Seán Johnson: Press/Reviews

Yoga Journal:

"When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, studio owner and kirtan singer Sean Johnson left his hometown to go on tour with his band. In between performances, the group set to work on writing new material that blended Big Easy jazz with Sanskrit chants. The resulting studio album represents the band's emotional grieving for its city and hopefulness for its renaissance.

In this acoustically based album, Johnson, his brother and guitarist Matt Johnson, percussionist Gwendolyn Colman, and jazz bassist Alvin Young aims to capture the spirit of the devastated city. Tenor sax and guitar fuse beautifully with the Indian harmonium and tamboura, Middle Eastern dumbek and udu, and Laten castanets. Many of the tracks are improvised recordings, giving each song a life of its own.

This organic energy is evident throughout the album, especially with "Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu," in which the opening guitar riff precedes a soulful saxophone accompanying the mantra for happiness and freedom to all. The funky rhythms and vocals in "Om Shakti" exuding the power of the divine feminine, are paired with a rapped chant of the "Durga Chalisa,' a Hindu prayer honoring Durga, the lion-riding warrior goddess.

Calling The Spirits delivers the spicy sounds of the bayou with devotion. For that reason, the album is a joy to listen to whether you're a yogi, a jazz connoisseur, or anyone who appreciates wildly creative music."

LA Yoga Magazine:

Rocking The Lotus
Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band return to L.A.
September 21-23

"I never miss an opportunity to sing or practice when Sean Johnson and The Wild Lotus Band come to Southern California. Framing their appearance at the Global Mala Project, the band played evening gigs at Exhale in Venice and the Santa Barbara Yoga Center while also cramming onto the stage at Exhale to accompany Saul David Raye's soulful asana practice. The lotuses bring a new groove to kirtan, reminiscent of smoky jazz but with a transcendent ring...or maybe that's just Matt's saxophone licks. In warrior pose, there's nothing more satisfying than feeling the reverberations, the vibrations, in my very bones as I practice; it is beyond compare. Gwendolyn's frame drum and other creative percussive actions create a beat while Sean and bassist Alvin provide melody and rhythm. Their Friday evening kirtan maade a bhakti out of my visiting jnana yogi houseguest, and the Sunday morning practice brought tears of joy to both of our eyes. Om Shanti...until next time."

New Orleans Gambit Weekly
2008 40 Under 40 Feature

The New Orleans area is teeming with remarkable young adults who excel in a multitude of areas, including education, athletics, community development, business, technology, entertainment and more. Every year (with the exception of an interruption by Hurricane Katrina in 2005), Gambit Weekly honors 40 people under the age of 40 for contributions they have made to our area and the potential they show for making their community a better place. The 10th annual '40 Under 40" issue is evidence that personal and professional success and exceptional works can be realized at an early age through innovative thinking and inspired actions.

Sean Johnson, 36
Founder, Wild Lotus Yoga Sanctuary and Wild Lotus Band

As a New Orleans native, Sean Johnson surely knows the meaning of the word soul. Johnson, founder of Wild Lotus Yoga Sanctuary Uptown, loves the strong sense of ritual and tradition that permeates the city and its history.

While attending college in Washington state, Johnson studied comparative spiritual traditions and fell in love with a new practice: yoga.

'I loved it so much that I wanted to continue to study yoga and eastern spirituality (after college), [so] I found a graduate program in Oakland, Calif., where I could do that," he says. 'I got into chanting and music in addition to yoga practice there, and I just felt inspired to come back home and share what I learned."

Johnson moved back to New Orleans in 1999 and began teaching yoga. He opened the Wild Lotus Yoga Sanctuary shortly thereafter. He also tours with his Wild Lotus Band, teaching mantra music and meditation nationwide.

'One of the things I really love is the interplay between the sense of history and romance of New Orleans and the spirit of the water and the land, and the way that plays and dances with yoga," Johnson says. 'Having a yoga studio here in New Orleans you get the best of both worlds, this laid-back kind of swamp energy in the land and the water here " there's a real soulfulness to it " and yoga, that's really about waking up the spirit. [It] creates a way for the soul and the spirit to be at play with each other."

