I chose to stay on in India when the film editing work was done, and since I had already been volunteering my time at the local grade school, the ashram sent me to assist and eventually teach there. There were traditional Indian instruments there for me to practice on, and we would chant every day. Athough I did receive formal instruction in eastern music from teachers at the ashram, I really learned more about the heart and soul of chanting by singing with the kids. Basically, a bunch of schoolchildren taught me to chant!

After I returned to Los Angeles, I began leading chants privately at meetings of different spiritual organizations. I started recording a CD of songs I had written while I was in India, and continued supporting myself as an editor. I became involved in a volunteer organization that taught meditation and and chanting and yoga to prison inmates, and for a number of years I conducted weekly programs at different correctional institutions. I had no intention or idea that chanting would ever be more than an avocation.