The Providence Journal: Popularity of Chanting Growing
by Jenna Pelletier/April 4, 2011
Some sit motionless with their eyes closed. Others sway back and forth on meditation cushions, chanting shri ram jai ram jai jai ram. Still others stand, swinging their hips and clapping to the beat.
An at-capacity crowd of about 60 people has come to Wakefield’s All That Matters yoga center not to practice postures, but to participate in call-and-response devotional chanting, or kirtan, with touring artist Wah.
As yoga’s popularity has exploded — about 15 million Americans practice, according to a study by Yoga Journal magazine —interest in chanting has grown along with it. It complements some yoga traditions and is an essential part of others, including Kundalini and Sivananda styles.
“More and more people are finding that chanting is an easy way to relax and elevate the spirit,” said Beth Kiley Kinder, a yoga teacher at Santosha Yoga Studio in Cranston.