Johnson's future plans include opening a yoga studio downtown in conjunction with other healers, artists, engineers and architects working on an alternative healing center for underprivileged residents in the Eighth and Ninth wards who are suffering post-traumatic stress and other health problems. "

Yoga Chicago Magazine

Post-apocalyptic Yoga in New Orleans
By Carla Douros

I love New Orleans. And Jazz Fest has always been an especially favorite time for me to be there: good music, good food and good people. So my ears perked up at the idea of going to Jazz Fest this year, especially when my friend and I decided to do a week of service in between the festivities. The mix felt right--great fun and karma yoga. Armed with breathing masks, excellent spirits and yoga mats, we ventured into the unknown. Post-apocalyptic N’awlins.

I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive. I hadn’t been back to NOLA (New Orleans, LA) since Katrina, and I didn’t know what to expect. Was the city healing its physical scars? What about the spiritual and emotional wounds? Would it ever recover? What about the yoga community in the city? Was it alive and well? I needed to see for myself how the recovery was progressing. However, the more I saw and the more people I spoke with, the more complicated the situation seemed.

I am still processing what I experienced in NOLA; it was both inspiring and heartbreaking. The spirit of hope was astonishing; the boarded up homes and people living in FEMA trailers were painful. How could this situation have happened in the first place? And how could it not be resolved two years later?

On Friday of the second weekend of Jazz Fest there was a flash storm spilling as much as five inches of rain on the New Orleans area. Streets flooded, power outages left thousands without electricity and cars were swamped as the storm water pumping system failed yet again. But Jazz Fest seemed to take it all in stride. The fairgrounds were cleaned up, with cardboard and sawdust covering the most flooded areas. The musicians performed under umbrellas with smiles on their faces. Many of the artists found time to work with Habitat for Humanity or to raise money for displaced musicians and schools. Harry Connick Jr., Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones, Joss Stone and others volunteered to help with the city’s recovery. “New Orleans is an important part of our culture as Americans,” explained John Legend to a local paper as he washed clothes as part of a free mobile laundry service for families still living in FEMA trailers in St. Bernard Parish.

The spirit of the people at Jazz Fest following the storm was remarkable. Everyone seemed to be even more polite and helpful. Amazing. I began to ask questions; the answers helped me (and, I hope, others) understand the love that people in New Orleans have for their city, how yoga saw them through the hard times and what they believe the future may hold in store.

The first person I interviewed was Sean Johnson, founder of Wild Lotus Yoga and a renowned musician. Sean was born and raised in New Orleans and is a pillar of the yoga community. Here he describes his studio post-Katrina.

Sean: “Wild Lotus is not just a building where yoga classes are held; it’s a sanctuary where people gather to kindle peace and stoke their spirits. To be a sanctuary was our original intention, but Katrina gave that a whole new meaning.

“We were the first yoga studio to reopen after the storm. Much of the city still did not have electricity. None of the traffic lights worked. There was debris everywhere. Lots of abandoned cars. The city was a refrigerator graveyard, as everyone put their rotted refrigerators out on the sidewalk. There were very few children in New Orleans at that time and very few elderly people. Most of the street traffic consisted of out-of-state contractors. Few restaurants and grocery stores were open. There was a curfew in place at night. It was a bizarre time. As you can imagine, people were incredibly grateful to come to the studio and practice yoga. Lots of tears and lots of joy. We all know that yoga is therapeutic, and we know the importance of satsang, but this added a whole new meaning to those [concepts]. The studio was a place to grieve, to process what had happened kinesthetically, to reunite with old friends, to reconnect with some semblance of normalcy, to pray, to breathe, to find refuge at a chaotic time. We also had a population of relief workers who came to class.

“So many New Orleanians lost the things they relied on for stability in their daily lives--family, loved ones, homes, jobs, a sense of normalcy--and turned to yoga for sustenance. The devastating experience of the storm amplified the spiritual and therapeutic benefits of yoga for all of us. I believe the storm also awakened us to the preciousness of life and invited us to pay more attention to what we really value, to how we devote our energy and to the gifts and blessings of life we shouldn’t ever take for granted. While the population of New Orleans has been cut in half, the enrollment at Wild Lotus has mushroomed. We have more students now than we did before the storm, including many beginners. Many people have told us they don’t know how they would have survived mentally and emotionally over the past two years without yoga and the presence of the studio.”

