Song of the Sun: Mantra & Sound in your Home Practice
WANTING TO INTRODUCE MANTRA & SOUND INTO YOUR HOME PRACTICE? LEARN THE FAMOUS VEDIC MANTRA, THE GAYATRI MANTRA.
The Gayatri Mantra features every day in my home practice and if you are a regular in my studio yoga classes then you would have heard me chant the mantra at the beginning of class many times!
Chanting is a fairly recent addition to my practice, although music has featured heavily for a long time in my life. There was a point in my life, however, where I ‘forgot’ just how much I enjoyed creating music and using my voice in expressive and creative ways.
After a workshop with wonderful music teacher, Jacinta Percy, I was inspired again to reconnect with this part of myself that I had lost contact with for so long. I found singing and chanting sparked an energy within me that I realised I had missed, an energy that made me feel joyous, free and receptive, and helped me embrace my child-like self that always loved to sing and dance her way around the house.
‘I found singing and chanting … helped me embrace my child-like self that always loved to sing and dance her way around the house.’
Our home practice gives us a safe and supportive practice ground where we can explore these different modalities of exploration, expression and insight. It is truly important to cultivate practices that allow us to wake up parts of ourselves that we have lost touch with, to remember ways of expressing ourselves that feel meaningful and creative, and to free ourselves of the stories around how we ’should’ behave and relate.
The Gayatri Mantra is a mantra that deeply resonates with me. I have heard the mantra chanted and sung many times over the years but it is only recently that I have begun to really appreciate and feel its meaning and power.
The Gayatri Mantra is an ancient Vedic chant which is also sometimes known as ’The Song of the Sun’. What I love about this chant is that it is one of the few ancient mantras that spanned all of society. Many mantras were kept for use by specific people and castes, and were not open to broader community use.
The Gayatri Mantra is a prayer for illumination and understanding, of recognising the natural radiance and light that resides within each one of us. The mantra also helps us remember the elemental nature of life, that all creation (including us!) are comprised of the same qualities of earth, sky, water, air, fire and space. The mantra also recognises times of transition and change, and therefore is traditionally chanted as the sun rises, at noon and at sunset. It is also a wonderful mantra for times of life transition, as we move and flow with the shifting and changing nature of life.
‘The Gayatri Mantra is a prayer for illumination and understanding...’
The Gayatri Mantra can be chanted silently as part of a japa mala practice (that’s a post for another time!) or can be chanted or sung aloud. If chanting aloud, then the mantra is chanted three times through, finishing with ‘Om Shantih, Shantih, Shantih’.
THE GAYATRI MANTRA
Om bhur bhuvah swaha
tat savitur varenyam
bhargo devasya dhimahi
dhiyoyo nah prachodayat
Om Shantih, Shantih, Shantih.
TRANSLATION
Om Earth Atmosphere Heaven
We meditate upon the radiant light of eternal consciousness
May it awaken our own inner radiance and understanding
May it lead us, inspire us and guide us today and everyday
If you were interested in reading more about mantra, music and mindful singing then I highly recommend ‘Music and Mantras: The yoga of mindful singing for health, happiness, peace & prosperity’ by Girish. This book can be ordered online from any good bookstore.
Take care radiant Sun beings,
Sharon
xx.