"Sita" Miriam Zernis
Sita (lead vocals and harmonium) is an inspirational teacher and dedicated Bhakta who has been joyfully guiding a deep and heart-opening kirtan experience since 2007 in NY, CT, CA, Costa Rica, Europe, and Canada. She mystically and effortlessly transports a group into a place of inner peace and tranquility while making each event accessible for all levels of experience and curiosity. Her kirtans are a soulful and unique combination of traditional old-world and original chants and spiritual songs framed by eclectic instrumentals. She is joined by several talented musicians on the same mission of spreading peace and joy in the world.
Sita has been practicing classical yoga since 1995 and teaching since 2001. She is an internationally certified Sivananda Yoga Acharya, Reiki Master, and a certified Holistic Health Coach. She stepped onto the Bhakti Yoga path in 2006, retiring from a 21-year career as an ABC News editor/writer.
Sita is also a divinely Ordained Minister in the sacred Order of Melchizedek, walking a path of love, service and spiritual devotion. She is honored to hold space for life's most meaningful moments - offering legal weddings, baptisms, funerals, memorials, sacred rituals and other ceremonial blessings.
If your heart is being called to mark a life transition with reverence and grace, she welcomes the opportunity to co-create a sacred experience with you.
CURRENT MEMBERS
Andrew Ciarlelli
Andrew is currently the guitarist for Sita’s Light Kirtan, playing a twelve-string acoustic-electric guitar that brings an element of rhythm, texture, and chordal glue to the overall tapestry of the call-and-response chants that bring so many people back to their heart center and the present moment. He started playing music at the age of 12 when his parents gifted him his first electric guitar and it’s been 'game on' ever since. His musical journey has evolved over the past 2 decades exploring multiple genres, other stringed instruments, and percussion instruments, collaborating with a number of talented musicians at a multitude of venues, composing and recording on several full-length records, traveling across the country to perform, and finding his center in the spirit of music.
Lydia Smith
Lydia is a lifelong CT resident who has been drumming all her life and believes that everyone can benefit from the joy of rhythm. She is a certified Remo’s HealthRHYTHMS Drum Circle Facilitator serving all populations and conducts drum circles all over the state and also has degrees in Creative Arts Therapy, Liberal Studies (Music, Education, Psychology), and Early Childhood Education. When she’s not playing with Sita’s Light, you can catch her in the US and abroad in a variety of rock and jazz bands, drum ensembles, church services, conferences, and accompanying university and high school musical productions.
Photographers: Cory Goldberg and Peter Polomski
Walter Zernis AKA Wally Das
