Julie Russell, RN,LRMT,CHt.,CC.
ICRT Senior Licensed Reiki Master Teacher
Integrative Medicine Practitioner
Founder of Reiki Verde Valley – Cottonwood, Arizona
ReikiVerdeValley.com
Featuring the Shruti Box — Instrument of the Month
A Personal Beginning: How Kirtan Found Me
About 20 years ago, I stumbled upon Kirtan. I didn’t fully understand it at the time.
There were chants, repetition, unfamiliar sounds and yet something in me recognized it immediately.
What I did understand was how it made me feel. My body softened. My mind, which could often feel busy or directive, began to quiet. There was a sense of being held, of not needing to figure anything out.
I began to use Kirtan in a very personal way. Not as a formal practice…
But as a form of self-Reiki and meditation. I would sit, listen, sometimes softly join in, and allow the repetition of sound to carry me inward. And something very clear began to happen.
I would feel:
• deeply calm
• internally organized
• and at the same time…
A gentle expansion, as if my energy was being invited to rise upward, not forced, not pushed but naturally lifted through sound and stillness. Looking back now, I can see, I wasn’t just listening to Kirtan, I was entering a state of coherence.
Reiki and the Opening of the Inner Voice
Reiki, in its essence, brings us into a state of:
• stillness
• receptivity
• deep inner listening
As this state stabilizes, something begins to happen naturally.
The voice softens.
The breath deepens.
Sound begins to arise—not from the mind, but from the body and the field itself.
This is the beginning of toning, of chanting, of Kirtan.
Not learned… Remembered
What is Kirtan in This Context?
Kirtan is traditionally a form of devotional chanting. It is repetition of sacred sounds or mantras. But within the Reiki field, Kirtan becomes something more, it becomes a carrier wave of coherence.
• The repetition calms the nervous system
• The vibration entrains the body into harmony
• The voice becomes a bridge between the physical and the subtle
There is no need to “sing well.” There is only the invitation to allow sound to move through you.
Why It Feels So Calming (and Expansive at the Same Time)
This is something many people notice right away. “How can I feel so relaxed, and so expanded at the same time?”
Because both are happening.
The calming:
• Repetition signals safety to the brain
• Breath and sound regulate the vagus nerve
• The body shifts into parasympathetic (rest-and-receive)
The expansion:
• Sound opens subtle energetic pathways
• The voice expresses what words cannot
• Awareness begins to move beyond the personal self
Reiki amplifies this.
It holds the field so that:
• the nervous system feels safe
• the energy body can open
• the voice can emerge without force
Instrument of the Month: The Shruti Box
This month, the sound that has been calling is the Shruti Box. A simple instrument…And yet profoundly powerful.
What is a Shruti Box?
A Shruti Box is a small, hand-pumped instrument that creates a continuous drone sound. It originates from Indian devotional traditions and is often used to support chanting, meditation, and Kirtan. It does not play melodies. It holds a steady tone, a foundation.
How It Works
• You gently pump the side bellows with one hand
• The box produces a sustained harmonic sound
• You can select notes (usually a chord or tonal base)
That’s it. No complexity. No performance. Just a continuous, grounding vibration.
Why It Pairs So Beautifully with Reiki
The Shruti Box does something subtle but profound:
It gives the body something to rest into.
• The constant tone stabilizes the mind
• It creates a sense of “home frequency”
• The voice naturally entrains to it
Within Reiki, this becomes even more powerful.
The Shruti Box becomes:
• a grounding field
• a vibrational anchor
• a support for the emergence of authentic sound
You don’t have to “find your voice.” Your voice finds itself.
A Simple Practice You Can Try
This is how I have been working with it this month:
1. Sit comfortably and connect to Reiki
2. Begin gently pumping the Shruti Box
3. Let the tone fill the space
4. Breathe… and listen
5. Allow a sound to arise—any sound
• a hum
• a vowel
• a simple chant
No structure needed.
Let the sound:
• move
• shift
• soften
• expand
Even 5–10 minutes can shift your entire state.
This is Not About Music
This is important.
This is not about:
• singing well
• knowing mantras
• performing
This is about:
• coherence
• expression
• allowing the inner field to speak
The Shruti Box simply holds the space, so you can meet yourself within it.
Closing Reflection
There is a place within each of us where sound and silence are not separate. Where the voice is not something we use but something we become aware of. Reiki opens that doorway. Kirtan allows it to move.
And the Shruti Box…Gently reminds us where “home” feels like in vibration
If you feel called, follow the sound. It already knows the way.
