Exciting thing about Mantra

THE EXCITING THING ABOUT MANTRA

When I woke up this morning, I felt a deep sense of peace and anticipation for the day that I typically don't feel when I wake up in the morning. My first thought upon waking used to commonly be, "Oh shit, here we go again". I would lay in bed, dreading getting up and starting my day. So what was different about this morning? 

During the night when I woke up, as I frequently do, instead of tossing and turning, mind racing, or turning on the television in order to go back to sleep, I started chanting a mantra. I tuned into my breath, I felt my body relax and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in the morning. I immediately knew it was because of the mantra because it was my second time experiencing this. The first time I thought it might be a fluke, and didn't think a whole lot of it. But this morning, I knew it was mantra that had transported me or transmuted me to this space or state of being.

Mantra is a Sanskrit word with many shades of meaning. "Tool of the mind", "divine speech", and "language of the human spiritual physiology" and others.

"The practice of mantra actually kneads the flesh of the body with sound. The delicate cells of the elaborate bundles of nerves are subjected to a constant hammering, a seizure of the flesh by the vibrations of divine sound."

~ Vilayat Inayat Khan

Deva Lingua or the diving language referring to Sanskrit is a language no longer spoken by any nation or group of peoples, but still widely used in the Hindu and Buddhist religions. The alphabet of this language is said to be inscribed on the petals of the chakras, giving it the title of “Language of the chakras,” “Language of the gods,” or the “Divine language.” I personally use Sanskrit terminology for asana when I'm teaching yoga classes or Energy Awakening sessions. I feel it creates a sacred space my student and clients.

So using mantra as a healing tool for insomnia, anxiety, depression and the list goes on, is now a very real thing for me. I've known about the practice of mantra for many years, but I've just recently come to a place in my own life where its application has become much more relevant and real. Just as my yoga practice has been for the past 20 years, mantra is now a permanent fixture in my life.