Feels just like my armor has been torn away
I'm breaking free but it feels just like crumbling
My heart is raw and my mind is the enemy 
but I call your name and you let me breathe

Ram Ram Ram Sita Ram Ram Ram 
Sita Ram Ram Ram Sita Ram (repeat)

Feels just like my friends have all gone away
I'm not alone, just clouded suffering
My heart is full of darkness that envelops me 
but I call your name and you help me see

Ram Ram Ram Sita Ram Ram Ram 
Sita Ram Ram Ram Sita Ram (repeat)

Feels just like your grace is raining over me
I'm breathing deep and it feels just like opening
My heart is full of your blessings
I call your name 

Ram Ram Ram Sita Ram Ram Ram 
Sita Ram Ram Ram Sita Ram (repeat)

When I think of Ram, Sita and Hanuman; I think of pure love, devotion and virtue. 

Swami Muktananda said, "Chanting opens the heart and makes love flow within us." This simple chant feels so grounding and soothing to me.

This is the only call and response style kirtan chant on the album. I hope you enjoy singing along. 

Would you enjoy a video tutorial of how to play this chant on harmonium? Please let me know in the comments and I will prepare one for you. 

Jai Sita Ram Jai Hanuman
Hanuman Jai Sita Ram
Jai Jai Sita Ma
Hare Rama Ram 

Oh my world got small and gray
And there's no reason I should feel this way
My life is blessed, so rich, so right
but I can't sleep tonight 
and in my mind nothing is clear. 

You say, "Let go. Breathe. Surrender."
Your shining light, it helps me remember. 

I dig both hands into my chest
Can't feel my heart and can't collect my breath
My life is lush and filled with grace
but somehow I fell out of place 
And now I'm lost though I have been here before. 

You say, "Let go. Breathe. Surrender."
Your shining light, it helps me remember. 

Oh my mind got weak and dull
And there's no reason I should feel this way at all
And just one glimpse, one hope, one breath
could move me through this death
And in my heart one thing is clear. 

You say, "Let go. Breathe. Surrender."
Your shining light, it helps me remember. 
And all the love you give, it lifts me
And how you live your love, it heals me. 

You say, "Let go. Breathe. Surrender."
Your shining light, it helps me remember. ​

What is here before your eyes
is just a tiny piece of me
I'm undressing all my wounds
for the whole world to see.
My tender heart, it needs to breathe
so it can heal eventually
If I dare to tell the truth
do you think you 
could still love me?

And I might fall, I could fail
Catch me fate before I bail
I might leap, I could fly
I won't know unless I try.

I've been hiding in the shade
watching flowers bathe in the sun
stretching petals towards the sky
looking pretty, having fun
I've been scared the sun may burn
so I withered in the dark
shyly longing for the warmth
from just beyond it's brilliant spark.

And I might fall, I could fail
Catch me fate before I bail
I might leap, I could fly
I won't know unless I try.

I've been as safe as a bird
sitting quietly in a cage
The iron bars were in my mind
I could fly but I'm afraid
I see the sky so vast, so blue
I slowly open my wings
leave my little cage behind 
and softly begin to sing

And I might fall, I could fail
Catch me fate before I bail
I might leap, I could fly
I won't know unless I try.

​What is here before your eyes
is me breaking free. 

"Set Me Free" begins with the powerful MahaMrityunjaya mantra. This Sanskrit mantra is a potent prayer for liberation. Recording this chant required my complete focus. I read directly from the transliteration while simultaneously reaching for my connection to my lineage teachers and to Shiva. The process looked something like this: recording multiple versions, listening many times, rerecording, listening again to every vowel and consonant, etc. Chanting and listening so deeply to this mantra for several continuous hours left me feeling a lot like burnt toast. I laid on my back in the floor of the studio as we listened back to the recordings to  choose all of the best versions. When I left the studio on those days, I drove down the mountain and put my feet into Boulder creek. 

Sanskrit is both a divinely beautiful and extraordinarily challenging language.  To prepare to record this album, I completed two Sanskrit courses and received some private instruction as well. I was excited to deepen my understanding of this beautiful language and instead found myself very very humbled and for a short but painful period, completely crushed. I went through a crucial death and rebirth in regards to my relationship with chanting. My teacher helped me to find balance; and I decided to prioritize devotion while continuing to improve my accuracy gradually.  This recording represents my very best efforts and so much grace. 

When I sing the English section of this song, I think of Swami Rudrananda, or as his devotees affectionately call him, Rudi. Rudi was a great Siddha who spoke of cultivating a wish to grow. It's not a casual wish. It's a deep wish for freedom. I often think of this wish as a hunger, a profound yearning. We can use this hunger to empower our practice and ultimately, to become free. 

***MahaMrityunjaya words and translation coming soon. 

Set me free. 
I am reaching towards your light.
Help me see. 
I am hungry for your sight. 
And help me grow. 
Live my life with love and peace,
praise be to thee. 
Guru Om. 

If my heart could speak
it'd have no words
It might only weep
as your grace washes over me
and in your light, I can finally see
that I cause my own suffering
and I write my own soundtrack
and when I am lost like a fool
your light, it always guides me back. 

Om Guru Om...

Nine years out west
who am I?
I no longer know
I guess, they say that's progress
'cause in my youth, I was so damn sure.
But now, still can't let that anchor go
sometimes, I'm down here drowning
If I breathe then I finally start to float
and my walls, they start crumbling. 

Om Guru Om....

Each breath takes me deeper
to the place it gets sweeter
In that space there is harmony, clarity 
and the wish to be free
And you say, "Just takes practice"
I believe in the wings that you gave me 
and I'll soar up the mountain.

Om Guru Om...

I believe in you. 

​Om Guru Om...

Sharanam means to take refuge or to surrender completely to. When I think of this beautiful word, I think of both the literal shelter provided to me during my time living in my teacher's ashram, as well as the feeling of surrendering into profoundly deeper meditations in his presence.  

This song is about being drawn by grace to my spiritual practice. 

I was lost
I'd been running around my head
Too many thoughts
So I just hid there in my bed
And when I woke
Something called me from a distant land
I carried my broken heart through the temple doors
And we just sang and sang and sang....

Sharanam Shree Guru Deva Sharanam
Sharanam Sharanam 

I was caught
By the loving arms of grace
And I was taught
more than words could ever say. 
Now I know how to let things go
Now I know how to grow

Sharanam Shree Guru Deva Sharanam 
Sharanam Sharanam 

Temple in sky is where I found you
And I'm grateful everyday, I get to be around you at all
Even though you're far away, I still can feel you in my heart
in my heart

Sharanam Shree Guru Deva Sharanam 
Sharanam Sharanam ​

Om Namah Shivaya means I bow with respect to Shiva or the inner self. This mantra nourishes our connection with our true divine nature. Om Namah Shivaya has been a powerful resource for helping me navigate inner turmoil. It brings peace to my busy mind and reduces anxiety. 

The first track on my new album, Breathe, features this powerful mantra. 

Sailing through the waters of my mind
Storm waves crash against my boat
And I fear I'm about to capsize 
And I don't know how I'll stay afloat. 
And I'm treading in cold water
And I'm gasping for my breath
Just when I think that I might die here
I feel a whisper rise upon my lips.

It goes Om Namah Om Namah Om Namah Shivaya...

Swimming in the waters of my mind
Storm waves begin to still 
And I look up to the heart sky
It's so vast, so blue and oh so clear.
And I'm floating in calm waters
And I'm dancing with my breath
And I feel I could just lie here
Rocked to the rhythm in my chest. 

It goes Om Namah Om Namah Om Namah Shivaya...