an alchemy of presence and song. We include those gifts in the album we’ve made together, Echoes of Devotion, a collection that is, simply, a gift from our hearts to yours. Over the years, Drez and I have gone deeper into the practices individually and as we work together. Our expressions of devotion show up in all that we do: whether carpooling children this way and that, loving our families, traveling, making a meal, playing in nature, meeting in the heart of the city, or dancing in front of hundreds of students, breathing and moving while Drez mixes the beats.
Echoes of
By Janet Stone
Devotion I was first introduced to mantra when I was a child. My grandfather, who was born and raised in India, would recite mantras. Having no idea what they were, I was drawn to them—so drawn that these echoes went deep into my internal storage space, even when I barely knew what I was listening to and stumbled over the unfamiliar words. Many—so many—years later on my own first visit to India, I heard these strange words again, saw expressions of bhakti yoga, and learned many mantras, some of which were familiar from that long-ago time. In India, I had my first taste of the subtle yet infinite power of breath to resonate with something infinite, beyond space and time, inside me and inside all of us. Still, it wasn’t until I heard Max Strom offer an OM that I “felt” it in my bones. Then, when I arrived in San Francisco, Rusty Wells called to Krishna and I heard the response. Later still, Jai Uttal connected my voice and breath, this call and response, and lifted me to a new place. So I guess the divine back and forth of bhakti yoga has been unfurling within me for a lifetime, yet I can’t point to the exact moment when this call and response got inside me and janetstoneyoga.com
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became a part of me. Each time I connect to it, it feels new. With this foundation, I’ve chanted in my classes for fifteen years: simple, no flare, just call and response or all together, with devotion… no matter how I pronounce the names. Then along came a friendship grown from the soil of practice. DJ Drez and I found each other amidst the growing yoga culture. We recognized within each other a reverence for the teachers who have come before, the oral tradition of yoga that has been handed down through the years, arriving at this new and wondrous place that is also sometimes cringeworthy (selling this and that, and pumping more longing into students). We saw this coming together as a chance to bring forth our own histories of studentship in the worlds of dance, martial arts, skateboarding, surfing, hip hop, rasta, ashtanga, sivananda—you name it. We’ve done it all, and all of it is in what we do. This has given us the gift of seeing the power in each other’s offerings. When they come together, well, these offerings multiply, not just by two, but by all of those present and past who have fed and informed each of us. We include the gifts of each being who touches us or has touched us in
Often we ask ourselves: What are we devoted to? This is the ultimate question, as this will inform how you spend your time, your limited life’s energy resources. This is the question we ask ourselves frequently in the practice, clarifying and refining again and again as we chip away at the bullshit of ego-grasping and delve into the heart of the heart, where we unveil the true nature of self and all. Mantra and chanting is one way to remove that bullshit. When we chant, we diminish some of the constant noise of the brain and train our attention on an aspect of the One, as we repeat and repeat these sacred syllables—the names of God, they say—again and again. We can add fancy melodies and deep beats, place it in traditional brahminical, vedic, Indian raga form, but where the potency lies for me is in my deep intention and devotion as I invoke the names.
“Chanting breaks down the difference between the inside and the outside. It’s about having a heart that never shuts down, that nothing can shut down.” —Krishna Das So whether you have a DJ Drez nearby who makes everything come alive with power and devotional rhythm, or if it’s just you washing your dishes and putting the kids to bed, the ancient chants on this album are here for you, available to your heart of hearts. This is where we meet each other without the veil on. This is where we show up for what’s been here, deep inside all of us, all along.
Photo: Jennifer MacNiven Photography | good lux photography