Chanting conjures up images of a linen-clothed Indian man reciting ‘Ohms’ while sitting cross-legged on a temple floor.This is not always the case, suggests kirtan chanting artist David Newman.His aim over the past ten years has been to bring his brand of meditative music to the masses.Mr Newman has travelled the world sharing his musical talents with yoga practitioners in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. He has released seven albums to date and worked with Frank Wolf, the music producer behind megastars Pink, Dido and Jennifer Lopez.He will be on Island leading an in-depth course on Bhakti yoga and Kirtan chanting from next Thursday until Sunday. Next Saturday evening, he will perform with his wife, musician and vocalist Mira Newman, at Spirit House Bermuda on Middle Road, Devonshire at 8pm.Mr Newman said it has always been his mission to make his music accessible to average people, not just yogis. His lyrics are typically in English, but he also incorporates Kirtan chanting and the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit.“The chanting is new, but the musicality is universal,” he said. “I try to make the experience not exotic or scary, but something people can relate to.”While some yoga teachers from the West may dress up in Indian garb and entirely adopt the lifestyle from that culture, Mr Newman insisted “that’s not for me”. He said: “For me it’s a blending of cultures. My heritage is [listening to artists like] Neil Young and George Harrison and along with a deep spiritual heritage, for me it’s about a merging of cultures.”He was exposed to yoga as he grew up but it wasn’t until he was in law school and a friend invited him to an ashram in New York, that his passion for chanting began to deepen.“On that particular evening they probably had at least 500 or 1000 people in a hall,” he said. “Before their evening meditative programme started they began to chant one song with four words that lasted 45 minutes.“I was just blown away by the energy in the room and the peace. It was kind of a transporting experience.”Mr Newman graduated from law school and passed his law exams, but decided to follow his heart and opened a yoga school in 1992.“I really delved deep into yoga while I was in law school.“Prior to that I hadn’t realised just how important yoga was in my life and I didn’t consider it as a career option because I didn’t have any kind of role model that showed me yoga could be any kind of profession.”As a teenager he played the guitar and dabbled in playing the violin and piano, but chanting brought a new level of creativity to his music.He started work on his first CD in 2002 — at which time his focus shifted from teaching yoga to chanting. “I have had many different incarnations within [my life],” he said.Mr Newman said people who attend the four-day course can expect to leave with a great foundation in Bhakti yoga and chanting to begin their own spiritual meditation practices.“I share not only about the tradition of the practice but the actual practice of it and help them connect. To some degree people take it in different directions, but the four days will give everyone a foundation. It’s really up to the person to decide where they want to go with it.”Bhakti is a spiritual path described in Hindu philosophy, which is supposed to stand for unconditional love or living from the heart. It’s a practice that is centred around opening up the heart and living more from a place of acceptance, kindness and love and seeing the beauty in ourselves and others, Mr Newman explained.“It doesn’t involve physical movements, but different kinds of meditation techniques,” he said.Kirtan is a type of chanting performed in India’s devotional traditions and involves chanting hymns or mantras to the accompaniment of instruments like drums and cymbals.Mr Newman said: “Kirtan is a wonderful practice of accomplishing the goal of living open heartedly. Sometimes you can help people with the physical aspects of yoga, but this is about helping them connect with their hearts and learning.”He said a key part of what he does is getting people to embrace their musical side and not be ashamed of their voice. He said some people grow up thinking they can’t sing or hold a tune, but music is something he sees as universal. “Everyone has a musical side. The course will help them open up their voice because our voice is our means of communication and self-expression.“I had a guy come to one of our programmes and when he was seven years old he was in a choir and a choir director didn’t like the sound of his voice and he was told to just move his lips and not sing.“During the course I got him to sing on his own and at lunch he came and told me the story and said it was the first time he had sang in public for 60 something years and he is not alone.”The $450 cost of the four-day course includes tuition, vegan meals and yoga. Those who just wish to come out for the concert will be charged $50.Useful websites: http://www.davidnewmanmusic.com; http://www.staystrongproject.org.