Welcome to the Naad Yoga Council!

Monday morning. I’m on the train home. A little tired, but still filled with the sounds of the weekend I spent at Lake Constance with Niranjan.

We played twice: first at the Little Kumba Yoga Festival at Ilmensee, then at Niranjan’s Chardikala. The yoga festival counts as a successful “practice run.” We navigated the challenges of stage tech without a technician and an audience that was “somehow spiritual” but simply took whatever the stage had to offer. The weather was glorious, the setting by the lake wonderfully relaxed. Niranjan drew people beautifully into our raag space with his accompanying words. Our sounds carried across the entire festival grounds. A few lovely responses showed that Naad Yoga can make its mark even here.

A completely different atmosphere the following evening: a much more intimate setting at the Chardikala. More than a dozen of us gathered, four playing Naad Yogis. With tampura, dilruba, sarangi and rabab we dove deep into Raag Aasaa and Raag Soohee — some sabds to listen to, some mantras to sing together.

Almost effortlessly, a deeply moving sound in space emerged, and we bathed in the sound like a morning swim in Lake Constance.

I traveled home fulfilled, and send a heartfelt thank you to Bachitar, Inderpreet and Niranjan for our beautiful singing and playing, and for the time we shared.