Stories from Yoann’s  “Music & Spirituality” Tour in USA with his  “Awakening Gospels and Songs for Mother Earth” performances

New York – Harlem (news from Georgia, NY – volunteer instructor for the local sahaja meditation classes)

“The meditation classes have been ongoing over the last 3 years at the Harlem branch of the New York Public Library where Yoann Freget sang for us Monday, Nov 8. The vibrations filled the historic building and about 30 new seekers attended. From a 3 month old baby who was brought in by her mom to teens that found their way to the third floor (one floor up from the kids section in the library) everyone joined in singing and clapping along to the gospel tunes. One woman that Yoann had met just the previous day in Harlem came up to give him a hug while he was singing and added a few verses of her own voice to the song! Another who came from Brooklyn was invited by Yoann to join him in singing and their beautiful duet brought smiles to everyone there. Another woman could not stop clapping along and dancing too! When Yoann introduced the meditation a calm came about the room. The two hours went by in a flash but that did not stop one woman from coming to see Yoann perform again at NY University the next day and at NY City College a few days later. I would say she has become a fan and we look forward to seeing her in class on Tuesday 🙂
It is so nice to get the emails with the update on how Yoann is doing. The woman who came to all 3 concerts emailed me yesterday asking how he is doing :- )

sending love and hugs,
Georgia”

Washington DC (news from Elena – sahaja yoga instructor in USA)

Washington DC had been enjoyed three days of Yoann’s 1 month tour through United States. The news from there have been really great. Elena, who practices sahaja yoga meditation in Washington DC had shared with us what’s going on there in stories,  photos and a really great video. Here there is a quick summary (adapted) based on Elena’s beautiful and detailed feedback:  “We could see how hearts of many people were open through art. The art is really powerful instrument for spreading positive vibrations. Just during one day Yoann was able to offer  3 performances! He started his morning in Catholic school Holy Redeemer singing for 50 or more children age of 5 – 9 as well leading them through a relaxation exercise based on sahaja yoga meditation.

The children were explained that this exercise will help them to feel joy, peace and happiness inside. All of them placed their hands on the top of the heads – on their Sahasrara energy centre (the crown chakra) – and had addressed their own  motherly energy Kundalini to be awaken inside of them. All  the  children had felt  the cool breeze above their heads! In the evening, there was performance at Howard University in Washington DC. Yoann was invited to perform with other musicians during the 2nd Annual Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony. There Yoann  had an amazing performance that was extremely well received (see the video!!) . Plus, the audience had also benefited from the guided relaxation exercise that is actually a simplified method for awakening the Kundalini energy through music with vibrations, such as Yoann is offering. All people were guided through self-realization process as well, and yogies distributed Sahaj flayers after the performance. That special day was concluded  with Yoann’s show for Seneca Valley High School, the last concert of the tour in Washington DC area. Yoann was singing Gospel, Soul and Swing and offering the sahaj meditation for more than fifty teenagers and adults present in the audience. Everything was flowing  in  a very sweet, gentle though fully joyous manner (everyone had started dancing and singing together  spontaneously… such a sahaj evening for all to experience!).  So, hundreds of people realized the power of art and its subtle awakening energy in Washington DC area – thanks to Yoann Freget’s tour organized by the local sahaja yoga meditation group.”

VIDEO (“Amazing Grace” , “The Light has No Colour” and “When I think of Jesus“)

Philadelphia – Great feedback from Patience

CHELTENHAM MALL, Saturday November 13, 2010

On Saturday November 13, 2010 Yoann Freget, our Sahaja Yogi brother from France, performed at the Cheltenham Mall in Germantown Philadelphia from 6:00 to 7:30. The program was held in a court area in the center of the mall, where there were chairs set up for people to sit and enjoy. The evening began with a brief introduction to Sahaja Yoga Meditation and the Self Realization Exercise. Custodians, parents with their children, and other shoppers stopped to the participated in the exercise. One father with his two daughters had a big smile on his face and nodded in appreciation at the end of the exercise.

