{"id":1210,"date":"2014-09-08T22:16:23","date_gmt":"2014-09-09T02:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/?p=1210"},"modified":"2014-09-22T22:19:04","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T02:19:04","slug":"kirtan-new-healing-tool-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/kirtan-new-healing-tool-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"Kirtan: A New Healing Tool for Veterans?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"fall-chant-banad_1\"<\/a>Some veterans are discovering that kirtan\u2014a form of chanting from India\u2014is helping them cope with conditions such as PTSD, as well as life back home.<\/p>\n

When you picture a kirtan enthusiast in your mind\u2019s eye, do you think of a retired American sniper who did three tours in Iraq? What about a former female sergeant who\u2019s struggling with lung injuries, rage, and post-traumatic stress?<\/p>\n

Some veterans are discovering that kirtan\u2014a call-and-response form of mantra chanting that originated in India\u2014is helping them cope with conditions such as PTSD and re-entry into civilian life.<\/p>\n

Chant artists such as Gaura Vani and Deva Premal & Miten report hearing positive feedback from their fans, who share moving stories about how the anxiety-reducing practice of chanting has brought them a newfound sense of solace and peace during war’s long-term aftermath.<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s a new phenomenon, some in the chant community are beginning to actively reach out to veterans. For example, mantra music artist Girish works with nonprofit organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Cruz, California, to offer kirtans for veterans, as well as live mantra music for their yoga classes.<\/p>\n

The Science of Kirtan
\nA small but growing body of research on kirtan suggests that chanting can provide myriad mind-body benefits. And although no studies on chanting have been conducted with combat veterans, preliminary studies suggest that the practice may help quell some of the conditions they commonly suffer from.
\nFor example, in 2012, UCLA researchers discovered that chanting mantras can have beneficial effects on stress and one of its primary culprits: inflammation. Another study found that singing mantras (or reciting the rosary) can have a positive influence on cardiovascular health. And research conducted at some of the nation\u2019s top research institutions, in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation, suggests that chanting can improve depression, sleep, and memory function\u2014three issues that combat veterans can struggle with.<\/p>\n

How Chant Heals
\nEach year, best-selling chant artists Deva Premal & Miten receive thousands of messages from fans who have reported that they\u2019ve felt uplifted, and at times, transformed by the practice of chanting mantras, including a variety of folks who are coping with trauma, such as veterans who served in Iraq, a firefighter who was called to the Twin Towers on September 11, a 911 operator, and the list goes on.<\/p>\n

One of the veterans that Deva and Miten have been in touch with, a soldier named Ken, told them that after serving in Iraq for a year, he had a difficult time readjusting to life in the States and coping with PTSD. Their mantra music, he told them in an email, became a \u201ctrue blessing\u201d in his life. \u201cIt has helped me heal from the wounds of war,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI use your music a lot in my daily meditations.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Deva observes, \u201cI think when we\u2019re traumatized, the mind can be very active. Rather than letting the mind repeat the scenes of what we\u2019ve gone through, we can give our mind a positive, healing focus. That\u2019s what the mantras provide. They\u2019re sound medicine.\u201d Furthermore, she says, chanting connects us with a higher, benevolent force: the divine. And that, in itself, can be extremely healing.<\/p>\n

Gaura Vani, a kirtan artist based in Washington, D.C., has received positive feedback about chanting from veterans, too. \u201cKirtan is about transcending the kinds of things that cause war\u2014the kinds of things that move us into a place of fear and cause us to focus on our differences,\u201d Gaura says. \u201cIt is meant to be a bridge; it\u2019s a vehicle for the soul to make the transition after death in a sacred way. On a spiritual level, according to the Vedas, kirtan cleanses the heart. It also allows us to see who we really are\u2014eternal beings having a blissful, loving relationship with our source, our supreme soul.\u201d
\nA Sergeant Becomes a Kirtan Singer
\nSatya Prema Paz, a retired army sergeant with lung injuries and PTSD in St. Pete, Florida, discovered chanting in 2009 when a yoga teacher played a song by Sikh chanting sensation Snatam Kaur Khalsa during class. After she explored the kirtan genre on Pandora, she was hooked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a very depressed, angry, and violent woman for many years,\u201d Satya recalls. \u201cI actually felt that I deserved pain, because it was all that I knew.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe military teaches you that anger and rage make you proficient,\u201d Satya says. \u201cIf your objective is done with rage, you run harder. You get stronger. Your mind is completely focused. I almost lost my mind thinking like that. You go to bed angry. You dream in HD, angry. When you wake up, you\u2019re angry. It\u2019s exhausting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhakti yoga, chanting, and hatha yoga were integral to her journey of self-transformation, she says. \u201cI realized I don\u2019t have to function on rage.\u201d Through yoga\u2019s philosophical and practical teachings, she\u2019s found a way to let go of some of her anger and begin cultivating gentleness, kindness, and forgiveness.<\/p>\n

Chanting helps her cope with PTSD, too, she says. When her mind flashes back to something traumatic that happened 30 years ago, \u201cbut feels like it happened 5 minutes ago,\u201d she says, \u201cI throw on some Deva Premal & Miten, sit down on the floor, and just go, \u2018Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum.\u2019\u201d At first, she says, she\u2019s aware of tension, anxiety, and memories while she\u2019s chanting the mantra. Sometimes, she has difficulty breathing. But she continues to sing, raising her voice in fervent prayer and trying to surrender to the moment. \u201cThen, all of a sudden, I\u2019m deep into the chant, and I realize, \u2018Oh my. It\u2019s all gone.\u2019 What happened 30 years ago disappears. There\u2019s no room for it in my head.<\/p>\n

\u201cChanting is my drug of choice,\u201d she says emphatically. \u201cIt is my valium.\u201d In 2012, she attended Jai Uttal\u2019s kirtan camp and has since become a kirtan singer in her own town, eager to share chanting with others in her community.<\/p>\n

Satya hopes more forms of financial aid will become available for veterans so that they can experience the healing power of chant. \u201cThere are a lot of injured veterans in this country, veterans who are missing legs and arms, veterans who will never be normal. These are the people who need to be exposed to kirtan, because it works.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some veterans are discovering that kirtan\u2014a form of chanting from India\u2014is helping them cope with conditions such as PTSD, as well as life back home. When you picture a kirtan … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1211,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[15,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-usa","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nKirtan: A New Healing Tool for Veterans? - VNN - Vaishnava News Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/kirtan-new-healing-tool-veterans\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"VNN Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vaishnava-news-network.org\\\/vaisnava-news\\\/kirtan-new-healing-tool-veterans\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vaishnava-news-network.org\\\/vaisnava-news\\\/kirtan-new-healing-tool-veterans\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"VNN Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vaishnava-news-network.org\\\/vaisnava-news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/697219dd9c21dd216a0ea9f7de1cc9c9\"},\"headline\":\"Kirtan: A New Healing Tool for Veterans?\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-09T02:16:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-23T02:19:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vaishnava-news-network.org\\\/vaisnava-news\\\/kirtan-new-healing-tool-veterans\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1084,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vaishnava-news-network.org\\\/vaisnava-news\\\/kirtan-new-healing-tool-veterans\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vaishnava-news-network.org\\\/vaisnava-news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/fall-chant-banad_1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Featured\",\"USA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vaishnava-news-network.org\\\/vaisnava-news\\\/kirtan-new-healing-tool-veterans\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vaishnava-news-network.org\\\/vaisnava-news\\\/kirtan-new-healing-tool-veterans\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kirtan: A New Healing Tool for Veterans? 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