Isvara Pranidhana: Surrender

White Tara

Over the last 4 weeks I have discussed the niyamas, the second limb of Patanjali's ashtanga yoga. The 5th Niyama, ईश्वर प्रणिधान: Isvara Pranidhana, which means surrendering to a power greater than yourself. 

Some students struggle with the term God. I remind them that it can be nature (look at the power of the ocean, lightening, wind), it can be the class or a group of people (any number greater than one is greater than our ego flying solo), or you can think about being the best that you can be (greater than who we might be on a stressful day).

According to TKV Desikachar, isvara pranidhana means, "Reverence to [a Higher Power] promotes the ability to completely understand any object." By giving ourselves or surrendering to something greater than ourselves, we are able to understand ourselves, others and situations that we might have struggled with in the past.

We develop focus and faith. Sometimes it seems that we do not reap the benefits of a practice as quickly as we'd like. Yoga is a gradual practice. As we cultivate our practice, our lifestyle and our lives, change is many times subtle. 

Yoga is not a band-aid, at least not for very long. Continued practice brings us to a deeper, subtler place. We must also be diligent. If I let a practice go, my old ways eventually show up. I am not suggesting that our practices don't change over time because they certainly do and should.

How can you begin to connect to your Higher Power and let go of your ego?

• If you have a spiritual practice, you might begin there.

  

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• Sitting 5-10 minutes per day and focusing on your breath. If you're not sure of how to sit and you live in the SLC, UT area, join me for an introduction to meditation, June 3rd, 6-8 pm, Bliss and Baklava.
• Reading spiritual or inspiring literature first thing in the morning or right before bed.
• Recite the mantra ॐ OM (according to TKV, OM means isvara). The more you recite OM, the closer you will come to your Higher Power.
• Focus on a picture, statue or image of your Higher Power or something that has the qualities of your higher power (moon, ocean, mountain).
• Use a word or sound, a mantra, from your religious or spiritual upbringing that has meaning to you. Repeat it aloud or silently.
• Dedicate your asana practice to your Higher Power.
• Let go of judgement and criticism in your life and in your practice.

Thank you for reading about Surrender. For many of us, surrendering makes us vulnerable. A dear friend told me many years ago that to be vulnerable, makes us stronger. It has taken decades for me to understand and feel her words.

I would enjoy reading about your practices and experiences with surrender and with a Higher Power.

How to Fall Asleep: Mantra

Sleeping Like a Teenager

There are 2 things my main things my students ask, no beg, for help with. I'm going to talk about the first one today--sleep. In our busy, electronic age, it's getting harder and harder for people to unwind and sleep deeply for the required amount of time their bodies need. 

I've listed tips in a previous post, Trouble sleeping--look no further. Here I'd like to offer you another useful tool, mantra. Besides not using electronics before sleep, mantra with focused breathing has been the most effective tool for myself and many of my students.

I have used mantra for many years in my yoga, chanting and meditation practice. Traditionally, a mantra is a sound or phrase given to you by your teacher. You repeat it and feel the qualities of the sounds in your body; your mind is also able to focus on the sound alone. I like using Sanskrit mantras, but you can use any sound or word as long as it doesn't contain any negative connotation for you.

Mantra is also a useful tool for falling asleep or going back to sleep if you happen to wake up in the middle of the night.  When choosing a mantra for sleep, it's important that the sound not raise your energy, trigger emotion or cause you to think. I like using single syllables like, ॐ Om or short phrases such as सोहुं so hum--inhaling so exhaling hum; it's similar to saying, "I am." You might also choose a word in your native language that means Peace, Calm, or Tranquil. 

Repeat the word silently as you exhale over and over again. Don't give up too soon. Remember that it takes time for your body and mind to get used to a new practice.

For more on meditation, join me for, "28 days to Inner Peace-Develop a Home Practice: an online mediation course."

Happy ZZZZ...Let me know if it works for you!

The Healing Power of Sound: Mantra

Photo Credit: Jim Zink

I've been writing a lot about nourishment (or lack there of) in the way of food and cleansing for the body, mind and spirit. I'd like to look at other forms of nourishment. Sound in its many forms has led me to both suffering and solace. Of late though, it is my second favorite way to feed my soul. We'll get to my first some day soon.

Sound is defined as vibrations that travel through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a being's inner ear. The difference between noise and sound depends upon the listener. I specifically want to look at mantra, which may or may not be audible.

Mantra is sound that can help us connect to the Divine as well as to practice focus, concentration and to extend our exhale.

There is an indescribable power in the mantra sound vibration that may be felt immediately or over time depending on what we are ready for.  A mantra can be one syllable as in OM or a group of syllables or words.  Mantra can be performed verbally or mentally, loudly or softly.  

Mere mechanical repetition is very effective, yet it does not have the same powerful affect as setting a clear intention before saying your mantra. The effects are much more potent if the same mantra is used over a period of time.

We use mantra for healing, clarity, to define our priorities, to let go of things that don’t work for us and to manifest what will support our growth.  The sound connects with our truth through its vibration.  It is especially strong in our throat (Vishudda cakra-pronounced chakra ), the instrument we use to express ourselves and to speak our truth.

In my blogpost, Why I Chant, I discuss the benefits of chanting. While using mantra will benefit us in the same way as chanting, focusing on a mantra may or may not be chanting. For instance, if you hold the sound Aum or Om in you mind, you are using a mantra yet you are not necessarily chanting. With a short mantra, we don't have to concentrate to remember the words so we can focus on the qualities, the feelings, and the vibration.

We might repeat a mantra while using a mala (historically 108 beads of some sort). Using a mala is a way to focus and keep track of how many times we say the mantra. 108 is an auspicious number. Read more on 108.

I use mantra in my asana practice to focus, feel the vibration and to lengthen my exhale. Mantras are generally given to students by their teachers.

The mantra might be connected to something we want to emulate (water: apah, pronounced a-pa-ha), something we love or something we want to devote ourselves to. 

For those of you in town, Salt Lake City, I will be offering a chanting, asana and meditation workshop this Saturday, May 31st, 2014, at the Mindful Yoga Collective from 1-4 pm. Come join me.

Please share experiences or your thoughts if you would like to add to my discussion about mantra. I realize that I've barely skimmed the surface of mantra; that is why we have a life time to learn. Om shanti. Peace