julia cameron • pilates • brandon bays...

Natural Beauty & Health • 3From the publishers of MAGICAL BLEND MAGAZINE

JULIA CAMERON • PILATES • BRANDON BAYS

Plus…Plus…

GIFTS OF HEALTHNature’sWEIGHT LOSSSecrets

CANCER CURESAlternativeAlternative

CANCER CURES

SimplyEn-CHANT-ing:

DEVAPREMALDEVAPREMAL

STEPS TODISTANCEHEALING1010STEPS TODISTANCEHEALING

Chocolate:FOOD OF THE

Gods!

JULIA CAMERON • PILATES • BRANDON BAYS

HEALTHwww.nbhonline.com

FALL 2002“We Believe in a Healthy Future”

NATU

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BEAUTY

&Magical Blend Presents

2 • Natural Beauty & Health From the publishers of MAGICAL BLEND MAGAZINE

ISSUE 83 • FALL 2002


MAGICAL BLEND’SMAGICAL BLEND’S

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Embracing the Heart of Devotion:The Voice of Deva Premal 16by Deanna LeahMusical chanting sensations Premal andMiten offer us a remarkable taste ofwhat bliss and faith in each other maybring to one’s life.

Primal Diets 20by Sandra AuerbachWhat can we learn from the way primalhumans ate? Some of the best adviceon “dieting” instructs us to look to ourancestors for the diet that’s right foreach of us.

Deva Premal ............................. 16

Julia Cameron .......................... 12

Pilates ...................................... 44

Brandon Bays ........................... 24

Nature’s Gifts of Healing .......... 28

Weight Loss Secrets ................. 13

10 Steps to Distance Healing ... 26

Chocolate, Food of the Gods .... 56

Alternative Cancer Cures .......... 10

On TheCover

In This IssueA Message from Michael ........................................................................ 2Letters .................................................................................................... 6Notes and Quotes ................................................................................... 8NBH Online ........................................................................................... 14Natural Conclusion ............................................................................... 72

Feature Articles

16


THE VOICE OF DEVA PREMALis achingly pure, heart-openingly honest. If you haveheard her sing the Gayatri Mantra, as millions have,you know the sound of true devotion. The Sanskritwords have been imprinted on the consciousness oflisteners across the world; they translate “Throughthe coming, the going, and the balance of life, theessential nature which illumines existence is the

adorable one. May all perceive through subtle intellectthe brilliance of enlightenment.” Premal, whose German

parents raised her with mantras and spiritual values,became a sanyassin, a devotee of the spiritual masterOsho (formerly Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh), at the age of

11. She met her partner and musical collaborator,Miten, at Osho’s ashram in Pune, India, where he hadcome to escape a hard rock lifestyle that was no longerworking for him. Together, they experienced the joysof kirtan, using the voice in prayerful devotion bychanting mantras of the names of God. Their loveflourished, as did their musical careers, and today theytravel the world over, bringing their concerts to moreand more open, participatory audiences.

the HeartEmbracing

Devotion


EmbracingDevotion

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Natural Beauty & Health • 5From the publishers of MAGICAL BLEND MAGAZINE

Our own Deanna Leah, a long-timemeditator, devotee, and musicafficionado, met with Miten and Premalrecently to talk with them about theirastounding, unlikely rise to fame.

Deanna Leah: My intention, through thisinterview, is to serve you as well as all ourreaders so that they receive the blessings andhealing energy that many of us have receivedthrough your music. What are your intentionsthrough your music?

Deva Premal: I have to be very honest; it’snot so much that there was the intention,then there was the music. For me it was theother way around: The music came, andthis life happened, and then it somehowhad this beautiful side effect that it wouldmake other people happy and they wouldenjoy the music and be enriched by it. It justkind of all happened. That’s what it was likefor me. It’s hard for me to even call myselfa musician. I was so lucky to meet Miten,who is a musician, and he helped me withthe music. Through him I found my voicewith the mantras and together we createdthese CDs and the concerts, and thensuddenly it was appreciated by many people,and we said, “Wow, great!” but there wasno idea beforehand that this would happenor that anybody else would like it, too.

Miten: Another way of putting it is thatthere was no ambition behind it. But at thesame time, personally, there was anintention, which was to share what I hadreceived through my years as a meditator,being in India and just seeing that musiccould be shared from a different point ofview, a different perspective. Before I gotinto meditation, my music was comingfrom the space of emotion, which is whatmost music that you hear on the radiocomes from. When I started to play musicfrom a space of no-mind, it was different.The intention was to share meditation,basically, through music—and not in aserious way. Meditation is serious, but it’salso very playful and very profound and canbe approached in many different ways. Wehad a spiritual master who approached it inways that opened many doors for us. Weknew we could share something; we justdidn’t know if people were ready to hear it.

And how did it begin?

M: Well, it began because we had a smallfamily of people, what we call a Buddhafield.

It’s a community, a creative gathering, andit’s something we often encourage peoplewho come to our workshops and concertsto look for, because then you can besupported in your own journey. Otherwise,it’s very cold and isolated out there.

You travel so much. How do you keep thatcommunity for yourself as well as find thesolitude for your spiritual practice when youneed it?

