Jay Shetty PodcastThis is How to Use Spirituality To Help You with Confidence and Self-Doubt!
Jay Shetty and Jahnavi Harrison on mantra music, prayer, and service as paths to confidence growth.
In this episode of Jay Shetty Podcast, featuring Jahnavi Harrison and Jay Shetty, This is How to Use Spirituality To Help You with Confidence and Self-Doubt! explores mantra music, prayer, and service as paths to confidence growth Jahnavi explains devotional mantra music as repeated sacred sound meant to purify the heart and mind, differing from other music primarily through intention as prayer and inner connection.
At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Mantra music, prayer, and service as paths to confidence growth
- Jahnavi explains devotional mantra music as repeated sacred sound meant to purify the heart and mind, differing from other music primarily through intention as prayer and inner connection.
- She shares how an unconventional childhood in a temple school—and a difficult transition into mainstream schooling—triggered anxiety, identity-splitting, and a long process of integrating who she was across environments.
- Her creative path became “professional” through organic steps: using violin in kirtan, touring with a mantra group, and choosing intuition over a stable magazine job despite persistent financial doubt.
- The conversation reframes spirituality as human and non-performative: spiritual people still experience doubt, material desires, mistakes, and even crises of faith, which can deepen authenticity rather than invalidate belief.
- Both emphasize practical spirituality—talking to God, experimenting with prayer styles, and asking “Am I being of service?”—as reliable anchors when feeling lost or insecure.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasRepetition in mantra is a tool, not a flaw.
Jahnavi describes mantra like a “washing machine” for the mind—repeated sacred words are meant to clarify and purify attention, making it easier to access emotions and truths that are otherwise hard to reach.
Confidence collapses when you feel forced to live as two different people.
Her move from a temple school to a conventional school created a sense of having to “become someone else” (even down to a uniform), and integration came slowly through agency, maturity, and self-acceptance.
Purpose-led careers often grow through small, faithful decisions—not one grand leap.
Her path emerged from practical steps (playing violin in kirtan, joining a group, touring) and one pivotal intuitive choice—abandoning a predictable job path—despite ongoing doubt about stability.
You don’t need to sing loudly to benefit from sacred sound.
She normalizes discomfort around singing and offers a spectrum of participation—from quiet singing to internal chanting—where the shared experience and intention matter more than vocal “performance.”
Spirituality is not the absence of doubt; it’s the willingness to keep learning.
A core misconception she challenges is that spiritual people are perfect or have all the answers; in reality, faith can be messy and paradoxical, and certainty can be replaced by nuance without losing integrity.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesI was trying to erase, I was trying to erase myself in a way so that no one would have anything to say or make fun of.
— Jahnavi Harrison
When I put that uniform on, I have to become someone else.
— Jahnavi Harrison
I think a misconception is that spiritual people don't have doubts, don't have material desires, don't make mistakes.
— Jahnavi Harrison
I think I have experienced crisis of faith, which required faith to come out of.
— Jahnavi Harrison
Am I connected with service in this moment?
— Jahnavi Harrison
QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE
5 questionsWhen you say mantra “purifies the heart and mind,” what specific changes do you notice in thoughts, emotions, or behavior after consistent practice?
Jahnavi explains devotional mantra music as repeated sacred sound meant to purify the heart and mind, differing from other music primarily through intention as prayer and inner connection.
For someone who feels awkward about prayer, what’s a simple 2-minute way to “talk to God” that doesn’t feel scripted or performative?
She shares how an unconventional childhood in a temple school—and a difficult transition into mainstream schooling—triggered anxiety, identity-splitting, and a long process of integrating who she was across environments.
You mentioned feeling like you had to wear “two masks” (temple identity vs. school identity)—what practices helped you integrate those identities most concretely?
Her creative path became “professional” through organic steps: using violin in kirtan, touring with a mantra group, and choosing intuition over a stable magazine job despite persistent financial doubt.
In an auditorium full of first-timers, how do you balance maintaining kirtan’s traditional intention (not making it about you) while adding original English songs and personal vulnerability?
The conversation reframes spirituality as human and non-performative: spiritual people still experience doubt, material desires, mistakes, and even crises of faith, which can deepen authenticity rather than invalidate belief.
What were the biggest internal doubts you had about choosing touring/mantra music over a stable job, and how did you work with those doubts day-to-day?
Both emphasize practical spirituality—talking to God, experimenting with prayer styles, and asking “Am I being of service?”—as reliable anchors when feeling lost or insecure.
