This text was written for the European Yoga Congress in 2026
Emotion and Devotion
by Yaira Yonne-Konishi
Bhāva und Rasa – Mood and its Expression
In Yoga bhāva describes the inner attitude, mood, or fundamental emotional vibration from which we interact with others. It is the qualities of the heart that breathe life into a thought, a movement, or a sound.
Rasa, on the other hand, literally means «essence», «taste» or «juice». In a figurative sense, rasa refers to the experiential quality that arises from a bhāva —that which is touched by a mood and lingers in the experience.
Mantra and Focusing
Bhāva and rasa are inseparably linked. Music, mantras, or āsanas can be performed with technical precision. But it is only through inner focus in the act itself that depth and expression are created. This gives rise to resonance – a living vibration between inner experience and outer expression.
In yoga, mantras serve self-development and dedication or devotion. In everyday life we often speak with others or to ourselves in an inner dialogue. To guide and direct this mental activity, we can harness the power of sound and words.
This is particularly evident in the close resonance between voice and heart: the heart, as our emotional center, captures all vibrations and fluctuations respectively every change in the psyche and soma.
Voice sets the Mood
Our voice reveals our current state and makes our inner feelings audible. Joy, introspection, excitement, compassion, anger or sadness subtly color the sound of our voice. Every mood alters our breath, resonance chambers, and timbre. In this sense, the voice becomes a mirror of bhāva.
We use the voice as the body’s primary instrument every day; yet most often, our attention is focused on the spoken content. Conscious use of the voice in yoga practice helps to steady the mind and bring the body into its natural vibration and resonance. A personalized mantra practice strengthens the experience of inner peace and qualities of the heart such as compassion and mindfulness.
Resonance
When voice, consciousness, and bhāva work together, rasa emerges. The sound of any voice can be experienced directly; it touches and moves us. This is evident in the spoken or sung word, in yoga classes, or in everyday encounters. Our voice conveys much more than information – it creates space and establishes a presence.
Exploring bhāva and rasa invites us not only to produce sound, but to infuse it with consciousness. Through the interplay of physical and psychological processes, an authentic voice emerges as an expression of inner connectedness. Thus, a yoga practice carried by vocal sound becomes an art of resonance in the in-between: between sound and silence, between voice and space, between body and inner experience, between individual «timbre» and the «cosmos of sound» of the universe.
When the mind immerses itself in soundless silence, nāda can be perceived as the eternal stream of sound hidden within:
The mind exists as long as there is sound, but when the sound ceases,
there is a state of being that transcends the mind.
Nada Bindu Upanishad