M: Wherever we go, we are in theBuddhafield; we’re in it with you now, justas we’re in it with the people here whoallow us to come and stay in their house. It’sincredible—we could be playing in Tokyo,or Stockholm, or Greece, or Vancouver, orSan Francisco—it doesn’t matter; it’s thesame people in different bodies and they allcome because they have been so touchedby Premal’s voice, and they bring withthem the space that we need to create themusic. It’s not just us; it’s a two-way thing.Our gatherings are not events where peoplecome and say “entertain me for two hours.”And that small community that began 11years ago has now expanded. A little whileago, we played in Seattle and the theaterwas full. It’s great when we come out to thestage and are received with such a blast oflove. It really touched me, and I thought,here we are, playing to all these people, butit’s just like sitting in our kitchen. There’s anintimacy. There’s a connection through themusic. So we purposely don’t “perform”;we make sure it’s not a performance thatseparates us from the people. For us, singingis our spiritual practice—it’s communion.

So from beginning to end you feel connectedto yourselves and to the audience?

DP: Yes, and we encourage people not toclap so it’s really silent, and then we invitethem to sing with us. So we’re all singingtogether, and then when you go into thesilence after the singing it’s just so precious.

How would you describe that space or thatvibration that you’re singing in?

M: Sacred. I would say it’s like walking intoa temple, and that’s where I like to be. It’slike Premal’s voice. I’ve watched Premalopen—I’ve watched this flower open. Whenwe met, she wasn’t singing. So I’ve seen thiswhole thing happen. And I have beentouched by it so much.

An Interview withDeva Premal And Miten BY DEANNA LEAH

(article continues on next page)


and we sang the Gayatri.The head priestwas really touched by it, and afterwards hesaid . . . how did he say it?

DP: “If the whole world could hear that,there would be peace on Earth.”

M: Yes. The beautiful thing about mantrasis that, just like a pop song, it starts to go’round in your head, except that instead ofhaving a pop song in your head, you havethe name of God going ’round in yourhead. It’s not superficial. You’re actuallybeingseduced intowalkingaroundchantingthe name of God. And they aren’t Englishwords, so there is no mind, no realconnection to the words. They are justsounds, powerful sounds that resonate. Soeven if you don’t know what om namashivaya means or you are struggling withthe pronunciation, by the time we havesung it for 30 minutes or so, the whole thingjust resonates in your body. That’s thehealing. That’s the peak, the ecstasy.

There is so much love and connection betweenthe two of you. You work together, you traveltogether, you live together. It’s an unusual lifefor a couple.

DP: It works for us.

M: It’s not something we planned. It wassuch a ridiculous fate for me to meet this 20-year-old girl. I never expected it to beanything but a nice friendship. It’s been abeautiful journey and total support. Wehaven’t had that feeling yet that “Ugh,we’ve finished the tour—I need to go away.”So far we’ve been able to give each otherspace within the relationship. It’s not amarriage. It’s very trusting, deep friendshipwhich includes sex.

How does that differ from your ideas ofmarriage?

M: We don’t have the concept that it will beforever. In a marriage, it’s more exclusive.We don’t have that kind of exclusivity. It’snot like we’re always in somebody else’sbed or something but we always have thesense that the door is always open. So wedon’t need to say “leave my space” becausethere’s nowhere to go. There is only space.That keeps us . . .

DP: . . . alive, in the moment.

My sense is that you are very much in presenttime flowing with the stream wherever it takesyou. Are you noticing a jump in consciousnessin your audiences in the last few years?

M: Absolutely. It seems ilike the darker andmore troubled the world becomes, the morelight there is to balance. But there is somuch light, so much light in people now.That’s what I mean: Wherever we play, it’speople like you and me and Premal. Allover the planet. We’re a growingBuddhafield! It’s really true. •

Premal and Miten will be touring the United States andCanada this fall. For tour dates, go towww.mitendevapremal.com.

You’ve become quite popular recently. Haveyou experienced changes that come with morenotoriety and more success?

DP: It’s just been easier. I used to worry.When we first got together, I was 20, and Ithought I could do this for a while with himand have a good time, but then I wouldhave to do something “proper.” When wemet, I was doing bodywork and healingand that’s where I wasgoing. When we firststarted, I was Miten’ssupport. He was a singerand he wrote all his ownsongs and I would sing thesecond voice, which I stilldo now, and still love. Iwould only do that. I wasso shy, Iwouldn’t evendareto sing alone, not even inthe sound check—I wasreally shy. And then slowlyI got more confident, but Istill didn’t know how toexpress myself or how Icould come out somehow.It was in the mantras that Isaw that this is what I cansing alone and it soundsbeautiful and it touches meand other people. I grew

up with the mantras, and I sang the GayatriMantra as a kid every night, but when it’stoo close you don’t see it. So it was theGayatri which was really the opening doorfor me.

Our music got so popular because peoplestarted using it in their practices, massage,yoga, andsuch.Wedidn’tdoanyadvertisingat all. We didn’t really do anything. It really

did it by itself by word of mouth; wheneverpeople hear it, they want it.

Why do you think that is?

M: I’ll tell you why: I’ve played on manyrecords and many CD’s. I’ll never forget itwhenwewere recording theGayatriMantra.Premal was in the room where we wererecording, and it was next door to the room

where she was born. Shewas building the vocals andshe would do a harmony,then another harmony. Shewas in there a long timesinging over and over again.It was a very sacred space.When she came out of thatroom she said she could feelthe spirit in the room, andthat went onto the tape.That’s why I’m sure it is morethan music. And now it hassold 90,000 CDs. It’s amiracle, a confirmation. Andthat’s our criteria forwhatever we put out. Is thespirit there?

We were just in Japan and atthis temple, and we wereinvited to sing at their altar,


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