In today’s episode, we journey into the sacred sound traditions of mantra and kirtan — two ancient practices that use the voice as a vehicle for healing, devotion, and transformation.

Mantra — from the Sanskrit roots “man” (to think) and “tra” (to liberate) — means “a tool of the mind that leads to freedom.” It’s the rhythmic repetition of sacred sound or vibration to calm the mind and awaken consciousness.

Kirtan, on the other hand, is the call-and-response chanting of mantras, often accompanied by music. It’s communal, heart-opening, and designed to dissolve separation — bringing us into union through sound.

To help us explore these profound sound medicines, I’m joined by Carmella Baynie — a renowned musician, kirtan leader, and teacher of mantra and sound healing. Through her decades of study in classical Indian music, yoga, and the voice as a spiritual instrument, Carmella has guided many on the path of awakening through sound.

Carmella will share her insights on how using the voice can help us process emotional pain, reclaim confidence, and rediscover joy in self-expression. And for those new to chanting, she offers gentle ways to begin this practice at home — without needing to “sound perfect” or know the meaning of every word.

So take a breath, soften your heart, and listen deeply — because as Carmella reminds us, when we touch sound, we touch creation.Links

Instagram: www.instagram.com/carmella_baynie?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/3zdw8PQMG9SGHdT1vR8cVS?si=Ujd1c7HCTwa0pQ_hXA-lPA&nd=1&dlsi=dd44763bed554574

Website: https://www.voiceconnectionsforlife.com.au/

In this episode of Toxic Silence, we’re exploring the body’s most ancient language — the quiet gestures, shapes, and postures through which emotion speaks when words fall away.

So many of us carry the residue of unspoken experience — the tension in a jaw that never got to shout, the collapsed chest of someone who learned to stay small, the throat that still fears being heard. Our bodies remember what our minds try to forget.

Healing doesn’t always require effort — sometimes it begins in stillness. A simple gesture, a soft breath, the willingness to bring awareness to the places we’ve abandoned.

The body is always whispering, always trying to find its way back to flow. A blocked channel, a held muscle, a forgotten inhale — all of it waiting for our presence, for the small acts of devotion that say: I’m here now. You can soften.

When we shape our hands into a Mudra, when we sit and breathe into a posture, we’re not forcing anything open. We’re creating space — a quiet invitation for energy to circulate again, for emotion to move, for life to return to the places that have gone numb.

This is the essence of Kriya, of Mudra, of movement as medicine: the understanding that the divine is not something we must reach for, but something we remember through the body.

My guest today is Rachel Zinman, an internationally renowned yoga teacher, author, and musician based in Byron Bay. With over 35 years of teaching experience, she shares the wisdom of Yoga and Self Knowledge through the Sundaram Online Ashram, which she co-founded with her partner and Vedanta master, John Weddepohl. Rachel’s love of mudras — sacred gestures that restore balance and calm — infuses her work with depth, stillness, and grace. Through her classes, writing, and music, she guides others to experience yoga as a living path toward harmony and awareness.

instagram.com/rachelyogi

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RachelZinmanYoga

Website: https://rachelzinmanyoga.com/

Toxic Silence Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1UsNwZQP74SbTAsin5aXr9?si=8N7qlTIgTGSKhHBDrIoGtg

Today we’re exploring something that lives beneath language… beneath thought… even beneath emotion.

It’s the body’s own rhythm of release — a trembling, shaking, quivering movement that we’ve long been taught to suppress.

It's something called it TRE — Trauma and Tension Release Exercises — a simple but profound practice that invites the body to remember how to let go.

When animals experience threat, they shake.
After the chase, after the freeze, their bodies tremor — releasing the charge of survival. And then, just like that, they return to grazing. Calm. Present. Reset.
Humans, on the other hand, have learned to override this natural wisdom. We hold it all in. We stay composed, controlled, contained.
We call it resilience — but really, it’s often just endurance.

Over time, this unspent tension builds up — in our muscles, our fascia, our breath, our sleep, our relationships.
It becomes the silent language of the body — tightness, anxiety, inflammation, burnout.
Our systems are still trying to complete a story that never had an ending.

TRE is a way to finish that story.

My guest today, TRE and Reiki Therapist Gabriel Kaszab. Gabriel is a TRE® (Tension & Trauma Release Exercises) and Reiki practitioner based in Brisbane. He guides people in reconnecting with their body’s innate wisdom through tremor, touch, and presence — helping the nervous system unwind stored tension and return to calm. His work bridges science and energy, offering a grounded, compassionate path to regulation and resilience.

Links:

Website: https://www.gabrielkaszab.com/

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/gabriel_kaszab