I told him I was touched by the fleur de lis banners of rebirth and renewal that were flying throughout the city. I asked him if he felt that reflected the general spirit of the residents.

Sean: “People who live in New Orleans have a real love affair with the city. I use that expression intentionally because we know that a love affair is not always pie in the sky. There are highs and lows. There is great passion. And with that passion comes great fondness and affection for the city, as well as frustration with its dysfunctions. There is no other place like it. There are many reasons to love New Orleans. It has a culture all its own. If you look at the elements that really define a distinct culture, we have many of them: our own music, cuisine, holidays, accent, architecture, a unique history, rituals. Much of the United States and its acres of strip malls feel sterile compared to New Orleans. New Orleans has contrast, paradox. The dark and the light dance vivaciously, which makes it a fascinating and romantic place to live. New Orleans is lush, ghostly, humid, sexy, heavy, laid-back, decadent, traditional. Yes, all over the city you see fleur de lis emblems. The fleur de lis can be likened to the lotus as a symbol of renewal and healing. People are flying fleur de lis banners and flags from their homes and businesses, putting stickers on their cars; it’s also one of the most popular tattoos in New Orleans.

“I love having a yoga studio here. I think sometimes those of us who are spiritual seekers start to take ourselves too seriously and we dry up. There can be an unbalanced focus on moving awareness into the upper chakras and sometimes a tendency to lose touch with our soulfulness. New Orleans keeps our being fertile and wet, allowing the soul and the spirit to be at play with each other. There is a primal energy here, wild and humble, that lives in the water, in the mud, in the bayou and the swamp. The metaphor of the wild lotus growing out of the mud is so relevant here. That’s one of the reasons why I named my yoga studio Wild Lotus.”

I told him I had a vision of the worldwide yoga community coming together to support one another in times of crisis. I asked whether he had had any support from the yoga community.

Sean: “The yoga community was incredibly supportive of us in the aftermath of Katrina. A week after the storm, when it became clear that we would not be able to return home anytime soon, I decided to embark on a cross-country kirtan tour, raising funds for Habitat for Humanity, which is rebuilding many homes in the poorer ‘n’hoods’ of New Orleans. I also wanted to help my parents, whose home was damaged and who had lost their business in the storm. Within a couple of weeks, we had received invitations from yoga studios all over the country--people I had never met before. On the East Coast leg of the tour I traveled with my wife, our dog, Lance, my brother Matt, who plays sax and guitar, and our drummer; so many people opened their homes to us and their pocketbooks to the cause. It was incredible and very humbling. An amazing blessing. I received many E-mails from studios that wanted to help. There have also been a couple of groups of yogis from around the country who have organized karma yoga retreats to New Orleans to do service and practice yoga. I worked closely with one group last July and am assisting another coming to work with Habitat for Humanity in the fall. We are still doing some fundraising concerts around the country for various causes in post-Katrina New Orleans.”

Yoga Chicago Magazine:

"Sean Johnson’s kirtan will ignite the world! Starting on slow simmer, Calling The Spirits is a jazzy hybrid of East and West that will bring joy to your heart and get your body boogieing! New Orleans is home for this band, and there’s something in the arrangements and in the horns that brings to mind the old-time Cajun mix of high culture and deep roots.

I hear the influence of Sean’s teacher, Russill Paul, who taught Sean raga and harmonics, particularly in the title track. With deep reverence for mantra and melody, the Wild Lotus Band does its magic, creating a stew of shimmering world music. Sean’s voice is sublime beyond belief. I adore Gwendolyn Coleman’s vocals, and her Middle Eastern percussion skills are fabulous. The horns add a bit of Eastern European flavor.

The cover art is a dreamy feast for the eyes–Hanuman on harmonium, Krishna on sax and Ganesh on bass, while the Devi keeps it all together in time. It’s highly recommended for all chant fans, yogis and music lovers alike. Calling The Spirits will ground you, while at the same time allow your wings to emerge and fly--a true spiritual phenomena."

