Day 261 of 365 - The Power of Mantra
June 21st was World Yoga Day and also the day of the Global OM. OM is the most commonly familiar chant sound and in a way, is considered a seed sound of the universe. It is a way to both focus the mind and to shift the energy. Many yoga teachers begin and end a class with a collective OM to invoke universal consciousness.
With the growth of yoga in the Western world, more Westerners are embracing mantra chanting. The earliest mantras were composed in Vedic Sanskrit in India over 3000 years ago. They are refined sounds and each mantra has its own specific values, virtues and benefits.
The word mantra means mind tool. It is a tool to both investigate the mind and focus the mind. Mantra can be considered as a target for meditation, a focus of attention. It can be repeated mentally, with voice, or in a group. Mantra allows you to shift your mindset and focus, to direct your mind to things that are productive rather than non-productive. It helps to shift the mind from suffering to a sense of openness.
There are mantras for various life situations which can help remove energetic blocks. But, they only work by doing them, through the repetition. Then they can affect our energetic systems, our emotions, our sense of peace. There can be a deep primal connection if we let go and sink back into the self.
Traditionally, mantras are chanted in cycles of 108 repetitions. This is because there are 108 major nadis or energy channels in the body. The sound vibration can fill all these energy lines and balance them. Some people can feel the vibration at a cellular level. Repetition with devotion starts the process.
There are some very basic sounds which are common to all languages, such as oh, m, ah, sh, ee which all evoke feeling states. A basic mantra like Om Na Ma Shiva Ya is a composite of these feeling states. When it is repeated over and over, such as for the 108 times, at some point you become the observer of your mind and thoughts, mood and vibration can change, the heart can open.
Kirtan is chanting in a group setting and adds a group consciousness and voice dimension to the experience of mantra, which generates another psychological aspect. It can be very immersive. Generally, though not entirely, the mantras sung in kirtan tend to become quite lively, starting out slowly, speeding way up and then slowing down again. There is always a short period of meditative silence after each chant.
My first awareness of mantra and chant was probably via yoga classes I've taken in the past. I was exposed to the music of some singers of chant in both yoga classes and NIA classes during the resting phase at the end of class. Deva Premal and Miten are a couple who perform kirtan around the world and have many beautiful albums. I own some of their music and love listening to it. I have also attended kirtan a couple of times lead by Canadian singer Brenda McMorrow.
Chanting and mantra can be done privately and silently, vocally along with a recording or in a kirtan group experience. Each has its own qualities. My usual preference is for listening to a recording. I find it very meditative, soothing and peaceful.
With the growth of yoga in the Western world, more Westerners are embracing mantra chanting. The earliest mantras were composed in Vedic Sanskrit in India over 3000 years ago. They are refined sounds and each mantra has its own specific values, virtues and benefits.
The word mantra means mind tool. It is a tool to both investigate the mind and focus the mind. Mantra can be considered as a target for meditation, a focus of attention. It can be repeated mentally, with voice, or in a group. Mantra allows you to shift your mindset and focus, to direct your mind to things that are productive rather than non-productive. It helps to shift the mind from suffering to a sense of openness.
There are mantras for various life situations which can help remove energetic blocks. But, they only work by doing them, through the repetition. Then they can affect our energetic systems, our emotions, our sense of peace. There can be a deep primal connection if we let go and sink back into the self.
Traditionally, mantras are chanted in cycles of 108 repetitions. This is because there are 108 major nadis or energy channels in the body. The sound vibration can fill all these energy lines and balance them. Some people can feel the vibration at a cellular level. Repetition with devotion starts the process.
There are some very basic sounds which are common to all languages, such as oh, m, ah, sh, ee which all evoke feeling states. A basic mantra like Om Na Ma Shiva Ya is a composite of these feeling states. When it is repeated over and over, such as for the 108 times, at some point you become the observer of your mind and thoughts, mood and vibration can change, the heart can open.
Kirtan is chanting in a group setting and adds a group consciousness and voice dimension to the experience of mantra, which generates another psychological aspect. It can be very immersive. Generally, though not entirely, the mantras sung in kirtan tend to become quite lively, starting out slowly, speeding way up and then slowing down again. There is always a short period of meditative silence after each chant.
My first awareness of mantra and chant was probably via yoga classes I've taken in the past. I was exposed to the music of some singers of chant in both yoga classes and NIA classes during the resting phase at the end of class. Deva Premal and Miten are a couple who perform kirtan around the world and have many beautiful albums. I own some of their music and love listening to it. I have also attended kirtan a couple of times lead by Canadian singer Brenda McMorrow.
Chanting and mantra can be done privately and silently, vocally along with a recording or in a kirtan group experience. Each has its own qualities. My usual preference is for listening to a recording. I find it very meditative, soothing and peaceful.
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