Karin feels reciting Veda has taught her to move her mouth differently, which led to using sound differently, feeling differently and eventually, thinking differently, too
By Sophia Ann French
Author and Veda Recitation Teacher, Karin Lynn Carlson, thought she would grow up and become a monk. As a child, Karin felt a direct relationship with God, but as a young adult, Karin thought she had lost her faith. “I felt a lot of anger and sadness at the state of the world. It could be such a beautiful place, and it made me sad to look at what we’ve done to it,” shares Karin. She’s not the first person to become disillusioned with the times we live in, but happily, Karin found yoga, which elevated her and gave her purpose. “Practising yoga gave me the same feeling that I had when I was a kid — I am in communication with something bigger than myself. That was wonderful, and I became someone who could help in the world even as I was healing myself. I’ve been practising yoga for 15 years, but for various reasons, I focus on teaching philosophy instead of āsana, and I also teach Veda recitation,” says Karin.
Finding Veda
When Karin started reciting Veda and studying with Veda Studies, she felt the same enthusiasm she had when she first discovered yoga. “I felt that this is real and true. I attended several community events at first, and then signed up for the courses,” recalls Karin. I asked her how reciting Veda affects a person who has an established spiritual practise of 15 years. “Oh! It is fascinating! I am fascinated by what a chanting practice does. It feels like it’s getting into my subconscious. I noticed that my sleep changed — I am sleeping better, and my sleep is deeper. When I wake up, I feel rested, and I also fall asleep much more easily than I did before. It’s like my brain is doing what brains are supposed to (laughs). I wake up with music in my head. Not necessarily mantras. It could be a David Bowie song, and I just wake up and feel like spinning around. I wake up happy! In the past, I would start to think about a thing, and that led to thinking about another thing, and all of a sudden, everything would be chaos. Since I started chanting, when such negative thought patterns occur, they are quickly replaced by a mantra. Mantra is a protection for the mind. Now that I teach and talk to other people who also have a practice, I hear many stories about how Veda recitation is changing their psychology,” says Karin.
Studying and Teaching Veda
Most graduates of the Indica Veda Study Teaching Programme will agree that mastering Veda phonetics requires effort and time. We all love reciting Veda, and we know the dedication and effort required to recite correctly, with the right svara and following all the rules of Veda recitation. Karin feels like reciting Veda is “practising āsana in my mouth (laughs). Honestly, I love feeling the prana of the different sounds. Where is the sound coming from? How do I make it round? How do I grip the sound? Learning these new sounds and new ways of moving my mouth is helping me release some of my old habits. If I can move my mouth differently, if I can sound different, then I can feel and think differently, too,” says Karin.
Her love for reciting Veda inspired her to attend the Indica Veda Studies Teacher Training Programme (2024), and speaking of her experience of the ten-month programme, Karin says, “I come from the Desikachar lineage, and one of the things we were told over and over is that ‘yoga is relationship.’ I appreciate the Veda Studies sangha. Just working with other students, and such an amazing diversity of students in terms of age, culture and background, gave me an amazing understanding of humanity. I also appreciate all the theory we study. Access to root knowledge is vital to know that we are moving toward the truth. This is a life path, and we have been given access to the living lineage. The theory also helps because I had so many questions, and seeing and understanding all the Indic Knowledge Systems charts that Shantala shares with us has put so much into perspective. It’s empowering to see those charts. I adore good teachers, and Shantala is a master teacher.”
Advice for Spiritual Seekers
“I think that spirituality is a sensation of felt feeling inside the body that is evoked by the world — it may be through a teacher, the night sky, a poem, music.” Now we know why Karin is an author! What advice does this writer have for students who wish to study and someday teach yoga? “Just keep going. If you feel a sense of curiosity for the practice, follow that. No matter what I or anyone else tells you, you can only know the practice when you have gone through it. You don’t arrive at Jñānakāṇḍa until you’ve gone through Karmakāṇḍa.”
To get in touch with Karin, email her at [email protected]