Aura Magazine:

"Calling the Spirits is destined to become one of the most well regarded recordings in the world of chant music. Each arrangement is unique and inspiring from the smooth saxophone on Jai Ma to the danceable beat of Om Shakti. Sean Johnson's vocals are impeccable. Gwendolyn Colman backs him up strongly, adding a balancing feminine component. Colman also contributes percussion and her skill on a variety of exotic instruments. She is joined by other talented guest musicians, resulting in a colorful and well integrated sound.

Though chant music is a fairly recent genre in our musical culture, it has a longstanding history. In fact, highlighting sacred words with beautiful melodies is a tradition that spans at least a thousand years. This tradition is now being transformed by time and place. Western artists performing kirtan today bring their varied cultural experiences to the melodies they choose.

Johnson's music is infused with a subtle flavor of his native city, New Orleans. This recording is also a reflection of his attempt to bring light and hope back to his beloved city after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina."

Music Design:

Sean Johnson & the Wild Lotus Band are a New Orleans-based collective that offer a unique twist on classic kirtan chant. Acoustic guitar, bluesy rhythms, lots of clap-style percussion... the band takes the essence of the bayou and merges it with Indian spiritual music for a sound that bubbles with soul and unbridled passion. Johnson provides lead vocals on the album, and his voice has a low, smooth quality that melds well with the earthy, acoustic-based backdrops. Their take on the perennial "Om Namah Shivaya" is fresh and original, with a light jazz sound and joyous singing that captivates. The same could be said for another favorite "Govinda Gopala," which makes great use of Kristen Jensen's violin to provide an upbeat yet tender melody. Johnson and his band perform regularly at yoga studios around the country and have frequently put on benefit concerts to help rebuilding efforts in their New Orleans home.

LA Yoga Magazine:

Dedicated to the creativity deity Saraswati, New Orleans-based Sean Johnson & the Wild Lotus Band has some serious energy flowing in every chant in Calling the Spirits. The musical attack is modest and skillful, primarily featuring Matt Johnson on an acoustic guitar with Sean chanting the lead while harmonizing a harmonium drone. The Wild Lotus Band features light violin accompaniment performed by Kristen Jensen, tasty fretless bass lines by Alvin Young, as well as cello tracks by Ludmila Konstantinova, tamboura drones by Dean Klopsis and excellent and skillful percussion contributed by Gwendolyn Colman. The chants here are extremely gentle and easy to listen to. Sean knows his way around a variety of chord structures to keep each piece engaging and musically unique. On the traditional “Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu,” Matt throws in some soft sax licks to keep the mood sensual. I enjoyed the choice of using mostly frame drum rhythms to give the group’s sound a distinctive Middle Eastern influence not often heard on Sanskrit chant albums. There are a lot of other Middle Eastern instruments used here such as the dumbek and the udu –– which are nicely complemented by Sean’s harmonium and Matt’s guitar. All the compositions on Calling the Spirits are well worth listening to and using for any yoga class situation--there is plenty of sweetness and devotion here. Reprinted with the permission of LA Yoga Ayurveda and Health www.LAYogaMagazine.com © Goodman Media Group 2007

The Fresno Bee:

Yoga studio hosts kirtan concert

By Don Mayhew

Part of the reason music fans pay good money to see a concert is for the opportunity to sing along to their favorite hits. Opening up the ol' vocal cords with a group of like-minded people can be an uplifting experience.
Seán Johnson, who will perform a kirtan concert at Coil Yoga in downtown Fresno on Tuesday night, enjoys tapping into that impulse -- even if the audience is unfamiliar with his music and what's being sung isn't words, per se.

The music will remind some of a Grateful Dead concert, others of a Sunday morning in a Southern Baptist church. People who enjoy house music will be familiar with the way the long, flowing jams wind through the room.

"Kirtan has been called the gospel music of India," the New Orleans harmonium player says. "It's got that flavor to it. It's devotional music."

