In this powerful, musical, and highly experiential course, you’ll:

• Enjoy singing and call-and-response chants with Nina every week to experience their peaceful and joyous influence permeating your whole being
• Bathe in the mind-calming and heart-expanding benefits of a devoted chanting practice — and receive guidance to confidently create and commit to your own
• Find a sanctuary of divine love within your heart, which you can return to again and again
• Discover how to set intention by the way you present yourself to the practice, even amidst the busyness of your daily life
• Come together to pray through song — for the earth and your part in its healing
• Explore chanting as the vehicle, the path, and the destination to a more intentional life
• Learn about the origins of mantra practice to tap into the joy and wonder of this sacred tradition
• Demystify the practice of prayers and chants to make it more accessible in our modern world
• Be part of a supportive Satsang
• Learn the correct pronunciation and interpretations of the chants to honor this tradition and the potent transformation it enables
• And much more…

The spiritual practices of India can be an inauguration into many interconnected ancient systems of practice.

In this opening module, Nina will warmly welcome you to the path of chanting. You’ll begin to understand the vast scope and depth of this practice — to help you express your deepest longing for love.

Through stories and images, she’ll share about her journey into this practice of chanting the divine names and mantras from the Indian Hindu tradition.

Hearing Nina’s story will help you gain more insight and confidence in finding your own path and creating a practice.

You’ll explore how each of us has our own individual spiritual path, and the way your practice will unfold isn’t always clear from the beginning. You can learn to receive clues and guidance from your inner guru each step of the way.

An important part of Nina’s path has been her relationship with her guru, Sri Siddhi Ma, and she’ll weave the wisdom she has gained from this connection throughout the course.

In this session, you’ll:

• Enjoy a session of singing call-and-response chants to calm your mind and open your heart
• Explore mantra practice and its origins to tap into the joy and wonder of this sacred tradition
• Gain clarity on the importance of having a spiritual practice in your life — and set an intention to design a daily practice to create an inner sanctuary of the heart
• Discover why chanting and mantras, especially in Sanskrit, can resonate deeply within you

Many people know Nina for her rendition of the Hanuman Chalisa on Krishna Das’ Flow of Grace album, as well as a variety of melodies she sings on her own album Antarayaami.

The Hanuman Chalisa is a 40-verse devotional prayer to Hanuman, which invokes his (and our) qualities of wisdom, compassion, courage, surrender, and devotion.

In this session, you’ll have the opportunity to read slowly through the Indian language Avadhi with English transliteration and review pronunciation.

Nina will share some stories from the Ramacharitmanasa — Tulsidas’ Ramayana, one of the largest ancient epics in world literature… consisting of nearly 24,000 verses. It’s referred to in the Hanuman Chalisa and the Bajrang Bān.

Both of these longform prayers are said to have been composed by the poet-saint Tulsidas. The Hanuman Chalisa is practiced far and wide and the Bajrang Bān (the arrow of the thunderbolt-body of Hanuman) often acts as a super-boost in circumstances that require you to get unstuck.

These kinds of sacred stories have been told for thousands of years, and the enduring blessings of the teachings from these stories are encapsulated in the Hanuman Chalisa and bring us into a devotional space.

You’ll also explore your inclinations in this life, as you’re being called by your inner guru.

In this module, you’ll discover:

• The experience of chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa with slow repetition — a great opportunity to refine your pronunciation
• A sense of the meaning of the Hanuman Chalisa as it pertains to Ramayana
• Why this prayer resonates with so many people, even before we know the meaning
• What the word “surrender” means in these texts and why it’s such an important part of Bhakti yoga

One of the most widely practiced mantras in India, the Gāyatrī mantra, invokes our inner sun to illuminate the clarity needed to make the decisions that best serve ourselves and others.

While you may have been singing kirtan for a while, Nina will take you to the roots of chanting in a more traditional form. You’ll learn some of the differences between kirtan with music and Vedic chanting — the oldest sacred texts from India.

You’ll practice the recitation of the Gāyatrī mantra in the Vedic tradition, with an emphasis on the true pronunciation and svara (notes) and chandas (meter).

In this session, you’ll:

• Engage in a full 108 rounds of mantra repetition (or japa) to create a deep meditative space
• Practice a more traditional way of chanting that’s different from what’s most commonly sung
• Address some misconceptions about what mantra is and what we’re invoking when we chant
• Learn why the Gāyatrī mantra is one of the most widely practiced mantras in India
• Receive insights on creating an altar and making offerings in a simple way
• Discover how to set intention by the way you present yourself to the practice in the midst of your busy day

During the annual Hindu festival Devi Navratri, the celebration of the daily prayers are sung to the goddess in her various forms.

