New Vibrational Samskara-s

Cultivating silence through sound

Maybe it's playing Christmas music in the car. Maybe it's talking to yourself. Maybe it's listening to the sound of the rain to fall asleep. Maybe it's praying. Maybe it's singing in the shower. Maybe it's playing an instrument. Or listening to an intriguing podcast. Talking to a well-wishing loved one. Somehow, it seems to temporarily turn down the volume of our recurring thoughts, imaginings and preoccupations.

For us, chanting does the transformational wonders we seek. When we use sound as a Yogic tool, it pacifies; however, it also purifies, forms new samskara-s. Fortify your bond in our upcoming Yoga Sutra Samādhi Padaḥ chanting review, once monthly, over the next four months.

The mystical communication within occurs in silence, so why chant? And why now? Chanting does not equal Yoga. Chanting is a tool of Yoga, and since Yoga Foundation’s inception, a mighty beloved one here, for Danielle and for our core students. Our minds and bodies, our emotions and personalities are full to the brim with past and future, dragging us to and fro, yet Yoga happens in the present moment. If we are doing Yoga with our body only, it’s not even Yoga. It’s the mind that needs to be channeling the totality of its faculties into now, right now. We can’t chant and think. Chant and remember. Chant and project into the future.

At the same time that we are drowning out the incessant responsibilities and recurring thoughts and imaginations, memories and biases that keep us from being present, we are drowning in sacred utterances of the cosmic being. And why now? We are in the grips of the dark season; yet, the light is returning. The winter solstice time of year invites us to pause. To slow down. To reflect. To accept. To nurture our inner being. To be. The mind can’t hold the chanting and the other stuff at the same time. It is through quieting of the mind that chanting yields that we gain the insight, awareness and empowerment to be lead on the right path for the remaining winter season. It is through the resting of thinking and phonics of feeling that chanting mantra-s yields new vibrational samskara-s, the kind that revolutionize experience.