But he's quick to add that he draws from multiple cultures and religions: Irish, Indian, Catholic, Buddhist and Muslim. He does his best to present it in an ecumenical, inclusive way.

"It's really important to me to explain it in a very accessible way, so that it doesn't seem like this exotic, esoteric thing that comes from another planet," Johnson says. "In our culture, we're a very visual culture. We don't pay too much attention to sound.

"We know that music moves us. We know that songs mark different places in our life. We find an emotional connection to music and songs. But we don't pay that much attention to how sound can change our consciousness."

Johnson says kirtan is not so much about performance: "It's about all of us bringing our voices together and waking each other up."

Since the goals of yoga also are about connection, kirtan is closely associated with that practice. The songs during Johnson's appearances often last 15 minutes or more, with the audience chanting in call-and-response patterns. The voices don't tell a narrative but are used as instrumentation.

Few in the audience actually practice yoga during kirtan shows, even though they typically happen at studios. More often, Johnson says, people chant along with their eyes shut, get up and dance or just sit and listen.

"Sometimes we play softer, more lullaby-type of stuff, and people will actually lie down," he says. "It's quite sweet. You can't go to your local music club and lie down on the floor. You wouldn't want to."

Johnson is excited about the way his music is evolving. His next album won't have any songs longer than seven minutes (which is short by kirtan standards), and it includes a small dose of hip-hop.

"We're blending the sounds that we heard growing up, particularly here in New Orleans, so that it's authentic for us," he says. "What we're trying to do is balance being respectful of the tradition that this comes from, but also being innovative and creative and keeping it alive."

The reporter can be reached at dmayhew@

Fit Yoga Magazine:

Day In The Life Feature
by Tess Ghilaga

Sean Johnson
This yoga teacher and kirtan leader offers his gifts to the re-blossoming city of New Orleans...

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans continues its inspiring journey of renewal. For the bord-and-bred Big Easy native Sean Johnson, his Wild Lotus Yoga studio has been a vital part of the healing process. Located in the historic uptown district, the acclaimed studio was the first one to reopen its doors in Katrina's aftermath. Sustaining only minor wind damage, Wild Lotus was ready to serve as a peaceful sanctuary to the beleagured community.

"The devastating experience of the storm amplified the spiritual and therapeutic benefits of yoga for all of us," says the 35-year=old.

Johnson returned home after completing undergraduate and graduate studies of world spiritual traditions, including an apprenticeship in South Indian vocal music with musician Russill Paul. "I have sung since I was a child," Johnson says. "Kirtan, the practice of call and response chanting, is my favorite yoga practice."

SInce music has such deep historic roots in New Orleans, it's no surprise Johnson's kirtans have a Cajun spice to them. You'll hear inflections of hip-hop, Indian, flamenco, and Irish rhythms and melodies. "I feel most free when I'm chanting, leading kirtan." says Johnson.

The talented singer acts like a beacon for Bhakti yoga. While temporarily displaced by last year's hurricane, for example, Johnson and The Wild Lotus Band toured yoga studios throughout the country, performing over 30 kirtan concerts. The band raised money for Habitat for Humanity, which is helping to rebuild New Orleans, and for Johnson's parents, who lost their home and business in the storm.

Johnson's music and teachings pay homage to the ancient lineage but also serve as a breathing art form. "I feel the chemistry between reverence for tradition and creative innovation is what has enabled yoga to survive and flourish in different cultures." he says. Johnson also lends his velvet voice to Alive Yoga for audio-casts of his classes (www.aliveyoga.com).

Nocturnal by nature, Johnson comes to life in the evening hours, teaching and leading devotees in his beloved kirtan well into the night. Although New Orleans' population has been cut in half, enrollment at Wild Lotus has mushroomed, attracting many area relief workers and beginning students. From vigorous vinyasa to soothing Serenity Yoga classes, the studio has been a positive resource amid the grueling reconstruction of New Orleans.

"I love my hometown, " Johnson says. "It's soulful and romantic and full of paradoxes that stir the imagination."