The neighborhood and the crowd consisted of mostly African American people. There were people from the local Sahaja Yoga classes who came to see the performance. However, it was not until Yoann began to sing with his powerful and harmonius voice that the crowd began to increase.  He began the program by singing the mantra for  Shri Ganesha  (subtle principle governing the 1st chakra- the root energy centre) and Shri Jesus – Mary  (in sahaja yoga meditation both Jesus and Mother Mary are invoked to open the “third eye” chakra – the 6t h subtle energy centre).  Then Yoann had offered an assortment of gospel, soul and other uplifting songs. The performance was amazing! The vibrations were totally blasting!  The heart just opened and we could feel so much joy… the audience clapped and sang along.  At one point in the show four African American girls sat down in the front row excitedly. One girl in particular, sang along with Yoann with confidence and joy 🙂 One song, “Down By the River Side”  became a truly  collective song where Yoann sang the verses and the audience sang the chorus, “Down By the River Side”.  Most of the audience knew the words. It was really fun and it filled the atmosphere with such vibrant and pure happiness!

It was wonderful to see the creativity of how Yoann incorporated the profound message and subtle awakening power of  Sahaja Yoga with the music he performed. At one point everyone repeated after Yoann as he hummed the song “MM” with different melodies. The sound of the Shushumna Nadi (the central subtle energy channel that allows us to evolve spiritually when Kundalini rises though it) ..one could really feel the attention come into the center and the Kundalini rise to the Sahasrara subtle centre (the crown chakra) . Later in the set, he stopped sing and felt inspired to talk more about Sahaja Yoga and  he led everyone through the realization exercise and a meditation.

Vernell, the manager of the mall, absolutely loved the program.  She is a very deep and open hearted seeker.  During the initial conversations about the process to have Yoann perform at the mall, she learned about Sahaja Yoga and she was immediately intrigued and only two days later came to the weekly Sahaja Yoga class and received her self-realization.  On Saturday night, she was the one that excitedly took the pictures of Yoann’s performance (soon we’ll share those here!!!).  The entire night was collective, joyous and extremely positive.  People were so interested in Sahaja yoga meditation not only into the music performance so  they all had received their self-realization, learned about the subtle energy system, enjoyed the music, took fliers about the upcoming classes and thanked us for a wonderful evening.  Simple put, it was a beautiful evening that as Yoann normally would say .. it was an amazing gift from Shri Mataji – the founder of sahaja yoga meditation – who enlightened him and all of us with this pure knowledge and spiritual powers so we can further share…  Everything flowed and we truly felt that the  Divine Attention was with us. Thank you Shri Mataji!

The  WORLD CAFÉ LIVE with  “PLAYING FOR CHANGE” Band – An amazing happening that led to a great performance!!

On Monday November 15, 2010 Yoann performed at the Reading Terminal Market in downtown Philadelphia.  Although a performance was requested a week prior his arrival, the management did not confirm the location until the Saturday of his first performance. It was such a pleasant surprise. Reading Terminal is a market with many restaurants, fresh produce and craft shops. The entire market is about one block long. It is one of the most visited markets in Philadelphia especially during the lunch hour.  On the day of the performance, there was a large crowd eating, ordering lunch and shopping. Two men were seated right in front of the center court/stage. They began to ask questions and when they found out that Yoann was going to perform they decided to sit back and wait for the music to begin. They stayed for the duration of the performance and enjoyed it very much and at the end asked if he had cd’s.

The audience was very receptive to his music. At one point, as the security asked to turn the music down, the audience began chanting, “Let him play! Let him play!” One audience member, an older gentleman, stood up and started to encourage the others to sing along with Yoann. There was one man in the audience who sat right in front of Yoann. His eyes looked so deep and it was easy to tell that he was feeling the subtle aspect of the music. At the end of the performance, he approached Yoann and said simply, “ I felt the energy”.

