Having moved to a new area, I thought I’d put myself out there and try and meet some new people. “Hmmm…. how?” I thought. Well, I’ve been going to a few yoga classes locally but I wanted to meet MORE people. MORE I tell you!
And what do I like doing apart from yoga? Well, I don’t mind singing and I have been known – just on one or two occasions – to spontaneously burst into song when someone says something that reminds me of a song title. And I am rather fond of chanting Sanskrit mantras but that can be rather niche…
“And where did this lead me?” I hear you say. Well, it naturally led me to a taster Rock Choir session in Harpenden. Cue about 60 people – mostly women of various ages (I was probably at the younger end of the spectrum) – sitting in a school hall on a Monday evening.
I sat with the altos and tried to get my head round where to breathe in Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’. Together we didn’t sound half bad.
Then came ELO’s Mr Blue Sky. I was relieved to hear that they’d been working on it for weeks as I hadn’t the foggiest what was going on. And there were dance moves. Fingers were clicked, salsa steps were attempted, arms were waved and my voice went all over the place. To think that my mum’s a soprano soloist. It was frankly embarrassing.
Abbi the choir leader was amazing. Enthusiastic, pulling everyone together, and incredibly talented. Some people were born performers, strutting their stuff and enunciating like it was going out of fashion. But something was missing. Even if we’d been singing the songs of Julie Andrews, I’m not sure if it was me.
I came home and thought about it. It all felt a bit empty. I love kirtan and chanting mantras. When I chant, I feel like I’m giving my all. My heart feels open and there’s no need to perform. It doesn’t even matter that you might not know the meaning of all the words in Sanskrit. There’s just a great energy about them. When I lead a chant, it’s a magical feeling when an entire room says the line back to you. I love it. Singing ELO and sashaying about just didn’t quite do it for me.
Anyway, you’ve got to try these things. If you fancy Rock Choir, there’s loads of them all over the country. If you fancy spending your Saturday night chanting Sanskrit mantras, the next one at the Yoga Hall in St Albans is 22 June. I know where you’re more likely to find me.
Oh and if you’d like to come to my yoga classes in Wheathampstead and Harpenden, details are on the class schedule page of my new (yes, I said ‘new’) website!