In this module, Nina will share some simple mantras and longer-form prayers to three manifestations of the goddess — sung to music and rhythm — while reading the transliteration and translation. Singing these mantras helps you tap into the qualities of the goddess that you’re invoking.

Nina will also share some stories of Devi Navaratri that were told in her guru’s temple, as well as some excerpts from the Chandi Pāth (700 verses in praise of the goddess).

Chandi means “she who tears apart thought” — referring to our thoughts of too little and too much. In this ever-balancing middle path, we have to traverse in each moment, allowing the universe to act on our behalf.

In this session, you’ll:

• Invoke auspiciousness to enter to the space of the goddess through the singing of prayers
• Invite the goddess into your being
• Develop confidence to explore and practice these longer-form prayers
• Learn the meaning of the prayers and get a stronger sense of what they can mean to you as you practice

Most of us are aware of the current climate crisis, and, in this closing session, you’ll spend time connecting with Mother Nature through practice.

Since the beginning of time, humankind has revered the Earth through prayer. However, in our modern world, many of us have lost sight of her sacredness.

Even when you’re not forest bathing, swimming in the ocean, or planting in soil, you can become more and more aware of your natural surroundings… and keep in your consciousness that everything we have and all that we are comes from the Earth.

Nina will share some readings about the embodied forms of the five elements.

She’ll guide you in the recitation of the Vedic Bhū Gāyatrī mantra. You’ll also sing kirtan to Bhūmi Devī. Bhū translates into “Earth, Mother Earth.”

As with all mantras, the names are not different from the form — and as you chant the mantras you’ll invoke Her presence from whom all things arise and return to in the cycle of life.

You’ll also have the opportunity to make a natural mandala of our own from your whatever’s around you — to place upon your altar.

In this module, you’ll:

• Learn how to set an intention in your mantra practice to transmit healing to the planet
• Chant second Vedic mantra, as Nina explains the meter and svaras (notes), as well as the meaning of the mantra and how to connect to it
• Come together to pray through song for the earth and your part in her healing
• Explore your own identification with the 5 elements of earth, wind, water, fire, and space
• See how dakinis (energetic beings in female form) and celestial sky-dancers embody these elements

“[Nina Rao’s] chanting is rich with timeless longing… calling us to live in the love that is our true being.”

From deep in the heart-cave Nina calls us…Her chanting is rich with timeless longing… calling us to live in the love that is our true being.”
— Krishna Das, worldwide icon and bestselling Western chant master

“Her vocal style is so pure and clear…”

I know Nina well through my role as Krishna Das’ music producer and guitar player. On our retreats I have also sat in with Nina for her own kirtan sets and workshops. Her vocal style is so pure and clear, and when she sings I am transported to the inner chambers of the Hanuman Mandala. She is also gifted at explaining the meaning and essence of these practices. I have learned a lot from Nina about the Bhakti tradition and consider her one of my teachers and a dear friend.
— David Nichtern, author and founder of Dharma Moon

“A combination of deep soul and melodious magic.”

Nina Rao has the voice of a genuine practitioner in her tradition. A combination of deep soul and melodious magic. She also comes from India and so has experience in that tradition since birth. Personally, I love her music and always have it with me. What an opportunity to have her at The Shift Network!
— Lama Tsultrim Allione, author and founder of Tara Mandala

“Nina’s chanting is an angel’s lullaby fused with the divine energy of awakening.”

Nina’s chanting is an angel’s lullaby fused with the divine energy of awakening. I listen to it in my car, in my office, on long walks, and after I meditate. It’s the soundtrack of love.
— Mirabai Bush, author and teacher of contemplative practices

“Nina’s loving, soaring, ecstatic voice… lifts the soul…”

The first time I heard Nina chant live on her own, I thought I was in the presence of the late immortal Anandamayi Ma — transported instantly into a transcendently easy way of being right where I had always been. Now that I hear Nina’s loving, soaring, ecstatic voice so beautifully recorded, I can echo back to that moment any time. It lifts the soul, stirs the unsought but welcome inner bliss, and is a wondrous gift that sweeps me into the clear stream of gratitude and devotion to the infinite yet gentle force of the clear light of love.
— Tenzin Robert A.F. Thurman, student of life, author, and grateful upholder of the Buddha teaching found in all ways of love and in every flower and blade of grass

“Nina’s voice is great; she creates a beautiful divine mood for yoga or for just enjoying being in a sacred atmosphere.”

Very lovely album. Nina’s voice is great; she creates a beautiful divine mood for yoga or for just enjoying being in a sacred atmosphere.
— MC Yogi, musician, author, and artist

“I’m extremely grateful for this gift she delivers through her beautiful singing.”

When listening to Nina’s chanting, I’m ignited with a deep longing for the Divine. I’m extremely grateful for this gift she delivers through her beautiful singing.
— Trevor Hall (Rampriya Das), musician