Kirtan with Ashley & Andre : Free Community Offering
November 13th
3:00-4:30pm
Bhakti Yoga is all about love, service, and surrender to the Divine. Kirtan is a devotional practice found in the Bhakti tradition- singing and chanting the names of the Divine, to the Divine, calling this sacred energy into our lives. In Bhakti, that’s the energy of Krishna and Radha. When we chant together, something magical happens. This mantra meditation gets you out of your ego and into your heart. It’s a way to engage all of your senses into the moment of the here and now. It’s an opportunity to let your heart sing and be heard. The effects of chanting are deeply personal yet exponentially powerful when done in community. Come learn more about Bhakti Yoga and be uplifted by chanting with Ashley and André. Don’t worry about your singing voice, it’s all an offering!
Meet Your Guides
Ashley:
Ashley is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, who practices psychotherapy in a private practice setting. Her Yoga journey started in 2006 at BYS Yoga in the South Side, where she practiced and taught Yoga for many years. Yoga has been a part for her life for almost 20 years and she has been teaching Yoga for 10 of those years, completing a 200hr training with Yoga Works, a 500hr training with Raghunath Cappo, and ongoing training with Chrissy Carter.
Ashley discovered Bhakti Yoga and Kirtan in 2015 when she met her teacher Raghunath at a workshop. Meeting Raghunath and traveling to India with him for Pilgrimmage plunged her even deeper into spiritual life and these experiences on pilgrimage have left lasting impressions on her heart. A Kirtan enthusiast ever since, Ashley loves sharing the practice of Kirtan and chanting with others. She believes in the power of Kirtan to connect our minds and hearts with the Divine, as there is no difference in chanting the mantras and the Divine energy Itself. She belongs to the Pittsburgh Kirtan Center in Lawrenceville, where they have a Kirtan program every Thursday evening.
André:
André has been a spiritual seeker since he was in his early teens & has had a love for percussion & dance ever since he can remember. He came across Bhakti Yoga and Kirtan in 2006 when he was invited to a friend’s home Kirtan gathering in his hometown of Wheeling. Ever since, he has been infatuated with the Mridanga & Kirtan. André loves helping to expand on what Yoga means beyond just asana practice & sharing this blissful & meditative practice of group mantra meditation with others.