00:00Hi, I'm Radhika Das and you're watching Life Minute TV.
00:04London-based mantra artist, author, and bhakti yoga teacher Radhika Das
00:09is bringing ancient mantra to modern audiences.
00:13Following the release of his EP Lightfall, he's now released the Heart album,
00:18a live collection featuring 17 performances recorded from around the world.
00:23We recently caught up with him to talk about his music, mindfulness, and the power of mantra.
00:35So the EP was a collection of songs, mantras, that was done in a spirit of trying to condense
00:41what was traditionally 45 minutes to one hour long into three-minute mantra sound bites, if you will.
00:50And the idea behind all of the tracks was to try and bring the essence, but in an accessible and
00:56relevant format to people who ordinarily wouldn't listen to spiritual music to try and bring that
01:01format to the masses. And yeah, I feel like he's done a beautiful job at doing that.
01:05The entire EP was produced by an incredible fellow called Ryan Hadlock.
01:09He felt very drawn to it. It was almost as though it was meant to be because he just got
01:13into Eastern
01:14spirituality. And so it was a real joy to work with him. He's a real virtuoso producer and someone that
01:19is incredibly talented. And I went along, as you do, with a dear friend called Kaylee Woods,
01:25and he was kind of like a backbone for me because this whole world is new to me. I can
01:30share spirituality.
01:31I feel that's one of my strengths, but to put it in recorded format, I felt that what really helped
01:36me
01:36was having a dear friend with me and someone that was able to just see my vision and help me
01:42to
01:42translate it into a musical format that people could beautifully appreciate.
01:55Hundreds, if not thousands of people attended the tour. It was really magical to see that the
02:00chanting of mantra has crossed boundaries. People who have never heard before, but have seen videos
02:06and thought, all right, let's give this a shot. And for me, it was really proof that people are looking
02:11for something to not just escape the modern world, but to connect to something higher.
02:18I see meditation and yoga as a means to steady the body and steady the mind. I think that what
02:26we are
02:26currently suffering from in the modern age is weapons of mass distraction. People are constantly being
02:33distracted by their fears, by their desires. The practices of yoga and meditation,
02:40study the mind, but see what mantra does and what bhakti is trying to do is go a step further.
02:46We're
02:46trying to move the mind towards a positive, a more loving, a more joyous connection. We have music
02:53for everything. Music connects us. It transforms our mind. We've got music when it comes to our workout.
02:59We've got a playlist when it comes to cooking. We've got a playlist when you're in love. But what about
03:06the
03:06playlist for the soul? This tradition of the Vedic, the Hindu, the Eastern, it also has a soundtrack and
03:13that's mantra. And that mantra is meant to bring you to a place of, yeah, joyful connection.
03:26I got into this whole thing after a breakup and I went on a spiritual retreat. I was attracted by
03:33a dear friend of mine. I remember just feeling very overwhelmed with how amazing it was and all of a
03:40sudden I get a text message on my phone saying it's over. And I came to the conclusion I can
03:44either go to
03:45my room and throw things around the room and get angry about it or I put the phone face down
03:50and
03:51I get stuck in with these people. And I remember by the end of that I just felt a cathartic
03:56release,
03:57yes, but a connection to something that made me feel like almost as though God was hugging me. I came
04:03back almost like a new person. And to end the story, the girlfriend got back with me. We're married.
04:09We've got two kids, a five-year-old and a beautiful three-year-old. And so everything worked out in
04:13the end
04:14and I guess I pin it all to that moment of taking a leap in the direction of God. We
04:21were meant for
04:21something more. We had the incredible ability to experience something above and beyond simply just
04:27eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. We had the ability to live a life less ordinary. And I think
04:32that what my message would be to the world is to try and find yourself a life less ordinary.
04:39For more of this interview, check out Life Minute on all streaming podcast platforms.
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