Workshops

Experience transformation through the sound body.

Kīrtan Jam!

A bliss-filled, heart-opening musical experience!

Invite music loving community members into your space for a jam session. All instruments are welcomed, all voices encouraged. Marla will lead a beginning and ending Sanskrit call-and-response chant and the middle will be an open-mic style experience where others are encouraged to share whatever is in their heart. Marla will bring a speaker and mic.

This can be a donation-based event for a charity or seva project.

Kīrtan Chant Event

Kirtan is a traditional Indian call-and-response, participatory singing practice. In my style, we integrate listening exercises of the nāda yoga tradition, Sanskrit mantra repetition, music and silence to understand the energy behind the sound. Studios may showcase this class as an expansion of the definition of yoga, highlighting bhakti, the heart expanding devotional nature of chanting. Also this practice works on the subtle body: the emotions, mind and bliss. Thematically kīrtans can be focused on one energy like Śiva, Ganeśa, Krsna, Devi or peace mantras.

This is also a great idea for social gatherings, community building, celebrations like the end of a TTC or opening of a studio.

Sanskrit for the Chant Lover Workshop

Learn the Sanskrit alphabet & a chanting practice to awaken the energy of each sound. Precise mouth positions ease learners into ways to comfortably repeat the energetic syllables to magnify and intensify their chanting practice. We may introduce the mantra purusha practice to bring the Sanskrit sounds with a body-based exercise. Classes often focus on one area of pronunciation or one chant to learn correctly. Participants may also enjoy learning how to correctly pronounce the cakras. We use IAST (correct devanagri transliteration system) and include handouts. Include this workshop as your studio’s Sanskrit requirement for a Yoga Alliance TTC.

Nāda Yoga Workshop

Experience your voice, creating sound, and listening in a whole new way. Our voice is a pathway of immediate manifestation. It is a vehicle of creation. We express and experience our own identity and authenticity through our voices. Nāda is the sound current that lives inside of us as a part of the universal sound current of life or of the divine. When we link listening, the universal sound current, and our own voice, we have a deep experience of harmony. And when that all stops, we have a unique experience of silence. This is something you must experience to understand.

Private Lessons

Looking to learn to play the harmonium, improve your vocal resonance, practice Sanskrit mantra, or learn a nāda/mantra practice for your own personal wellbeing practice? Contact Marla directly. Flexible fees based on your ability.

Mantra Yoga workshop or private

Entrain the body and mind for peace through practice. The gentle and consistent repetition of the mantra can release old mental patterns. In a therapeutic approach, we can give a mantra to an individual for daily sādhana to re-train the mind and body in healthier expression. We teach Sanskrit mantras that you can use for a daily chanting practice called Japa. This is a great workshop for those who want to learn correct Sanskrit pronunciation. Also, learn to incorporate an instrument in your mantra yoga practice.

“Chanting with Marla was rich and enlivening. Her knowledgeable, straightforward presentation made the ancient text accessible to participants with no experience; yet refined the understanding and pronunciation of those who were already familiar with the mantra. Her joy in chanting is infectious. Grateful for your expertise, Marla, and hope to chant with you again soon.””

— Jenna, hosted a Gayatri Chanting Workshop

Mantra & Nada Yoga Teacher Training

Studios: do you currently have a yoga teacher training program at your studio? Would you like Sanskrit to be a part of your program. Differentiate your program from others with a culturally authentic practice of Sanskrit mantra chanting. Teach your teachers more about the source culture through a deep dive into the sound current. Start with a virtual Sanskrit 101 course and have Marla integrate the online course with a workshop for your group.

Musicians: Interested in Indian music? Take the online Nada 101 and have Marla teach an in-person module where we can go through scales on your harmonium, learn an Indian song, or the recitation of an ancient Vedic mantra.

Yoga Teachers: 200 and 500 hour Nada and Mantra Yoga teacher training is available virtually with a local study group. Learn new skills in the online course and get feedback from Marla to complete your contact hours. Learn harmonium, rāga-based kīrtan, Sanskirt, empathetic listening & nada successfully from a traditional perspective.

Why Sanskrit?

Introduction to Marla, Chant Leader

Have a studio? Workshop Opportunities