Harnessing energy

A wonderful memory popped into my mind out of the blue today; a real “highlight” kind of experience that I was happy to revisit…

For a couple of years back in 2002-2004, I had the great blessing of touring with an Ananda singing group in Italy. There’s a lot that could be said about the overall experience, but for now I’ll stick to this one particular performance.

We did quite a few school concerts, having a lot of fun sharing Swami Kriyananda’s children’s songs, many of which had been translated into Italian. On this particular day we were in the Italian city of Lucca, performing for an elementary school.

In addition to children’s songs, we also shared one of Ananda’s most popular and accessible chants:
Gioia, Gioia, Gioia,
Sempre nuova Gioia.
Joy, joy, joy, joy,
Ever-new joy, joy.

And–oh, how those children took to it! The energy grew bigger and bigger, the students clapping along with the chant with great enthusiasm and exuberance.

But at a certain point I had the subtle but clear intuition that the energy was on the verge of veering out of control; that if we tried to just stop, the children would be left agitated and restless–the last thing one wants when dealing with an auditorium full of elementary school students!

Following unexpected–but ultimately very helpful–inner guidance, I raised my arms above my head and started swaying back and forth to the chant. After a few moments the school children and their teachers followed suit. We were still having fun, but the noise level immediately dropped a few decibels and the energy started to refocus.

After some time, we dropped our arms and continued swaying back and forth in time with the chant. Chanting more softly, we gradually moved less and less until we weren’t moving at all. And, incredibly, the entire auditorium of young children went right along with us.

There was definitely a dynamic and powerful presence that filled the space as we finally brought the chant to a close. Looking back, I think we spontaneously harnessed the energy and helped everyone bring it back inside.

What a uniquely powerful, flow with the present moment, never to be repeated experience, for which I am sooooo grateful.

Gioia Gioia Gioia