Silence and Sound

Jess: I’m so grateful that you’re joining us here on the Modo Journal. To begin, could you share some simple advice for someone singing or listening to mantra music for the first time?

Deva: Lovely to be here and chat with you. I think when you begin listening to a mantra listen with your heart, not your intellect. When you sing, sing from the heart. No need to push… no need to rush. Close your eyes, and don’t try to figure anything out! No matter how many times we chant a mantra, every cycle will be a new and fresh experience. Allow the experience to be an experiment. And afterwards, give yourself time to absorb the silence. Silence is the portal into the invisible world.

Jess: In yoga, we speak about finding the ‘edge’—that place where growth happens without force. Do you feel something similar when working with your voice?

Deva: I feel I caress the ‘edge’ with japa—the repetition of a mantra for 108 cycles. Especially with the Gayatri mantra, I am transported way beyond the edge. For me, that’s the challenge and the invitation every time: to come back, again and again, to be completely in the practice. […]

Jess: I remember you saying once over chai at your house “Jess, see what it feels like to free your hands as you sing.” It was a cue that deeply affected my own singing whether in classes, or even casual singing in the car. I just let my hands move and it feels so good. In the last concert in Montreal, you had the whole audience stand and move together. How does movement help you embody or channel sound?

Deva: There’s such liberation that happens when we allow our arms and hands to move while we sing. Our whole body, really – but especially the arms and hands.

I notice people sometimes sitting with their hands clasped together like they’re holding on to something of themselves. But when we allow our hands to separate and lift up they become an extension of our voice. And then, we start to dance. Not in a choreographed way – but just naturally. It’s like a circle: when your hands move more, your voice starts to dance, and when your voice dances, the hands want to move. Eventually, maybe the whole body joins in – and that’s the key. […]

Jess: With your new album The Inevitable Blossoming of the Heart (How much do I love this title?), was there an intention you were hoping to offer to listeners? Do you ever think about how your music will land for people that play it during yoga classes?

Deva: Every album I make, my intention is really simple – to bring a sense of peace into the world. I want the music to act as a carrier for the mantras. When the music touches you, you want to hear it again and again, it spins around in your mind, and it fills you up – and you become like a prayer wheel, pouring out the mantra into the world, to the Universe.

This particular album – The Inevitable Blossoming of the Heart – is really shaped by this intention and the natural beauty of Costa Rica, which is where I live with my beloved partner in music and life, Miten. The sound of the jungle is woven into the music. You can hear cicadas, even howler monkeys on “Afepakian” along with a chant from the indigenous Maleku people. It feels so lovely for me to have them with me as I sing. […]

Deva: I feel the mantras are the sound of our soul. The sound of the ancient spirit. They’re not outside of us – they’re already within.

So when I listen to a mantra, or when I listen within – it’s the same thing. It’s the same space. The same sound. The same truth.

Read the rest of the article, Interview With Grammy Nominee, Deva Premal: Examining How Sound, Silence and Movement Intersect on modoyoga.com

Jess Robertson is Modo Yoga’s Co Founder, Senior Advisor, and Community Documentarian. She is also a writer, musician, yoga teacher and Co Founder of the New Leaf Foundation. She lives in Montreal, Canada with her 2 kids. instagram.com/jessrobertsonyoga

Related article on Osho News

• The Inevitable Blossoming of the Heart – Deva Premal about her new album, to be released on 6 June 2025, with two tracks on video (May 2025)