New Year, New Experiences

Chanting has called my curiosity for awhile so when I saw the New Year’s Day group sun salutation hour followed by chanting at one of the yoga centers here, I decided to go. The Sun Salutation (or 'Surya Namaskar') is an old friend from many years of practicing yoga (and one I haven't visited nearly enough!). It is a flowing series of twelve individual postures, each movement coordinated with the breath, inhaling when extending or stretching, exhaling when contracting. In India it is practiced as a morning prayer; the twelve rounds of the twelve-posture salutation corresponding to the phases of the sun, reflecting the path of the sun across the sky and connecting practitioners with the cosmic flow of life. The postures themselves encourage strength and flexibility, stimulating the heart, lungs, blood flow, and organs and increasing physical vitality. The periods in my life when I have made time for a devoted morning practice have been, without exception, the most joyous and peaceful times of the last decade. It seemed the perfect beginning of the New Year to dedicate an hour to greeting the sun, the day, the year in salutation.

I had not done a group salutation practice before and found it incredibly stimulating. Rather than the traditional single mat practice, we crossed two mats, one on top of the other, to create a cross. We then did salutations in rotation, beginning at the top of the cross, completing the salutation, then stepping to the top of the mat to our right, then to the next. Four salutations clockwise, then four counter-clockwise. It was amazing, a dance that somehow invigorated rather than exhausted you. The music. The power of the group. The energy of a New Year. The instructor’s calm and light voice calling out the steps and directions so you didn’t have to think; you just immersed in the movement, the body, the flow. Good stuff.

There is a video demonstration of Surya Namaskar here and another article here if you would like to try it on your own, though I always recommend new practitioners find a studio where the wisdom of the instructor and energy of the group can help guide you.

There was a quick break and then a smaller class rejoined for the chanting. The instructor had chosen the Gayatri Mantra - considered the second most sacred of all mantras after Om. I have heard the Gayatri Mantra several times but had never learned the words to it. Most of the little exposure I have had to chanting has been thanks to Deva Premal. She has made a very successful singing career with her beautiful, angelic interpretations of Sanskrit mantras and now travels the world performing with her husband, Miten. I was fortunate to see them perform here in Dallas shortly after I arrived and would highly recommend catching a show if you ever have the chance. It is a soul-rendering experience. (www.devapremalmiten.com)

So we began. Sitting on mats, facing the window and the sun beyond, legs comfortably crossed, hands resting on knees. A rolled blanket to sit on will allow the knees and hips to open more fully and comfortably. We started with three 'Om's (pronounced more or less like 'home' but without the 'h'). 'Om' - is the sacred syllable of the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist religions, signifying all manifest and unmanifest aspects of God, all forms of time, past, present, and future, all that is abstract, all that is tangible, all that is, and all that isn’t. They say creation itself was set in motion by the vibration of 'Om'. If you have never “Om”ed, it is an experience worth having - especially in a group.

While it is most commonly written “OM,” the syllable is actually made up of three sounds A (as in ‘accounting’), which represents the waking state. U (as in ‘would’), which represents the dream state of consciousness that lies between waking and deep sleep. And finally M (as in “sum”), which represents deep sleep. Each “Om” is followed by silence which represents the fourth state known as “Turiya,” the state of perfect bliss when the individual self recognizes its identity with the supreme.

Some people incorporate the concept of Chakras into their Om practice. Beginning the sound deep in their pelvic floor, they mentally follow it up through the sacrum into the belly, up through the heart chakra, the throat, into the third eye, and out through the crown of the head to join the infinite. I’ve found the strength of the vibration actually changes as it passes through these areas and that I can “hear” when one area is more blocked than the others.

While people like Deva Premal can chant lovely sopranic Om’s, I find my truest expression to be a deep vibrational sound from near the bottom of my voice range. If you start at your highest pitch, holding one long sustained note, then descend down to your lowest range, then ascend again, you’ll note a place where the vibration of the voice is strongest. The vibration disappears at the upper and lower end of the voice range. Mine is actually about 2/3rds down my range. I presume it is different for everyone.

I remember the first time I 'Om'd outside a group that allowed me to hide my voice in the mix of others. I was cooking dinner with a wonderful spirit I had met in California and when we sat down to eat he asked if we could Om before eating. It is the Hindu/Buddhist equivalent of praying really, just less words. Of course being on a 'date,' I wanted my voice to be all pretty and soft so I tried to Om in perfect sopranic harmony. My voice cracked and wavered with more wind than wow to it. He smiled, very gently, as enlightened souls can, pressed his hand to my heart, and said simply "try it from here." I was shocked by the sound that came out of me - this deep, solid, vibrational power. I had no idea that sound was even in me. He smiled, nodding at me to try again. This time I sustained it and he joined in with his own. I realized then you can't "try" to Om in harmony. The Om seeks itself. That is the power I find in 'Om'ing with a group. It is as if I am following this powerful life-ness within me into one-ness with all.

Those of you who know me well, know I am very timid about my singing voice. It is one of my last un-faced fears to stand in front of an audience and sing. Those of you who know me well also know I'm not the least bit timid about my speaking, counseling, or debating voice. So it is an interesting contradiction for me this voice that is in so many ways me, my strength, my expression, my gift, my power and, at the same time, is a source of fear, of weakness, of inability. 'Om'ing takes me beyond both of these - the power is not a power of ego, as my speaking voice is, it is the power of all that can be, and the trembling is not a weakness of ego, or insecurity, but a reaching for that power. Somewhere in all that, I find the greatness within me and me within the greatness that surrounds me.

With the last vibration of Om settling in the room, the yogi began the Gayatri Mantra. "Om bhur bvah svah. Tat savitur vrenyam. Bhurgo devaysa dimahi. Dihyo yo nah pracodayat." (Audio links: Deva Premal’s interpretation; traditional chant.) We had cheat sheets if we needed or wanted them. Unfortunately too often, my need to be right is stronger than my need to experience, but there is something special about letting the words pick you up one by one rather than trying to pick them up.

Somewhere around twenty minutes we seemed to hit a groove. The words had settled in our souls. The room was filled with radiating energy. We knew where we had come from and where we were going and so were able to just sit in the fullness of where we were. Time began to hover. Students began to rock in time to the rhythm and at the same time disappear into the rhythm of the world. Oneness. Of voice, of mind, of spirit.

I decided that day I would undertake a mantra mediation practice. After all it is a New Year, what a great time for New Beginnings. I'll let you know how it goes. Namaste....

Comments

[Rob Massonneau]

Sherry,
I really enjoyed you sharing your experiences of chanting, particularly of OM. The group OM chant sounded wonderful. I think by sheer chance (or not) I may have happened upon the studio where you did your chant, the Yoga Center near Whole Foods. Now I can try it out myself. I love your writing, inspiring and educational. I have done sun salutations but with no explanation of what they are about. Good to know.
Rob (fellow couch surfer)