Kirtan FAQ
Everything You Need to Know…
To Attend a Kirtan Concert, Book a Live Kirtan Band for your Event, or Host a Kirtan Party for Family and Friends
What is a Kirtan Party?
An opportunity to gather your friends and family and provide a live, interactive and totally inspiring music experience for them.
Is this appropriate for kirtan beginners?
Oh yes, the only pre-requisite is that you can breath. The band carries the music part so no one has to feel any pressure about doing it “right.”
Is kirtan difficult?
It’s only difficult if you try not to sing 
. Repetitions of mantras are a’plenty, so you never have to worry that you’re not going to get it. Everyone catches on and everyone sings.
Can you dance to live kirtan music?
Oh yes, here’s a kirtan dance recording from someone’s iPhone that you can catch the vibe. And a video that will make you dance!
Can a kirtan be used as a way to mark a sacred event?
Yes, kirtan (interactive or performed without audience participation) fits beautifully such as a wedding, house warming or other life transition that deserves some extra special attention.
Can you bring a kirtan band to my festival?
Yes, send any requests to beth at bethmartens.com.
How much do I have to invest in a kirtan party?
A rough guideline is 15 people at $15 per person, for solo kirtan leader, Beth Martens to guide kirtan for one hour. Want to get the band, as many as 7 additional and fantastic players with two drummers? Then we’ll talk!
How much space do I need to host a kirtan party?
Your living room is fine, a big living room if you want a whole band.
Is kirtan a religious practice?
No, but it is a highly charged spiritual experience that is joyful, infectious and whose effects are transformative.
Can there be children at a kirtan party?
Yes, depending on how deep a focus you are hoping for. A general guideline is your own comfort zone. And if you really want to get down and fully focussed, get a babysitter, or have one in the zone so kids can be entertained elsewhere if need be. Little ones are known for their ecstatic nature and can try and command the attention – that effect may or may not be what you hope for.
Do people drink alcohol at a kirtan party?
Because of the focussed nature of kirtan chanting, keeping alcohol to a casual and social level is recommended, but there are no rules!
Where can I listen to your music?
You can get my CD’s on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby and nearly any other online music source these days. Please visit my online store to get copies of my three titles (with one more to follow): www.bethmartens.com/onlinestore
Do you have any videos of kirtan?
Please visit Youtube for a really fun video of Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu (may all beings be peaceful).
Kirtan concert at St. Norbert Arts Centre
What dates/times are you available?
Check my online schedule at this link.
What if I can’t find a date on your schedule that works for me?
Call me at 204-775-1100 and we’ll talk!
What language are mantras in?
Most times in Sanskrit, some are Hindi and many in English as well! Meanings are explained so people actually know what they are singing.
Is kirtan the same as yoga?
Yes, kirtan is a form of yoga – yoga through the repetition of mantras, meditation and joy.
What is the origin of kirtan?
Kirtan was born in the 15th century of India and has grown up around the last two decades in which yoga has become popular. Read this “Enchanting Mantras” article on kirtan and Beth Martens’ music that was published in the Winnipeg Free Press, written by regular kirtan singer/journalist, Carolin Vesely.
How do I know if my friends and family are going to enjoy this if they’ve never heard it before?
1. Send them to iTunes to sample all the songs that are recorded.
www.itunes.com/bethmartens
2. Share this video of Two Foot Take Off to give them the vibe!
Is kirtan very serious and heavy?
Not even close, the purpose of doing it is to be happy and joyful.
What is the purpose of doing kirtan?
Joy, focus, community connection, supporting each other around healthy lifestyles.
How do I book you?
Email: yoga at bethmartens.com
Phone: 204-775-1100
Background/bio: www.bethmartens.com
Chanting Live Kirtan Music is Growing in Winnipeg and Donating Yoga to School Children
Live Kirtan Is Coming To Moshka Yoga Winnipeg
Breaking news is in! Moksha Yoga Winnipeg is going to host a regular live kirtan concert every second Saturday in their Winnipeg, Donald Street location where I have been playing for their live music (hot!) yoga classes.
All the dates are….
Now in addition to using Hollow Reed Holistic as a kirtan hub, now Moksha will be giving kirtan in Winnipeg it’s next big injection of kickass energy and righteous vibes, amen.
Personally speaking, I have always avoided the big and popular thing, which Moksha Yoga has been in Winnipeg since it took off some years not that far back. Now they are nearly three locations strong, international and inspiring others to branch out.
But I’ve completely changed my mind and decided that if I got completely assimilated by Moksha Yoga, I’m o.k. with that, what a force, I can dig it!
I love meeting people that can take a huge risk in the service of others’ well-being and allowing their life to turn into the chaotic scene that running any business is, and the joy and bliss of sacred practices that are bringing this community alive, as are every great studio in this city.
I am loving the vibe of so many people in Winnipeg these days and feel like a thin veil of separation or disconnect has fallen, and there’s a growing inclination towards community.
That’s why it’s so important for us to actually get together….oh my Goddess: and in my opinion, sing, chant our brains out to beautiful sanskrit mantras that have become extremely powerful over sometimes thousands of years repetition. We do have the power as a species for peace, but we do not yet have the intelligence or soul… the soul is rather damaged, disconnected, neglected, abandoned, sloughed off and in need of care.
Kirtan is a great way to care for yourself, because you give yourself joy, a chance to chant and get the invisible joy that is in you, to manifest into awesome glory.
This is a concert event, but fully interactive, from beginning to end you are engaged in the process of creating a completely spontaneous eruption, driven I swear by the mantras and the bliss alone. I swear I’ve never been happier than singing kirtan, and surprisingly more so each time.
Musicians are coming forward one by one like kirtan soldiers showing up for their service,,,hmm wierd analogy, breakdown…getting late, happy for blogs, even though I have yet to alert a single person to the existence of this blog and the 65 million other things that I will eventually catch up with, or it will catch up with me and sit me down for a quiet tea.
The kirtan end, the kirtan beginning and the kirtan becoming…all one.
Kind love and
