Kundalini Yoga classes in the United States have offered a holistic yoga practice with particular emphasis on chant (mantra) since the late 1960s. The use of the voice assumes a central position in Kundalini Yoga as various forms of mantra, sound intentionally uttered to alter ones state of consciousness, are incorporated in every class. The ways in which mantra is used in Kundalini Yoga presents epistemological questions concerning the ways sound shapes participants experiences of the yoga class itself, of their own bodies, and more broadly of their own mind-body states of being. Is it possible to discover what it means for Kundalini Yoga participants to add to a soundscape with their own voices? How important is each element of a Kundalini Yoga soundscape to the participants (i.e. breathing, mantra, background music), and how might they think and talk about Kundalini soundscapes?
An ethnographic case study within a weekly Kundalini Yoga class in Pittsburgh demonstrates the way its soundscapes can shape participants sensory experiences by simultaneously restricting their fields of vision and redefining what it means to listen. Building on theoretical approaches drawn from phenomenology, this study explores kinesthetic experience by suggesting that the ways in which the sense of ones physical state is intertwined with hearing in Kundalini Yoga (physio-sonic experience) enables practitioners to access a deeper level of emotional and physical consciousness which is activated and mediated by sound.
Through a repositioning of the body as the center of ethnomusicological fieldwork, this thesis analyzes physio-sonic experiences of Kundalini Yoga activities, illuminating ways to listen and engage with sound that join awareness of mind and body. Such experiences have lead regular participants to conceive of Kundalini Yoga practice not only as a way to balance and refine their whole body-mind, but even in some cases to conceive of the practice as a model for how to approach life outside of the yoga studio.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-12102010-091818 |
| Date | 27 January 2011 |
| Creators | Decker, Alison |
| Contributors | Adriana Helbig, PhD, Assistant Professor of Music, Bell Yung, PhD, Professor of Music, Andrew N. Weintraub, PhD, Professor of Music |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf, application/octet-stream |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-12102010-091818/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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