People see me driving on the road and probably assume it is because of the music playing. hehe
I bet you’re not wound too tight. Trying to start a new thread?
Yeah.
But it did strike me as funny.
Also, people probably think I am singing along with the radio, but I am actually doing mantra, with the emphasis on developing my voice.
Hmm – sounds a little “Kirtanish” … is it “like that” - or, are you just chanting acapella? (Acapella means: your voice alone, “without accompaniment”, if you don’t know the term.)
Or, do you have audio of mantras, with no music?
Just curious per my own autovocal proclivities (I do the bobbin head thing as well - and usually to music - I just doubt that other drivers guess that my singing is in Sanskrit …). Every so often, I’ll get a bit of the ol’ FKHW (Famous Kundalini Head Waggle) without the music on - which is what I thought you were talking about.
Seriously: I noticed that when I started chanting kirtan a lot, that within a few months (and I think after a few weeks) - several things happened:
*My voice improved - a lot - more than ever, in the same time period, by a long shot.
*My singing / chanting felt more natural and relaxed - and I realized that I had gone from singing largely in the front of my mouth, with tension (as most un-trained or partially trained singers do - even with some vocal lessons and an okay voice, I still did this) to singing farther back in my throat, and with everything - tongue, jaw, etc. more relaxed - a LOT more relaxed.
*My pronunciation of a given mantra naturally gravitated toward being more correct - it’s almost like Sanskrit lends itself to correct pronunciation, physiologically - and/or that native Indian languages are designed to be spoken in a far more relaxed way (think what English speakers do - in part - to imitate an Indian accent, if they do it well – they open and relax their mouths - a LOT.)
*My yogic practice and spiritual life started to improve amazingly, and my energy channels opened up very, very powerfully — not only from chanting - but it helped a LOT. Why? Because even though I was chanting / singing, I was also repeating mantra – and mantra repetition is kind of like weightlifting, in that you have to hit “critical mass” for it to do any good. I have NO idea how many times I chant the full Hare Krishna, Hare Ram mantra in an hour of chanting - but it’s “quite a few” - and I’ve done it every day (with maybe 2-3 days missed, total) for almost two years now.
So – if improving your voice is one of your main goals - I have every reason to believe it’ll work – and without you having to really try - just keep chanting!
Cheers, Peace & Namaste,
Kirtanman