Community members are invited to join Healthy Acadia on Thursday, Aug. 4 from 5-6 p.m., via Zoom for “The Yoga of Sound,” with special guest Sri Devi Melissa Urey. The free online event is the latest installment in Healthy Acadia’s Monthly Mindfulness series.
The Yoga of Sound will bring a deeper understanding to the benefits of using mantra as a healing and meditation practice. Participants will explore:
- The difference between a mantra and an affirmation
- How the healing vibrations of sound work
- The benefits of using mantra to anchor a meditation practice
- An introduction to the chakras and how they work in our mind/body/spirit connection
- The beej mantras (seed sounds for each chakra) which help to create balance
- How to integrate these things into a meditation practice
“My goal is to have you leave the class with some basic tools to incorporate into any yoga or meditation practice and bring greater peace into your life,” said instructor Sri Devi Melissa Urey, Usui/Holy Fire ART Reiki Master and Sound Healer, RYT- 500; Sanskrit and Mantra Teacher; and Meditation Guide.
Pre-registration is required for this free event. The one-hour session will be offered virtually via Zoom. To register and receive the Zoom link, go to bit.ly/yoga-of-sound.
Sri Devi Melissa has forever been drawn to the union of mind and body in the present moment and the learning that can take place there. Coming from a background in theater and dance, she began sharing this as an important life skill with children of all ages through those mediums.
Finding yoga while in recovery from surgery, she realized that everything she loved most about teaching theater, she could share even more deeply through yoga. She completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher training with Aiyana Athenian and Krishna Perry at the ShivaShakti School of Yoga in 2016 and her 500-hour Yoga Teacher Training in 2018. She has completed specialty training in Yoga Nidra, Pranayama and Meditation and Children’s Yoga with ShivaShakti and Restorative Yoga training with Margo Rosingana.
A great lover of Sanskrit and Yogic Philosophy, and mantra she currently studies with Sri Vidya Ramananthan (Samskrita Bharati), Shantala Sriramaiah (Veda Studies) and Prem Sadasivananda from whom she received her spiritual name Sri Devi in 2017. A lifelong student of energy work, she began an ongoing mentorship for her own healing in 1998 with Ellen Landress-Bowkett in NYC and more recently with Mind-Body Therapist Denise Jasmine in Brunswick, ME. Through studies with the International Center for Reiki Training (ICRT) and Melissa Rose Redman she acquired her Usui/Holy Fire ART Reiki Master certification in May 2019.
Most recently she has discovered a passion for the healing benefits of sound. Incorporating various types of singing bowls and other sound healing tools in her healing sessions has deepened her understanding about how sound can reach places words cannot. Rekindling a long lost love with the harmonium she currently shares kirtan whenever she can, as well as leading two weekly chanting circles.
Sri Devi lives in Portland, ME where she enjoys writing, walking in the forest, birdwatching and putting her feet in really cold water. For more information please visit www.melissaurey.com.
For additional information about this and future mindfulness events in the series or additional programs focused on building skills that promote mindful living, contact Ursula Hanson at [email protected].
Healthy Acadia is a 501(C)(3) community health organization building vibrant communities and making it easier for all people to lead healthy lives throughout Washington and Hancock counties. For more information about Healthy Acadia’s health and wellness programs and services, visit healthyacadia.org.
