Emmanuel, Newport, RI

When people combine chanting with service work, my heart sings – La la la la la la la la la!

I receive thank you letters all the time for chants and songs that people adopt to take with them along their way. Since I’ve been teaching chanting as a spiritual practice, many people have organized chanting groups, from New England to California. Sometimes the groups last a long time, and I’m invited to return and teach more tunes and mantras. Sometimes a group will last for a year or three, then drift apart. Some meet weekly, and others meet monthly; but this is a first.

Look what’s possible! The Saturday morning chanting group  Emmanuel Church in Newport, RI has been going for four years, and in 2017 they raised $2,356 for the Emmanuel meal program. Sing (feed yourself) then feed one another! Amen.

This note was included in the church’s annual report, and the author thought to send it along:

“For the past four years the Chanting Group has been meeting every Saturday in Emmanuel Church, All Saints Chapel.  … we started the group after we attended an all day chanting workshop with Spiritual Chanter, Ana Hernandez.  We are a community group open to all voices, all people, all religions and all forms of spirituality.  Each Saturday we lift up prayers for World Peace saying the Peace and Harmony Prayer. Through the power of sound our group is deeply connected on a nonverbal level.  The silence between the chants is when you experience healing. As we focus on opening our hearts we can feel God’s divine presence within the circle.  We come together in loving friendship and sound out in a loud voice the song of love that is in our hearts.  I would like to share this quote with you by Ana Hernandez, “Sound touches our depths more than any of the other senses because it comes from the deepest part of us.  It makes contact with us in a very physically intimate way, and in a sense it is exercise for our very molecules.  Chanting takes us directly to our core and changes it for the better.” Each week we accept donations for the Emmanuel Church meal program.  I am happy to say during 2017 we raised $2,356.  We invite you to join us to experience the benefits of sound healing.”
Amen.