Chapter Breakdown
Prayer as a doorway to hard-to-reach emotions (and why Jahnavi’s music heals)
Jay introduces Jahnavi Harrison as a longtime friend and devotional musician whose work uses mantra and sacred sound to calm, heal, and ground listeners. They frame prayer and music as practices that help people access feelings that are otherwise difficult to express.
A childhood image that shaped her: nature, awe, and “tree nerd” curiosity
Jahnavi shares a defining early memory of walking through yellow flower fields near her home outside London. The conversation connects her creative sensitivity to a lifelong relationship with nature that continues in the Bay Area.
“Truth seekers” as parents: service, presence, and leaving the script
Jay and Jahnavi discuss how her parents’ commitment to seeking truth and serving community influenced her values. Jahnavi highlights their attentiveness to people and models of presence that feel harder to maintain in a social-media world.
Where her love for music began: playful tapes, family singing, and introversion
Jahnavi recalls making cassette recordings as a child, improvising songs and stories without inhibition. She credits growing up surrounded by singing, while noting she never imagined becoming a professional singer due to her introverted nature.
Devotional mantra music vs. popular music: repetition, purification, and intention
Jahnavi explains what mantra is and why repetition is central to its effect. She distinguishes devotional music through both content (sacred names/phrases) and intention (prayer, inner connection), and Jay shares his immediate emotional resonance with chanting.
Growing up with an unconventional education—and the shock of “regular school”
Jahnavi describes her early schooling at the temple: national curriculum plus Sanskrit verses, scripture, and weekly chanting. Transitioning to mainstream school brought cultural isolation, teasing, and a sense of splitting into different selves depending on environment.
Anxiety, belonging, and slowly building confidence through agency
Jahnavi shares how prolonged anxiety affected her health and schooling choices, including cycles of homeschooling and returning to school. She began integrating by taking more ownership of her education, experimenting with unconventional A-level routes, and discovering that being different could be a strength.
Parents doing their best—and why she didn’t “rebel” (at least then)
They discuss the pressure parents face when a child struggles, and Jahnavi reflects on how hard those years were for her family. She explains why she didn’t feel a teenage urge to leave spirituality—her parents’ openness and her father’s philosophical breadth created room for questions—while acknowledging that doubts can come later.
From curiosity to craft: violin, kirtan, touring, and choosing the uncertain path
Music shifted toward professional life through participation, not a grand plan. Jahnavi’s violin became her initial “voice” in kirtan, leading to joining a mantra music group and touring—ultimately prompting her to abandon a predictable magazine-editor job and commit to the creative path despite doubt.
Experiencing the Divine through sound—and helping others feel free to sing
Jahnavi says music and sacred sound offer a unique access point to divinity because they require only presence and the human voice. She describes how group singing transforms insecurity into connection and freedom, and offers alternatives like “internal singing” for those who feel self-conscious.
When music becomes refuge: comfort in transitions, grief, and meaningful moments
Jahnavi shares what listeners tell her: her music is used for peace, shelter, and prayer in pivotal life moments. Jay underscores the ineffable quality of sacred sound—how it can move people beyond language and explanation.
Blending tradition with personal prayer: originals, vulnerability, and safe spiritual space
Jahnavi explains her recent move to weave original English songs into concerts, especially for audiences new to mantra practice. She discusses the balance between being a vessel (traditional kirtan) and offering personal vulnerability, and shares how she aims to create inclusive spaces for spiritual exploration without imposition.
Misconceptions about spiritual people: perfection, certainty, and having no doubts
They challenge the pedestal effect and the belief that spiritual people are beyond struggle. Jahnavi notes that public spiritual roles can amplify projection, while Jay explains how the myth of perfection discourages people from pursuing spirituality at all.
Crisis of faith and the return through spontaneous prayer (and a deeper stillness)
Jahnavi describes losing faith as disorientation—like the lines disappearing from a coloring book—and how a tiny openness allowed faith to seep back in. She found renewal through more personal, spontaneous prayer in her spoken language, and distinguishes meditation’s stillness from prayer’s relational focus.
Service as the compass when lost + Final Five (advice, intuition, opinions, and God)
Jahnavi shares her guiding question—“Am I being of service?”—as an antidote to feeling lost, and reflects on the spiritual identity of “servant of the servant.” In the Final Five, she emphasizes courage, ignoring “what will people think,” trusting intuition, and talking to God more as a world-changing practice.
EVERY SPOKEN WORD
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