Workshops
offered by Sonia Nelson & the Vedic Chant Center
Workshop Descriptions
Art and Discipline of Vedic Chant
The Art and Application of Vedic Chant
An Introduction to Vedic Chant
Honoring the Sun - In Praise of GayatriHonoring the Sun - Gayatri Meditation
Advanced Chanting Workshop - Focusing the Mind ~ Chanting From the Heart
Principles of Individualized Yoga Instruction
Discovering the Inner Limbs of Yoga
through Mantra, Mudra, and RitualTransformative Chanting – Creating Change Through Sound
2012 Workshop Schedule
Please check back soon for information on upcoming workshops and events taking place in 2012
Workshops
presented by
Sonia Nelson
Experience and
learn the art of Vedic Chant. Vedic texts, thousands of years old, are presented
in the Sanskrit language and contain wisdom still relevant to the challenges
we face in the modern world. But it is the act of chanting itself that brings
life to these texts as well as to the person listening and reciting.
Through time honored principles of instruction found in the Vedas, explore
listening and chanting as an integrating experience for body, mind and breath.
Simple movement and breathing will be taught to enhance the experience of sitting
and chanting.
This intensive
workshop is an opportunity to study chanting in a small group. The program contains
instruction in listening and recitation, using the breath to support the voice,
asana and pranayama to prepare for chanting, reading of standard transliteration,
Sanskrit pronunciation, and background and meaning of Vedic Chant.
Previous experience in the practice of Vedic Chant is required.
This intensive workshop is an opportunity to study chanting in a small group. The program contains instruction in listening, recitation, using the breath to support the voice, asana and pranayama to prepare for chanting, reading of standard transliteration, Sanskrit pronunciation, and background and meaning of Vedic Chant.
We will also explore how Vedic Chant can be used to influence desired changes in our body, breath, mind and energetic and emotional sense of well being.
The themes of Vedic Chant bring our attention to the wonder and vastness of the natural universe and the forces operating in it. The poetic images found in the Veda illuminate the complex relationship between the human spirit and the elements of nature - earth, wind, fire, water, sun and moon. This workshop will be based on the concept of upasana - to come close and remain near. Using the tools of chant and yoga – including elements of ritual, movement, breathing - we will explore practices that connect and keep us close to ourselves, each other and our source.
Using Vedic Chant, Mantra Recitation, Gesture, Mudra, Pranayama, and Visualization this workshop will guide you through simple, yet traditional, meditation procedures enabling you to effectively practice on your own.
Open to participants in previous Vedic Chant Center meditation workshops or by permission of the teacher.
Chanting is a powerful tool for uncovering and expressing the human spirit. Combined with yoga practice, we can discover and influence new connections between body, mind, and breath, infusing our relationship to yoga with new vitality. Taught step-by-step through listening and response, pure sound and simple chants will be applied to asana, pranayama, and meditation. This integrated practice of chant, movement, breathing, and seated meditation encourages a new depth of experience helping to further our intention and sustain our direction toward yoga.
Through the traditional method of listening and repeating learn to chant selected sutras from the four books of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra. Step by step instruction will provide skills in basic chanting techniques, Sanskrit pronunciation, and the reading of standard transliteration. The sutras selected for study will be those most relevant to the practice and teaching of yoga in contemporary western culture.
Open to participants in previous Vedic Chant workshops or by permission of the teacher. Ability to read transliteration is required.
More and more, as students of yoga experience the profound effects of practice, they are requesting private instruction to receive guidance in their learning process. This is a challenge for teachers, many of whom have received training only in relation to group instruction. This workshop will explore fundamental principles to help guide teachers in working effectively with each student's individual needs. Included will be:
• Presentation of theory
• Practice of asana, pranayama and meditation
• Review of case studies presented by participants
• Discussion and problem solving
Spiritual Reflection is an important part of a mature and deepening yoga practice. Yoga provides many tools to move the mind in this direction and these tools can be adapted to address our needs as we practice on a day to day basis in a complex and ever changing world. This workshop is appropriate for practitioners with little or long term experience.
Transformative Chanting
– Creating Change Through Sound
Chanting is a powerful tool for discovering, expressing and influencing all dimensions of the human system. As a practice and study on its own chanting can help us to improve our focus, memory and mental discipline build self confidence and awareness, bring balance to our energy reduce mental and emotional agitation, find and refine our own voice, improve listening and communication skills, increase our usual breath capacity, strengthen the link to our own spiritual connections and support an overall sense of well being.
Combined with yoga practice, we can discover and forge new pathways between body, mind, and breath, infusing our relationship to yoga with new vitality. Taught step-by-step through listening and response, pure sound and simple chants from the Vedic and other traditions will be taught and then applied to asana, pranayama, and meditation. This integrated practice will encourage a new depth of experience helping to sustain our direction toward yoga as a process of transformation.
Mental clarity is a term often associated with the benefits of yoga practice. In our culture of change and choice, being clear about the relationship between our responsibilities and our desire for freedom can be challenging. Conceptual models and practices from the Vedic and yoga traditions provide the guidance and focus needed to meet this challenge as we act in the direction of our highest aspirations. The format of the workshop will be presentation, group discussion and practice that includes asana, pranayama, and a variety of meditative tools to support our exploration of this timely subject.
