The Yoga of Sound: Tapping the Hidden Power of Music and Chant

by Russill Paul

For thousands of years Hindu spirituality has understood the profound effect that sound has on our well-being. From this tradition comes The Yoga of Sound, which draws on yoga's long history of applying sound to reduce stress, maintain health, and invoke spiritual awakenings. In lucid exercises presented both in the book and on accompanying downloadable audio tracks, Russill Paul shows how everyone can learn the art of mantra and how these practices can help to optimize the flow of energy within the body and enhance emotional well-being.

Genres: Music, Spirituality, Nonfiction

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 7, 2006

Reviews

[Angela Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is AMAZING. Ties everything together for me. I come for a tantric background and I loved how he "compartmentalized" different types of mantra. He pulled no punches either. Honesty! This will be a book for the ages. It will be written-in, highlighted, and referred to for years to come in my home. Thank you for writing this. It's so complete I can't get over it. I am truly tapping the hidden power of music in my heart with a new fervor!

[Dunia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good intro into the study of sound and sound vibrations on the body. it's a good way to start answering the question of why you like the music you do.

[Michael Hazard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Yoga of Sound 3 disc set is incredible.

[Sonic Catharsis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive introduction to the Yoga of Sound and makes for excellent reference material for anyone interested in the healing and or spiritual aspects of sound. Paul does a fantastic job of making some complicated technical terms and ideas accessible to the masses and his book provides a vast overview of the varies types of sound yoga, broken down into easily digestible sections.

In the first Part, Paul breaks down the basic concepts, introducing them from a historical and spiritual perspective.

Part 2 explores the Mantra as a healing tool and

Part three introduces the tradition of sound yoga, broken into the four major streams of sacred sound, Shabda yoga, Shakti Yoga, Bhava Yoga and Nada yoga.

In Part 4 introduces the practice of Sound Yoga; breaking it down into five distinct, but necessary focal points; Posture, breath, Sound, Movement and Consciousness.

Finally, Paul shows us in part 5 how to integrate Sound yoga into our daily lives and provides a hearty Appendix of Sample Mantras in the Shabda, Shakti, Bhava and Nada traditions.


In my opinion, for anyone interested in sound healing, this is an excellent and detailed jumping off point to explore. The information is accessible and informative. The second half of the book is quite detailed and the average reader may find it difficult to finish.

Readers entirely interested in integrating the practice of Sound yoga into daily living or who are looking for detailed instructions on the practice will find the second half of the book valuable, while other readers, just interested in the topic from a knowledge or research perspective may find the second part tedious.

This book is highly recommended reference material for anyone interested in the practice of Sound Healing, Sound Spirituality or Sonic Meditation practice. Fans of Yoga, particularly those interested in Sound Yoga (Shabda or Vedic mantras, Tantric Yoga, Bhakti or devotional mantras from the Bhava Yoga tradition or Nada Yoga) will find this very detailed little book extremely beneficial.

The book comes with a 45-minute companion CD which contains 21 tracks

[Reading Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah, going rogue from my yoga teacher training and stumbled across this book on Amazon. This book is going to take a few re-reads and notes to really take it all in. He breaks the tradition of yogic sound in four different directions, which he correlates to shabda, shakti, bhava and naad. Along the way he discusses tone (most mantra in his mind should have three tones), pronunciation and usage. He suggests a four part daily practice, which may seem a bit much to dive into at the start, but I view that more as the 'let's head in that direction' instead of a 'let's do that now immediately all the way'. The appendices are key here--he recaps each of the four types of mantra/sound and offers suggested mantras and practices for them.

It's not the most comprehensive book in terms of the number of mantras listed (for that, Thomas Ashley Farrand has everyone beat, I think) but he focuses more on the practice and, even more, how and why the practice works

One could wish for a bit more in terms of the consonants--there's always discussion of this mystical connection between the consonants and special points in the roof of the mouth that I'd love to know more about--but that got glossed over. Perhaps he addresses it in a training.

There is a subtle push toward his own CDs and products, that might annoy people, but this isn't one of those 'this book is just making you pay for an advertisement for my other stuff' that you see in a lot of New Age shills. Honestly, I'm willing to buy one of his CDs to check it out, not because I feel like I need it because the book didn't give me enough, but to go further. All in all a book that yogis should have on their shelves!

[Arah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was recommended during a meditation training course I took last year. It's very helpful for understanding how the mind & body relates and reacts to sound, and also for learning more about the various ways sound is used in yoga practice. It's not just about kirtan, or an "om", and these are categorized along with a few other methods/histories in a helpful way. I'm glad I read this and I will continue to refer to it for insight.