Chanting can be a powerful and transformative practice of using sound to bring on a meditative experience. The repetition of mantra and sound aids in down-regulating the nervous system and creating space for peace and stillness to arise within. Additionally, chanting is known to have the following
Helps to Improve Concentration
Chanting helps to calm the monkey mind by giving it something to focus on both mentally and verbally. With regular chanting, your mind becomes focused on the Sanskrit words instead of everything else. with continued practice, the mind will become more attentive in whatever it focuses on.
Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Chanting can provide relief from anxiety and tension. Regular chanting allows you to experience peace from within and be less distracted while doing any form of work.
Chanting is a practice of meditation and helps you to learn more about yourself and adds meaning to all aspects of your life.
Rejuvenating & Calming
Tensions are a regular part of life. But too much anxiety and stress produce toxins in the body leading to harmful physical and mental diseases. And Om chanting eliminates the possibilities of toxin production by reducing stress and making you feel rejuvenated whenever you start chanting. Thus, one of the health benefits of Om chanting is that it makes you feel happy, rejuvenated and pacifies your troubled heart.
Regular Om chanting also helps to reduce your mood swings and thus improve your work capacity and performance. So, it indicates that with regular Om chanting practice you can improve your personal as well as professional life as well.
Helps Support the Back and Spine
Chanting, done in an upright position, helps to tone and strengthen the abdominal muscles and this can help to keep the spine healthy in everyday life.
Detoxifies Body
Chanting is a type of meditation, when you regularly perform meditation, it allows the body to function at an optimum level. This will help the body release toxins and impurities efficiently.
Chanting requires breath regulation and this helps improve blood circulation and oxygen supply to the cells or the body. These are the two important physical benefits of chanting.
Can Improve Functioning of Heart & Digestive System
Chanting can help regulate the blood flow to different body parts. Thus, it helps in stabilizing blood pressure. While chanting, the breath, respiration and heartbeat can normalize.
Regular practice can improve the functioning of the heart and your digestive system.
Helps Improve Quality of Sleep
You can improve your sleep and wake up pattern by chanting regularly. As the mind resides in a more peaceful state, the nervous system can reset and recalibrate. Chanting can help with falling asleep quickly, and getting sound and quality sleep.
Helps Promote Emotionally Stability
When experiencing worry, anger, frustration, irritation, etc. our work and relationships are impacted. Behavior can become irrational and impractical when the mind is disturbed. Chanting can help balance emotions and allow the mind to operate from a more altruistic place, as opposed the fight/flight/freeze state of a mind ruled by worry, anger, frustration, irritation, etc.
Improves Reasoning Ability, Reduces Negativity
A distracted mind has a tendency to think negative first whenever something unexpected happens. Regular chanting helps keep the mind calm and helps stay present/positive through uncertainty. When you are no longer ruled by your reactionary mind, your reasoning ability improves and you are able to make more grounded and meaningful decisions.
For a initial chanting practice, try repeating this mantra Oṃ 108 times, for one week continuously.
This can be the mantra you continue with indefinitely. If you could like a slightly longer mantra, you might try:
Oṃ Gaṃ Gaṇapataye Namaḥ
This is a chant which invites in knowledge of our own innate capacity to overcome obstacles. It acknowledges that we each have the power Gaṇeśa represents contained within ourselves. It’s already there, we just have to awaken to our own divine nature.
A gentle way to ease into a chanting practice is to begin with 12 repetitions, for one week continuously. After that, you might try 36 repetitions for two full weeks. Next step could be to complete 108 rounds of the chant daily (or twice daily).
At this sound, we all join together. Wherever we each were in the practice, now we are all here together, at the top of our mats. Uniting our energy together through sound, the vibration of ‘om’ moves through the room, moves though our hearts.
The Ashtanga opening mantra is a call to practice. A recognition of the teachers who have come before us and an acknowledgment of the work we are here to do on our mat. This practice is not merely yoga poses. We are here to overcome the cycles of physical and mental suffering in our lives. Our goal is to no longer be bound by the poison this suffering flushes into our hearts.
And with time, devotion and consistent practice, we will start to experience peace. We will start to find the neutral ground which allows us to be fully present in each moment of our lives. And in those moments of pure connection, we are able to connect to the Divine in every thing.
This mantra is a reminder of why we’re practicing.
So, next time your teacher calls “samasthiti” let your chant be a vow to yourself, a reminder to connect to the Divine, and a reminder that the practice is much more than simple (and not-so-simple) yoga poses.
