Our 2023 trip to India was amazing! The next “Sound Healing Journey to India” certification seminar that I am holding in Auroville, India, January 3 through January 12, 2025. It is the first sound healing certificate program integrating the voice with instrumental sound healing. As many of you know, Auroville is my spiritual home and my father was one of the first pioneers sent by the Mother to build it. Auroville, also called the City of Dawn, was founded by the Mother (Mirra Alfassa), the spiritual collaborator of the Indian sage Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo is considered one of the greatest philosophers of India. After delving deeply into the sacred India Sanskrit texts, Sri Aurobindo presented a new view of yoga, the idea that divinity can be established on earth. He said that by bringing the divine down into the whole being, including the cells of the body, we would create a new evolution of man. The task of giving a concrete form to Sri Aurobindo’s vision was entrusted to the Mother. The Mother was a musician and she believed that sound, especially the chanting of Om could assist in the evolution of the cells of the body and this philosophy is the basis of my work. The creation of a new world, a new humanity, a new society expressing and embodying the new consciousness is the work she envisioned for Auroville. A place where people of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. Please visit their website: https://auroville.org/

We have an exciting lineup of teachers. Some of them are:

Aurelio is a musician, music therapist, educator, ethnomusicologist, researcher, master sound designer and sound healer. He is world-renowned as a cutting edge pioneer in the development and manufacture of innovative musical instruments, specially designed for use in sound healing. Inspiring students of the healing arts, Aurelio shares his expertise freely, supporting the emergence of a network of sound healing practitioners and researchers in India. For more about Aurelio’s work, visit Svaram.org.

Mahesh Vinayakram is the illustrious son of the Ghatam percussionist legend Padmabhushan T.H.Vikku Vinayakram. Mahesh is the first Indian male singer to be cast in Cirque du Soleil. He is also a UNESCO Millennium award winner. He started his career as a solo vocalist at the age of 12 and is a senior disciple of the renown singer Smt. Radha Viswanathan. Mahesh has toured the world singing and playing percussion instruments as well as conducting seminars on Carnatic music and the spiritual aspects of mantra, sargam and rhythm.

Topics covered in the workshop will include:
– A deeper look into the Heather Lyle Vocal Yoga Method®
– How to integrate the voice with sound healing instruments
– Understanding healing frequencies of the human voice
– The Aurelio Svaram sound healing method
– Fundamentals of Indian rhythms
– The power of Mantra and Sargam
– Different systems of chakra toning
– Fitzmaurice Voicework®
– Shamanic breathwork and sounding
– Tuning fork resonant activation and humming
– Circle singing and harmonization
– Om Choir

The calendar is coming together and some of the extra activities will include meditating in the Unesco World Heritage Site, the Matrimandir, experiencing the ultimate sound bath, “The Svaram Sound Journey” in the Unity Pavilion, an evening of “Om Choir” with Narad and meditation with the Aurovilians in the Matrimandir Garden on Sunday.

We will visit the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. The ashram was the home of Sri Aurobindo when he fled British India to live in French India in order to avoid persecution by the British for being a leader for the independence of India. Sri Aurobindo went into seclusion to write about a new yoga he called “Integral Yoga” and his collaborator, the Mother, managed the ashram that built up around him. We will have the special opportunity to meditate around their places of mahasamadhi (resting places). We will also visit the ashram cottage industries in the White Town (the name of the French Colonial town on the water) of Pondicherry and tour some of the temples and other interesting landmarks. Many of the buildings in the White Village of Pondicherry are owned by the ashram and have interesting industries. The ashram is famous for their incense, paper and more!

Travel:

I recommend leaving early for the course to recover from jet lag. We can help you with travel arrangements. Leaving earlier will allow you to spend a few days in Pondicherry. January is a big time of pilgrimage to the ashram and the city is filled with devotees; you may find yourself having an interesting conversation of yoga philosophy with someone sitting at the table next to you. People from many countries are in Pondy at this time and there are also great French restaurants!

We will assist you in travel to and from the airport through Ashram taxis. We will be arranging groups to ride with as well as recommending flights. Your room assignments and room-mates (if you are sharing a room), meet-up instructions, venue and times of meals, and studio directions will be emailed to you in early December.

Visas:

You need to get an E-Tourist Visa, which is good for one 30 day visit. These can be obtained (in the USA) online, 30 days in advance of your travel date, at https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html. You need to have 6 months still valid on your passport and two empty pages. If you want to stay in India longer than 30 days, you need to get a physical visa. Check it out now in case there are any issues, especially if you are not coming from the USA. Let me know if you need assistance.

Health:

You need to be up-to-date on your Covid vaccinations and follow all Indian Covid rules.

There are no required inoculations for those traveling from the U.S. Take note of required inoculations if you are traveling from a different country. Ask your doctor for any recommended inoculations as well as prescriptions for antibiotics or over-the-counter medications. My doctor gives me 2 different types of antibiotics for intestinal bacteria—one for diarrhea and one for constipation. I can discuss all of these in detail with you. Auroville grows all its own food and purifies its own water, so I have never gotten sick.

We have the use of the gallery in the Bharat Nivas Campus for our course. Bharat Nivas, also known as The Pavilion of India in Auroville, is the cente of activities of life in Auroville and houses the Sri Aurobindo Auditorium, the Sri Aurobindo World Centre for Human Unity, a Centre for Indian Studies and a Centre for Research in Indian Culture.

Our Accommodation:  Attached to Bharat Nivas is a guest house with simple but comfortable rooms, each with a bathroom and shower. The guest house has a beautiful terrace and outdoor areas for gathering. We have a series of single and double rooms available.

Cost

$2600 USD (for a double room)

$2800 USD (for a single room)

$3000 USD (for a deluxe single room)

Includes:

The course
Accommodations
Vegetarian organic breakfast, lunch, and dinner plus chai tea and snacks
Wifi
Laundry Service
Guest contribution to Auroville
Safe filtered water

Not included are hotels outside the course, taxis outside the course or airfare. We do pay for transportation to events that are a part of the course.

Workshop days and hours:

The course starts on January 3 and ends on the 12th, 2025. Start time and end times will be different each day depending on the activities. Most days we will start at 10:00AM and end before dinner. Aside from working with me, we will have classes with Mahesh, Aurelio  and Nora Leonhardt.

Money exchange:

-ATM’s are widely available where you can get cash (rupees).

-In Auroville there is a bank, post office, supermarket, cinema, cafes, shops, art exhibitions, massages and music most evenings.

Transport:

-We will assist you in pickup from and to the airport through safe Ashram taxis. We will be arranging groups to travel with as well as recommending flights. Within Auroville there are bicycles, mopeds and scooters that you can rent. There are also tut tuts and taxis to hire for reasonable rates.

Climate:

-Auroville is located in a subtropical zone on the coast of the bay of Bengal. January is the perfect weather! You will need a sweater in the evening. The temperatures from December to March are usually around 24 to 30° C (74 to 85° F) daytime. Nights are generally about 5° C (9°F) cooler than the days—around 64-75° F.

Finally: I also suggest that you check out some of the works of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. They had some cutting edge philosophy.

We are now taking deposits of $250 to save your space for the course. Please use the PayPal button below or contact us for other methods of payment.