Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jamar Rogers. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jamar, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

The funny thing about criticism is how contagious it is. If you internalize it, one person’s judgement of you can become your reality. So when people told me I was an abomination, I believed it.

The first time I tried to end my life, I was 15.

Word of my sexuality had spread like a wildfire through my youth group at church, and I wanted to die. Kids whispered behind my back. The pastors openly ostracized me. My parents told me that this lifestyle was a choice, and I was bringing it all on myself. This was 1997 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, so being gay wasn’t exactly a path to widespread popularity.

Since I assumed I was going to hell anyway, killing myself seemed like the only logical choice.

But even failure seemed to be contagious. Like I failed at being the perfect, God-fearing son to my religious mom, I also failed at killing myself.

After a stint in the mental ward of St. Joseph’s Hospital, I decided to bury my queerness. Conceal it away like an inconvenient pimple. Perhaps if I ignored it, it would just go away.

I determined I’d be a famous singer. The applause and bright lights would blot out any shame and, hopefully, remove my abomination status. Since I’d grown up singing in church, I was comfortable on stage, with a talent at getting people to feel what I was sharing. For those fleeting moments I bore my heart out through song, folks didn’t see me as gay or weird or broken. They simply saw me.

But the funny thing about burying things that aren’t quite dead is those things claw their way back. I couldn’t ignore my queerness like I couldn’t ignore my need for oxygen, so I used drugs to soothe the shame. Crystal meth helped me forget what I was trying to hide. It also made me feel invincible and like nothing mattered. For 5 long years, meth was my best friend.

One sweltering summer day in 2003, I found myself in an ER, shivering and weak. Though the temperature was well past 100 degrees outside, I was cold to the bone. I couldn’t hold any food or water down. When the doctor came back with the diagnosis, I wasn’t sad, I was relieved. Maybe death would find me after all.

I moved back home after that. I was 23, HIV-positive, and convinced I was an utter failure. It was in that broken place that I discovered my love of singing again. Slowly, my mother and I began to repair our fractured relationship. I found community and started the long road to healing.

In 2012, I auditioned for The Voice and became a household name during that season. I told my story of brokenness and redemption and achieved what I always wanted to achieve: getting signed to a record deal. It seemed like everything was finally coming together; maybe I did deserve to live after all.

But in the quiet pockets of silence in the middle of the night, I felt a tug. A calling. Fame was fleeting and empty, but the call to serve felt enormous. Suddenly, singing songs for the sake of popularity didn’t interest me anymore. The pandemic made me pause and ask myself: what am I really supposed to be doing?

I became a certified meditation teacher and started studying sound healing properties; I learned to soften my self-speak and regulate my nervous system; I started chanting mantras to aid in shrinking my amygdala. Music took on a different form to me by becoming a medium that could help heal others while also healing myself.

Now I release meditation tracks and mantra music that are perfect for those moments of hopeless anxiety. I make tracks for folks who have had to bury things that they’d rather not bury; for folks who’ve hit their own rock bottoms; for folks who want so desperately to be seen and heard.

I make music for them to get quiet with themselves to understand, once and for all, that they were born on purpose with a purpose, and they’re not leaving this planet until their purpose is done. As I shed shame and love authentically, I give the community around me permission to do the same. That’s the funny thing about healing. It’s also quite contagious.

Jamar, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I teach meditation techniques in fun and practical ways. Once I learned that meditation had all of these scientific benefits like lowering the blood pressure and cortisol levels, while also making you a better listener, lover and friend, I wanted to show my friends how easy meditation could be.

I’d always thought of meditation as laborious and boring, but I studied under davidji, who taught me various approaches. Once I started experiencing firsthand the benefits of meditation (calmer mind, lowered anxiety, richer conversations with friends, etc.), I knew I wanted to teach it.

I’m releasing my first mantra track, God Bless Your Lungs, in April. I made this song for myself actually. If I feel myself starting to freak out over things I can’t control, I’ll put this song on and breathe along with it. I’m hoping folks will do the same once it’s released.

I share a lot of this stuff on Instagram and TikTok. I’m also currently writing a book of prayers and writing more mantra tracks.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I really resonate with the teachings of the Tao Te Ching, which basically tells you to be like water. To flow with the current instead of against it.

A lot of my mistakes have been made by trying to force things ahead of its time. Yes, it may be a great idea, but the timing must support it.

By surrendering to this flow, this current, I seem to find myself in the right place at the right time meeting the right people for the right project. And I’m able to feel this current more palpably as I spend time meditating.

I had to unlearn this notion of force and embrace surrender. I don’t get it right all of the time, but I sure as hell stress a lot less. That’s a win to me.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Marketing!

Yes, it’s super cool I teach meditation in a fun and sexy way. But what good is it if people don’t know?

I’ve used short-form videos on TikTok and Instragram to do call-to-actions and advertising. Social media can be a fun way to show off your personality while getting people to buy what you’re selling.

In my case, I want to show folks different approaches to meditation, so I’m using comedy, songs and inspiration to get them to meditate more. I highly recommend taking a social media course for your business if you’d like to see growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: koji.to/jamarrogers
• Instagram: Instagram.com/jamarrogersofficial
• Facebook: Facebook.com/jamarrogersthevoice
• Twitter: @jsquidward
• Youtube: YouTube.com/jamarrogers
• Other: TikTok.com/jamarrogers

Image Credits
Greg Wilson. Jeremy David.