- LIVE ONLINE PROGRAM
June 3-7, 2022
Deep Chant: Devotion, Wisdom, and Renewal
An Immersion in the Healing Potential of Sound
Silvia Nakkach, MA, MMT
5 DAILY AFTERNOON SESSIONS
“Spiritual evolution aims at giving back to a human being his original, acoustic and original, acoustic and luminous purity, transforming the self into a subtle cosmic resonator.” Inayat Khan
Course Description:
This course is a workshop training with Silvia Nakkach, M.A., MMT (Saraswati Devi) accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Joss Jaffe; it accrues 20 hours towards Vox Mundi School International Yoga of the Voice Certificate.
Universally and from time immemorial, all ancient traditions implement sound and chanting as a gateway to contemplation, divination, and spiritual evolution. Freeing the voice with medicine melodies, reactivates that creative energy into one’s life. The devotional art of communal singing can reach the place of joy and fulfillment in a few minutes. At the end of every phrase or long breath, there is a taste of naad (cosmic pulse), in the form of a peaceful silence. Thus, deep chant has the potential to fuel intuition, a direct apprehension of truth that leads to balance and positive personal transformation.
Throughout this devotional chant journey, you’ll have a direct experience of the quality of sound as a seed for transformation, and the ways that voice production and transmission can transform at once emotional, psychological, and physiological states. With the intention to understand the value of the most current yogic practices of sound and the voice, the focus will be on raga singing and shamanic medicine melodies; from Amazonian icaros to mantras.
You’ll experience and feel how these vocal arts transform consciousness states by enhancing the sensibility of the subtle in one’s body and mind. We’ll Integrate insights and possibilities into the intentional use of the voice as a spiritual practice; to assist healing; to enrich inner work; to enhance trust and inner serenity; to build awareness and emotional stability; and to cultivate devotion, discipline, and compassion. Each practitioner will take home a personal medicine melody and sound healing sadhana.
What is the deep chant practice?
The deep chant practice approaches the voice as a fabric of breath, body, and expression. We might begin to perceive the luminous nature of the mind and the radiance of the spirit. Chanting effortlessly reveals the healing energy within the voice, like the original soothing voice of the newborn’s mother. Instantly, a kind of archetypal longing is appeased. This aligns with Rudolf Steiner’s concept of tone as a spiritual reality and his fascination with what he described as inner, outer, and universal tone.
Covering every dimension of healing with deep chant; the scientific, the yogic, the creative, and the shamanic, Silvia’s contemplative listening, and creative teaching style is informed by inspired scholarship and an applied practice that proves yoga and musicality to be intimately intertwined with oneself and health. It is on the horizon of the human potential models, that the evolving collaboration– between the yogis of sound and the healers of the psyche – will lead to the refinement of the quality of life and the competence of spiritual service. In time, this collaboration includes the aim that yogis and healers become virtuoso listeners.
What you'll learn:
Through mix-media lectures, uninterrupted chanting, and contemplative music making participants will learn about:
- The Spiritual Science of Sound, Voice as Yoga; deep listening exercises to integrate sound, mantra healing, and self-inquiry, using energy principles based on ancient and modern scientific research on the power of unlocking the voice through breath as sound.
- Devotion through Sound: the subtle discernment among the practices of Shabda Yoga, Nada Yoga, Svara Yoga, Raga Yoga, Bhakti Chants and Kirtan, Tantric chants, Sacred Syllables, and Medicine Melodies to unite with the flow of the Divine
- Release Points of tension and enhance the flexibility in the Voice; Morning Sound and Light voice fine-tuning practice (Karaj) based on ancient breathing and vocal range development. Including healing modalities of humming, seed-syllables, and mantras that release creative energy.
- Musical Expression & Technique: become familiar with the 108 Vocal-Art Strategies of the Yoga of the Voice training, to improvise, compose, and share with others a repertory of sound practices and chants.
- Vocal Purification practices that clear energy patterns, stimulate the brain, and enhance memory and the sensibility of the subtle body-mind through Call and Response chanting.
- Raga Singing and the Art of Melody: Moods, Modes, sensitive intervals, pentatonic scales, and music in shamanic journeys (Cosmic sound).
- Sound and Consciousness: Deep Listening & states of awareness in Tone, Trance, and Ceremonial Sound to awakening luminous states of consciousness and a joyous sense of well-being.
Who should take this course?
It is not required that to be a musician to take this course. Everyone, regardless of musical training, will learn to apply the voice, music, and sound to enhance wellbeing.