LA Yoga Magazine:

December 1, 2006
by Felicia M. Tomasko

FIFTY CANDLES ILLUMINATED THE LARGE PRACTICE ROOM AT THE SANTA BARBARA YOGA CENTER. SEAN JOHNSON AND THE WILD LOTUS BAND ROCKED THE HOUSE AND CROONED A FINAL LULLABY TO A GROUP OF KIRTAN (TRADITIONAL CALL-AND-RESPONSE) DEVOTEES.

Johnson and band returned to California one year after their series of benefit concerts, raising money for rebuiding their hometown New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Johnson sported a t-shirt labeled "RENEWORLEANS", a sentiment he expresses when he talks about progress.

"We breathed a collective sigh of relief come October, after this year's hurricane season had passed." This marked an opportunity to continue rebuilding. Rebuilding efforts depend on the part of town affected, Johnson said. But his yoga studio, Wild Lotus Yoga, has filled to capacity, with beginners seeking yoga practice as a way of reclaiming self.

In the yoga tradition, internal reconstruction also comes from chanting, which the Wild Lotuses provided. "In Faith I Fall," a track on their upcoming album, beautifully expressed faith through music. Other invocations, including ones to Hanuman and the Divine Mother, incorporated influences both Western and Eastern through Matt's saxophone solos and Sean's Sanskrit rhythmic scat.

While in Southern California Johnson and band (saxophonist Matt Johnson, percussionist Gwendolyn Colman, and bassist Alvin Young) provided the kirtan groove at Liberation Yoga, Exhale, Santa Barbara Yoga Center, and for one of Saul David Raye's classes at Exhale, delivering a message of hope through song.

Yoga Journal:

October 1, 2006

YOGA TOUR NEW ORLEANS
The Big Easy rebuilds one breath at a time.

"One year after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc throughout New Orleans, the city's yoga studios are in a remarkable state of recovery, with many teachers reporting an increase in student attendance since the storm. A few practitioners have left the city for good, but those who stayed have repaired roofs and are turning up in a growing number of stress-relief asana classes.

Wild Lotus Yoga: Whether it's the chimes playing in the breeze or the kirtan chanting of studio founder Sean Johnson and his Wild Lotus Band, this studio tunes the mind and body in more ways than one. Wild Lotus offers a wide variety of classes, from flow and Power Yoga to kids' and prenatal sessions. Music, chanting, and poetry inform many of the classes. Serenity Yoga, emphasizing restorative poses for postdisaster stress relief, is extremely popular, as are the chocalates that many teachers leave behind on students' mats during savasana. "

New Orleans Gambit Weekly:

August 29, 2006

WILD LOTUS YOGA VOTED "BEST PLACE TO TAKE A YOGA CLASS IN NEW ORLEANS" FOUR YEARS IN A ROW IN GAMBIT READERS POLL

"NOLA yogis say "namaste" once again to Wild Lotus founder Sean Johnson, who in four years transformed this Uptown space into a yoga center that not only offers classes for all manner of experience and purpose, but workhops, retreats, and concerts as well."

Sean was recently interviewed by the author of "Yoga and The Path of the Urban Mystic" and San Francisco-based yoga teacher Darren Main for an I-Pod audio-cast. The interview titled "Healing New Orleans Through Yoga" consists of questions about the post-Katrina yoga scene in New Orleans, Sean's kirtan music projects, touring and more. To listen to the interview click on the link below.

LA Yoga Magazine:

January 1, 2006
by Felicia M. Tomasko

ReBirth Tour
Raising money for New Orleans relief efforts

Kirtan leader Sean Johnson and his Wild Lotus Band (named for his epynomous New Orleans studio)-- with brother Matt Johnson on saxophone and guitar along with vibrant percussionist Gwendolyn Colman-- played, sold CD's, collected donations, spread love and told the insider's view of the huuricane Katrina disaster.

When New Orleans native and yoga teacher Johnson needed to evacuate the city, and it didn't look like returning home was a viable option, he and the Wild Lotus Band took to the road. "I decided to embark on a tour rather than sit around. Through kirtan and yoga practices, I wanted to help people channel their feelings," Johnson said. The Wild Lotus Band was invited to Laughing Lotus in New York (a city all-too-familiar with tragedy), where they recorded a live benefit CD. Between September and November they've been traveling the freeways from coast to coast performing and raising funds to rebuild.

