How to have powerful meditative experiences whilst singing

Singing is one of the things that come most naturally to man, and also one of the things that is capable of touching his inmost depths and bringing him into a space of beauty and joy inside himself. Sometimes we have these experiences unexpectedly, and we tell ourselves there is no way to make them happen again. It is true that such meditative experiences may not be systematically at one's beck and call, but we can definitely create favourable circumstances for them to happen. Here are a few tips you might like to try out:

1. Sing from the heart

We might be the best singer in the world, but if our minds are wandering whilst we are singing, judging our performance or wondering what everyone else is thinking of us, then our performance is useless from a meditative point of view. Instead, try to focus your attention on the heart centre, that place in the middle of the chest where you can feel the essence of your being. Try and feel that your voice is coming from this source inside yourself, and do deeper and deeper to find out where the source of the song is. You can even hold your hand in front of your chest, or fold your hands in prayer position (called the anjali mudra in Indian philosophy) - you will the physical vibration of your voice around the heart centre against your hands, and this will help you focus your attention until you can feel the spiritual vibration.

2. Power and stillness at the same time

Meditative songs are certainly not meek and timid - "the soul cannot be won by the weakling", as the Upanishads say - but the trick is to balance singing powerfully with having tremendous balance and poise at the same time. One trick someone once told me is to imagine that inside yourself you have a bowl of water filled absolutely to the brim, and you are trying not to spill it whilst singing. This kind of balance will only add strength to your singing instead of take it away - a strength built on a foundation of stillness.

3. Meditate before singing

It really helps if you have a period of silence just before the singing practice or performance where you focus on bringing your attention to the heart centre. It can also be a good time to bring whatever qualities you want to manifest in your singing to the fore. Meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy recommends some qualities in particular to focus on during singing such as consciousness, soulfulness, oneness, confidence, perfection and gratitude, and his students will often meditate on these qualities before a singing performance.