Class learnings can be integrated into all healing practices including medicine, nursing, osteopathy, psychotherapy, bodywork, yoga classes, and all energy-centered therapies. Special emphasis will be given to incorporate the gift of opening the voice in your personal life, deepening the nature of your practice with a renewed confidence and spiritual emphasis.
“Real music is not for wealth, not for honors. It is one kind of yoga, a path for realization and salvation to purify your mind and heart and give you longevity.” – Ali Akbar Khan
Who is Silvia Nakkach?
Discover more about your inspiring and experienced voice teacher.
Silvia Nakkach, M.A., MMT, is a Grammy® nominated musician, vocal arts educator and author. She is the founding director of the International Vox Mundi School of Sound and the Voice.
To learn more about Silvia Nakkach, you can read her interview on OpenCenter.org, discover her podcast Beyond Music on Apple Podcasts or read more about her philosophy in her book Free Your Voice, sold on Amazon.
Come vist us on Paradise Island!
Are you ready to pack your bags and join us in The Bahamas? Come take this program in-person at the ashram.
Daily Schedule:
Program sessions in bold indicate when you will be able to join live.
DAY 1
6:00am – 8:00am Morning Satsang
8:00 am Yoga Asana & Pranayama Classes
10:00 am Brunch
11:00 am Ashram Welcome & History Tour (meets at Reception)
11:30 am Inauguration Ceremony
12:00 pm to 4:00 pm Course Session
4:00 pm Yoga Asana & Pranayama Classes
6:00 pm Dinner
8:00 to 9:45 pm Evening Satsang TTC Inauguration
DAY 2 – DAY 4
6:00am – 8:00am Morning Satsang
8:00 am Yoga Asana & Pranayama Classes
10:00 am Brunch
11:00am – 12:00pm Karma Yoga/Free Time
12:00 pm to 4:00 pm Course Session
4:00 pm Yoga Asana & Pranayama Classes
6:00 pm Dinner
8:00 to 9:45 pm Evening Satsang with Silvia Nakkach and Jeff Dean
LAST DAY
6:00am – 8:00am Morning Satsang
8:00 am Yoga Asana & Pranayama Classes
10:00 am Brunch
11:00am – 12:00pm Karma Yoga/Free Time
12:00 pm to 3:00 pm Course Session
3:00 pm Graduation Ceremony
3:30 pm to 5:30pm Course Session
- Regular ashram schedule the rest of the day
Additional Information:
Offered as a 5-day retreat with daily sessions in the afternoon.
This program is offered live through Zoom webinar with the availability for students to interact through Q&A with the presenter.
For enrolled students, a video recording will be available after each class in the event you miss a class or would like to review the content.
Requirements and Recommendations:
- No music experience necessary.
- Viewing Device: Desktop or laptop computer will provide the best experience, although you can also connect via a tablet or smartphone.
- Internet connection: High-speed broadband wired or wireless is best.
- Video: Download Zoom to your computer, or install the Zoom app to your device. For interactive group sessions, a webcam or integrated camera will allow others to feel more connected with you.
- Audio: Headphone speakers are recommended. If you wish to participate vocally, a headset with a microphone will be ideal.
Silvia Nakkach, MA, MMT
Silvia Nakkach, M.A.,MMT, is a Grammy® nominated musician, vocal arts educator and author, She is a former clinical psychotherapist and an internationally accredited specialist in cross-cultural sound and music therapies, including music in shamanic practices. She is the founding director of the International Vox Mundi School of Sound and the Voice, devoted to the preservation of unusual vocal cultures through performance, education, and spiritual practice. For many years she was on the faculty of the <California Institute of Integral Studies where she created the first certificate program in Sound, Voice and Music in the Healing Arts offered by a major academic institution. Presently, she is the academic consultant and core instructor of the New York Open Center Sound Practitioner Certificate. In addition to her many academic credentials, Nakkach has devoted more than 40 years to the evolution of Deep Listening with her mentor Pauline Oliveros, and to the study of Classical North Indian Music and the art of raga singing under the direction of the late Maestro Ali Akbar Khan and other great living masters of the Dhrupad tradition. She has released sixteen CD albums and is a contributing author of several scholarly books, her latest books are Free Your Voice, published by Sounds True, (2012).
Joss Jaffe
Joss Jaffe performs as a vocalist, tabla player, and multi-instrumentalist. As a composer and producer, he has created numerous innovative albums to critical acclaim, including Svara Mandala, Echosystem, and Dub Mantra. Joss has collaborated with many well-known artists such as Grammy-Award nominees Jai Uttal, Silvia Nakkach, and Dave Stringer.