news briefs
Registration Opens for Jean McClelland’s ‘Awakening Your True Voice’ Jean McClelland will teach Awakening Your True Voice: Health and Vitality through Better Breathing, live on Zoom on six consecutive Mondays, November 1 through December 7, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., at The Open Center. Anyone interested in learning more about the course can attend a free intro session on October 24 at 6 p.m. “There is no greater joy than to use our voices in a way that is powerful, spontaneous and fully expressive,” McClelland says. “Developing a physical understanding of voice and breath support helps us release inhibiting vocal and physical tension to become more musical singers and more engaging speakers.” In her course, students discover a voice that is spontaneous and free while strengthening their breathing, body and voice through the integration of the Alexander Technique with Carl Stough’s Principles of Breathing Coordination. “This virtual course creates a supportive environment in which self-consciousness dissolves and your true voice emerges,” she says. “Singing of easy folk
songs and spirituals and spoken text will help you experience the joy of self-expression.” There is no vocal experience necessary to enroll in Awakening Your True Voice. In fact, McClelland calls it “the perfect course for those who have been told they cannot sing or who have lost their joy of singing or who experience vocal fatigue, tension, hoarseness or who suffer from conditions such as spasmodic dysphonia," she says. "It’s also beneficial for those with breathing problems and conditions such as asthma, shortness of breath, COPD or sleep apnea." For registration and information, visit JeanMcClellandVoice.com. See ad, page 31.
Deluxe Edition of Autobiography of a Yogi Coming in October This year marks the 75th anniversary of Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, and to celebrate it, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), the spiritual organization founded by Yogananda, will issue a deluxe edition of the book in October. With several million copies in print and having been translated into more than 50 languages, Autobiography made HarperCollins’ list of “100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century.” Yogananda, who is widely recognized as playing a major, if not the primary role in introducing the science of yoga to the West, writes of his search for a guru, his ten years of training with his master Sri Yukteswar, and his 30 years in America where he established SRF on a stretch of Los Angeles beach. He shares stories of many encounters with spiritual masters including Mahatma Gandhi and the Catholic stigmatic Therese Neumann.
Says Lauren Landress, SRF’s director of public affairs: “The book also provides clear, scientific explanation of the subtle but definite laws by which yogis perform miracles and attain self-mastery.” According to Walter Isaacson’s biography of Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs, Jobs first read Autobiography as a teenager, and at some point forward, then read the book every year. Autobiography was given to everyone who attended Jobs’ memorial service. Also, famously, the four gurus of kriya yoga, including Yogananda, are featured on the cover of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. For more information visit Yogananda.org. See ad, page 33. September 2021 | News Briefs
9
