vaikhari means audible sound, Madhyama means mental sound, Pashyanta means subconscious sound, Paranada means transcendent sound.
Further, this form of yoga has two aspects, Anahata and Ahata. While Anahata is the internal aspect, Ahata refers to the external aspect of Nada yoga.
“The value of this form of meditation cannot be overstated, especially for those who do not yet know where their attention should be directed and who thus experience great difficulty retaining their concentration during meditation,” says Edward Salim Michael in his book The Law of Attention: Nada Yoga and the Way of Inner Vigilance.
If learning yoga has been on your checklist for a while but hasn’t been possible yet, this is the best time to grab the opportunity to learn this form of yoga from professional yoga trainers and be a part of this retreat in the mystical surroundings of Rishikesh. Every year, Rishikesh celebrates yoga by providing free lessons to the participants.
