I was a very lousy solo singer in drama school. But when my voice coach unraveled the magic of harmony I found my true voice. He was a mystic. He explained harmony as the vertical spiral that webbed into octaves of light and sound. Spirals that weave entire notes creating a celestial melody chord. He taught me that harmony was about capturing the different nuances of the tone, while using the same pitch. He also taught me to take cues from the melody instead of struggling to sing in unison. His insight into harmony was spot on. He would say: “So melody is the horizontal tune you hum… and harmony is the vertical curve that complements it.” So harmony and melody wedded the horizontal and vertical axis. The moment I realized that, I was able to find my voice and tune to my unique melody.

Later, when I started practicing Yoga I discovered how the principles of melody and harmony were embedded in every asana. The two points of inquiry brought a sense of balance and allowed me to “be in flow.” Even on the mat I could voice myself and sing my signature melody.

I pass on this lesson in harmony until this very day and I am still amazed how it resonates with everyone, and helps them attain the full magnificent integrity of body, mind, spirit. My daily Yoga practice embodies harmony as a state of dynamic equilibrium – a passionate embrace of personal freedom, life, love, color, community power and kindness toward all beings.

How do we attain this state of balance and maintain it no matter what? In Yoga harmony ensues when we gain awareness of who we really are. It is not about the person we are on the surface. Rather, it is about finding who we are on a core level once we strip away the social programming, ego, and mental conditionings. Being pretty adaptable creatures, we learn to play peekaboo with our true self from a very young age. Over time, this external adjustment makes it difficult to connect with that sense of inner peace we all long for. And the process continues because we keep adapting our behavior for various reasons as we are exposed to a variety of circumstances and situations.

We learn to fashion our behavior to meet our needs and with time our false guise becomes our habitual identity. Gradually we loose track of who we really are on a core level. We compromise our deepest values and passions for the sake of fitting in. Our true self falls prey to our adapted self. A conflict between the external environment and our most authentic self arises and our life gets out of whack. It becomes hard to stay true to our self.

All of these factors combined make it very difficult to stay in harmony with who we truly are on the deepest levels or to find any degree of inner peace. So how can we adapt and grow, while simultaneously avoiding the trap of internal conflict?

Self-discovery and awareness is the key.

Yoga throws light on these conflicts. It gives us the internal compass. As we relinquish control over the circumstances in life we no longer need to seek constant approval or security. We allow our core values to change and evolve with the practice. We recognize that self-discovery and awareness is key to brining about internal peace and harmony.

With the practice Yoga we learn to burn the veil of illusion that we have wrapped around the self. By confronting our fears and tapping our essence we gain insight into our life purpose and release the attachment to the outcome. Then the process engulfs the result and we have an appreciation of every step of the journey. We replace the need to succeed with the heartfelt desire to be fulfilled. We no longer bury emotions, rather delight in watching them rise and fall unperturbed. We no longer compromise the very values that carve our personal identity. We no longer sabotage our own success? We no longer fight the emotional battle around deeply rooted internal discord.

We become integral to the divine flow. We are in harmony with ourselves, our fellow beings, and all sentient creatures. And we infect everyone with this state of inner peace. Our inner melody sails through space and time to invoke its twin harmony into a celebration of world peace.

Next time you try to sing harmony, tune to your inner hum, then sail with the breath and reverberate your “peace”.

Yogea harmonizing mudra and meditation practice: In Tune

This mudra and meditation Yogea practice takes you on a gestural and respiratory cruise through the horizontal and vertical planes of the human condition. It inspires you to view harmony as a state of effortless grace and dynamic equilibrium. The creative mudras and inspiring pantomime from the Vedic performance treatise Natyashastra usher you into a dance with the forces of nature that underlie all existence. It guides you into discovering your singular voice and finding your place in this world. From this blissful state of peace you connect to the wisdom of the Universe to retrieve your melody and sing it out loud.