Episode 003: In this episode, we chat about the inspiration behind her 6th mantra music album, Ceremonia Del Amor and how Indigenous ceremonial practices have influenced its creation. Brenda alludes to la mezcla–Spanish for blending or mixing–of the natural world and one’s inner world, our true nature. She shares the moment she fell in love with Kirtan, a call and response singing of mantra, and the instant knowing that this heart-opening practice would forever change the course of her life.
If you’re intimidated about chanting or participating in a kirtan experience, let this discussion act as reassurance that we all have a singing voice–regardless of whether we’ve been told otherwise. When we come together in devotional chant with our unique voices, the energy transcends time and space.
Key Takeaways:
- What happens when we dare to go to the edge of our comfort zone, taking good little risks? Could what’s happening inside be imagined as excitement instead of nerves?
- How to follow our creative impulses when they reveal themselves and how deepening into a quiet space can help ignite creativity.
- How chanting helps us bring down our walls, let our guard down, and relax into the moment.
- Do time and space really exist? How the profound connections we can make with each other online suggest that our collective energies transcend space and time.
- Do we really need to return to our true nature—or is it impossible to be separated from our true self?
- Why the concept of not singing (whether we think we can or not) is a cultural construct.
- My experience sharing kirtan with my daughter Phoebe when she was in utero.
- What energies are we calling in when we chant Om Namah Shivaya? How this chant has been pivotal on Brenda’s career path.
- How Brenda prepares for a three-month tour, and how the creative process led Brenda to create her latest album, Ceremonia Del Amor, a nature-inspired fusion of Latin American medicine songs and Sanskrit mantra.
Key Links:
- Brenda’s Upcoming Events: https://brendamcmorrow.com/events/
- Website: https://brendamcmorrow.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcmorrowbrenda/
About the Guest:
Brenda McMorrow, RYT, teaches Kirtan Academy: Bhakti HeartFire, our Faculty-Mentored Self-Study program. Brenda McMorrow is known for her unique and warmly embracing style of mantra medicine music, in which she blends elements of acoustic folk, world rhythms, and ancient Indian chants with a sweetly introspective singer-songwriter’s sensibility. With Sanskrit Mantra and Kirtan (call and response singing) as the basis, Brenda weaves in the power of Spanish Medicine songs and her own inspiring English lyrics to create a healing and uplifting tapestry with the audience. Brenda has performed alongside or shared festival stages with esteemed mantra singers: Snatam Kaur, Deva Premal, Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Mirabai Ceiba, and many more. With 6 celebrated albums and over 18 million streams on Spotify alone, her music has been touching people’s hearts across the planet. Yoga Journal describes Brenda as having “a knack for expressing the deepest realizations in the sparsest lyrics”. Spiritual teacher Ram Dass has said: “Brenda has a gift”, and her intention is to help bring more beauty, peace, understanding, and well-being into the world through the joy and healing power of music.”
Intro Music by Brenda McMorrow – All One Song from the album “My Heart Bows Down to You”. brendamcmorrow.com
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