Yet this was not the end of the day. As he continued to perform, four men came and were listening to the music in the market aisle. They were clapping, smiling and enjoying the music. At the end of the concert, they came up to Yoann and told him that they were from “Playing for Change“, an organization that travels to different countries building music schools in different countries such as Nepal and Rwanda and gathering people from around the world to perform songs in an effort to create global peace. They gave him their information and invited him to perform one solo song and one group song at their show later that evening at the World Cafe Live on Walnut Street in Philadelphia. They gave him two extra tickets.

Note: Two months prior, in the New Jersey ashram, a group of Sahaja Yogis sat and watched the Playing for Change video “Stand By Me”.  Please watch it here (26,155,177 views and keeps going up .. can’t wait to see the video with this amazing band joined by Yoann Freget!! 🙂 )

Little did we know, within a couple of months that we would be able to share Sahaja Yoga meditation and give the self realization (the awakening of the subtle power: Kundalini energy) to this same organization, including its founder and the present band members, backstage.

That evening, after we went and picked up our car that was towed away from Reading Terminal, (we were happy to be there are as a local TV show televised Yoann singing and talking about Sahaja Meditation and one of the cameramen received his realization)  we arrived at the World Cafe Live. When we walked in there was a young African American women on stage singing with such strength and talent. After she finished singing we approached her to talk to her. Immediately we started telling her about Sahaja Meditation. In the lobby we led her through the self realization affirmations and meditated for a few minutes. When she opened her eyes there was a huge smile on her face. We all laughed in joy; she excitedly took the information about the local meetings and gave us her contact information also.

There was still time before the show was to start and we walked downstairs and saw three teenagers sitting with instruments waiting to perform at an Open Mic show that was also to be held that night in the same building. We told them about Sahaja Meditation and two of the three teenagers received their self-realization. They both felt the cool breeze. We gave them a flier with the local meeting places. We wished them luck with their performance.

We finally went downstairs to the main ballroom where the “Playing for Change” band would perform; one of the band members took us backstage to meet the group and the heads of the organization. They started to tell us what their organization does and we told them that we also had something to share with them. We began to tell them about Sahaja Meditation and within fifteen minutes the majority of the band and the founder of the organization were seated in a circle meditating. We started by holding hands in a circle with our eyes closed. We then went through the affirmations and sat in meditation for a few minutes. One man from the Congo felt heat above his head. One man stood up and said, “I can tell you one thing; I feel great!” He then started telling us how the back pain he has been having just went away. We got ready for the show to start. There were a variety of African and American songs. During the middle of the show, Yoann was asked to come on stage and perform. Before he sang, he gave self-realization to the audience of about 200 people. When we looked around, we saw the majority of the people putting their hands on their energy centers with their eyes closed as Yoann guided them through the affirmations. We then saw them putting their hands above their heads to feel the cool breeze. There was an amazing minute of complete silence. Yoann then sang “Amazing Grace”.

After the performance we again went backstage to thank the organization for inviting us. A young man, who worked at the World Cafe Live, came into the room to clean up the food trays. He told us that, although he was not religious, he has come to realize that spirituality is real. He told us that American society tries to tell us that spirituality is not real but he knows it is. He told us that he felt the cool breeze. He was excited to hear about the local Sahaja Meditation meetings and we exchanged contact information. The entire night was full of joy. Thank you Yoann!!

(from Patience, young sahaja yoga practitioner from Philadelphia)

** more beautiful news are coming: a great live interview with Yoann on a spiritual radio station in USA and Yoann’s Thankgiving Day  Story  .. stay tuned .. and Relaxed 🙂 with the following Article on the Importance of Relaxation .. enjoy it with  a Smile from Yoann Freget .. a very nice photo with Yoann Freget .. totally relaxed in Montreal, Canada.. for a brief moment of “respiro” in nature ..  in full contact with Mother Earth:-))

Importance of Relaxation ?! Answer from Sahaja Yoga Meditation with a French Connection