Om
Vandē gurūṇāṃ caraṇāravindē
Sandarśitasvātmasukāvabōdhē |
Niḥśrēyasē jāṅgalikāyamānē
Saṃsārahālāhalamōhaśāntyai ||
Ābāhu puruṣākāraṃ
Śaṅkhacakrāsidhāriṇam |
Sahasraśirasaṃ śvētaṃ
Praṇamāmi patañjalim ||
Om
Translation
om
I bow to the lotus feet of the Supreme Guru
which awaken insight into the happiness of pure Being,
which are the refuge, the jungle physician,
which eliminate the delusion caused by the poisonous herb of Samsara (conditioned existence).
I prostrate before the sage Patanjali
who has thousands of radiant, white heads (as the divine serpent, Ananta)
and who has, as far as his arms, assumed the form of a man
holding a conch shell (divine sound), a wheel (discus of light or infinite time) and a sword (discrimination).
om
Two words, two languages, one breath, one practice.
Hearing those two words inspire a moment of spontaneous meditation for me. For a moment, I can feel the mat beneath my feet, I can feel Sharath’s presence on the stage nearby. The grace of surrender floods my system and ease fills my heart.
Surrendering to the pulse of Ashtanga Yoga, surrendering to the pace of the vinyasa count allows me to dive into the waters of the moving meditation. Stilling the mind and calming the body. The next 90 minutes are a concentrated experience of Breath, Bandhas and Dṛṣṭi.
Then rest, peace and tranquility pervade the physical, energetic and mental bodies. Stillness abounds.
The full moon of July is celebrated with a Hindu festival known as GURU PURNIMA. This is a day honoring spiritual and academic teachers and is mostly celebrated by hindus and buddhists as a way of thanking their teachers.
The full moon of July is also the anniversary of the birth of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, born on this day in 1915. Our beloved teacher, Guruji, the Father of Ashtanga Yoga was born on the day to honor our gurus.
Sri K. Pattabhi Jois a Guru, one who destroys/dispels darkness, the bringer of light, the guide on the spiritual journey of yoga. His eyes sparkled with peaceful joy and his smile invoked inspiration in all. His presence was humbling, comforting, and inspiring. He was a natural teacher and a true representation of yoga. And now, his grandson R. Sharath Jois continues to lead the Ashtanga tradition with honor and grace, our modern Ashtanga guru. Sharath’s teachings are honest and pure, wrapped in humor to inspire and motivate students from around the world, shining light into our hearts through the Ashtanga Yoga practice.
I am thankful for my teachers every day. I hear their words in my practice, inspiring me to roll out my mat, encouraging me to practice kapotasana one more time. And when I doubt the practice, when I doubt myself, I remember Guruji’s message to me “You, you come back, you take practice” and I do.
Thank you Guruji, thank you Sharath, thank you Ashtanga Yoga.
This method of practicing yoga is unique, amazing, powerful, empowering, healing, transformative, personalized, safe and ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!!
Yes, Mysore classes can seem intimidating, elusive, even just down right confusing! Students who walk into the practice room for the first time might feel overwhelmed seeing all the students breathing and moving, deep in their own meditative practice, AND some of them are doing some really CRAZY asanas (postures)!
But, the truth is, Mysore Style is simple, pure and AMAZING!!!! Here are just a few of my favorite reasons:
You get to go at your own pace – this is HUGE!!!! You don’t have to keep pace with the teacher or the class; you can go at your own pace, whatever that feels like on that day!! Are you feeling super tired and run down, looking for a more therapeutic practice – you got it!! Are you feeling super jazzed and ready to tear your mat up – GO for it!!!
You don’t have to be on time – wait, what? Yes, that’s right, you arrive when you can and leave when you’re done!! The Mysore room will be open with a teacher for a block of time (generally 2-3 hours) and you come when you can to do your yoga practice, and leave when you’re done!!! How great is that?!?!?!
Your teacher teaches just to you, giving you a personalized approach to the Ashtanga Yoga method – This is a self-paced class, with one teacher in the room. This structure allows the teacher to be able to teach each student one-on-one! It’s like a private lesson, with the collective energy of a group class!!!
Ashtanga is a comprehensive practice – asana, pranayama, meditation even a little bit of chanting, all in one class!
Ashtanga is a practice of efficiency – combining all of these yogic practices into a 90ish minute practice allowing you to still have a family and a life while still living the yogic lifestyle.
Ashtanga is truly a class for ALL levels – since you receive individualized instruction from your teacher, this class honestly is appropriate for ALL levels!!! Whether you’re brand new to yoga or if you can throw your leg behind your head with ease, you’ll find a class that’s exactly what your body needs that day! Come and you’ll learn pose by pose, as your body opens and you will learn new, fun and challenging asanas as your body is ready!!!!
Ashtanga is a traditional practice – The Ashtanga Yoga Method has been around for a LONG time. Many teachers and students have practiced this method over the years, proving the healing benefits of the practice.
Try it today, you’ll learn a practice you can take with you anywhere, a practice for life!!