In Southern California, Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band played at Liberation Yoga, Shakti's Elements, John Friend's teacher training in Encinitas, the Ojai Yoga Crib, and the Santa Barbara Yoga Center. Johnson said that the mand played more than 20 kirtan events and clocked 12,000 miles on the van since evacuating. "I've met a lot of really wonderful, kind and generous yoga people who took us in."

The money Johnson raises through sales of his benefit CD, is rebuilding the lives and homes of family as well as the Wild Lotus yoga studio's roof. Johnson maintains a positive attitude also characteristic of his singing. "Compared to what other people were dealing with, it's no big deal."

Before the winds and water swept through town, Wild Lotus (open since 2002) was filling 40 classes a week. On November 1, the studio reopened with nine packed classes. "We have had returning students, total beginners, and relief and humanitarian workers," Johnson said. "When so much has been lost, spiritual practice can be an anchor, community can be a comfort. There have been a lot of tears in class and also a lot of joy...It reminds people of the light in their lives through yoga."

Johnson returned home to New Orleans, his wife and studio on Thanksgiving Day. Will he stay in the city? I asked. "I feel compelled to help the city and the people deal with the change in their lives through yoga." Adds Johnson: "Although the tragedy is undeniably horrible, there is an opportunity amidst it for each person to focus on what's important, to discover what is meaningful in their lives and make a difference."

He believes kirtan opens the heart and sets the spirit free through the voice. "Kirtan became more meaningful to me, after the storm, it was an opportunity to focus." Johnson has studied music for years, including with teachers Russill Paul and Jai Uttal.

In Santa Barbara, Wild Lotus grooved through a bossa nova- influenced gayatri mantra (traditional Vedic-Sanskrit prayer), ecstatically led the group through melodic invocations to Shiva and Hanuman and crooned a Sanskrit lullaby to end the evening with a sense of calm after the strorm.

Philadelphia Inquirer:

October 1, 2005
by Karl Stark

New Orleans Band Takes The High Road

The Wild Lotus Band will donate some proceeds of its show to rebuilding efforts.
By Karl Stark
Philadephia Inquirer Staff Writer


With his hometown of New Orleans still sodden from Hurricane Katrina, yoga teacher and musician Sean Johnson did the only sane thing he and his band could: They set out on the road.

Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band play a special brand of India-based music called kirtan, which features call-and-response chanting backed by a miniature organ known as a harmonium.

The group has been crisscrossing the Northeast for two weeks, chanting sacred mantras in yoga studios from Boston to Asheville, N.C.

Tonight, the musicians will alight at the Nectar Yoga Center in the Goshen Village Shopping Center, in East Goshen Township near West Chester.

Johnson, 35, whose yoga studio in New Orleans used to offer 40 classes a week, doesn't yet know how his workplace has fared. He and his wife, Constance, have been exiled to Austin, Texas.

The road trip is a way to channel "what's happened to us in a positive way," he said. "We can sit around and feel sorry for ourselves and grieve and mourn everything that's been lost, or we can go on the road."

A portion of the money they make will go to Habitat for Humanity to help rebuild the Crescent City, he said.

The kirtans are not so much a performance as a participatory form of meditation or prayer coupled with music. The band - Johnson on harmonium, his brother Matt on saxophone and guitar, Alan Frost on percussion, and vocalist Stacey Brass - will play a phrase that the audience sings back.

"The whole room is the orchestra," Johnson said. "We'll all be making music together."

So far the gigs have varied with the locations. In New York, many people were dancing, while at a studio in Norwalk, Conn., children played along with toy instruments. "It was unexpected, but we went with it," Johnson said.

The Wild Lotus Band will appear

at 8 tonight at the Nectar Yoga Center, 1548 Paoli Pike, East Goshen. A $15 minimum donation is requested. For information, call 610-918-2200. For directions, see http://www.nectaryoga.com/contact.html.
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Contact staff writer Karl Stark at 215-854-5363 or kstark@phillynews.com.