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source: wwe.com

mantras

Mantras are used widely in yoga. The nexus of both the science and the art of mantras was achieved by the Tantric yogis. It is in this tradition that the teachers at SRY teach and practice.

Chanting a mantra opens the body and stabilizes the mind, bringing it to a place of stillness. The mind becomes steadfast and instead of being pushed and pulled by circumstance, it opens the ground for Being - this is the seat of where the yoga practice comes from.

Mantras are sound vibrations that purify the mind and return it to its innate stillness and brilliance. The natural mind is skillful, quiet and alert. As the body comes from the mind, the many layers of the body are cleansed as well. This allows the practitioner to not only increase the health of the body-mind continuum but to transform it into an adamantine vehicle of super-consciousness.

On a practical level - because there is so much more - but on a practical level we are interested in it because it will give us a deep baseline breath. If we can get the breath to be deep and unhesitant there is really no limit to what we can do in terms of relationship of body and mind.

Chanting is an integral part of the yoga practice. Nothing attunes body, mind and breath like sound pulsation. We all desire a sound body and mind and what could create that better than sound? Nothing affects consciousness as much as sound. Whether it is the sound of our thoughts or words and communication. Sound has a large effect on the layers of the mind. It is obvious that certain sounds are soothing while others are disturbing.

The atmosphere of places has to do with the sounds that are present, from both the external sounds as well as the internal sound pulsation of intentions and thoughts. We all are quite sensitive to the effects of different external atmospheres - chanting allows us to positively affect our internal atmosphere. Yogis have used sound for thousands of years to affect changes internally – from the brain, heart, and even blood pressure to influencing the deepest regions of our consciousness.

Modern research is discovering the same powerful truth. Chanting practiced regularly will help everything from regulating breath to cultivating a lack of self- consciousness.

Mantras are particularly effective in stilling the mind and allowing it to drop into the heart. The body becomes eased, reclaiming its vitality, and as we learn to sit and be still we also cultivate our outer asana more and more until it dissolves into the one asana of the heart.

The chants that are used in our classes at SRY are deliberately chosen to match the energy and level of the class to positively create an inner and outer atmosphere conducive to yoga practice. Chanting ultimately becomes another way to perfect the relationship of life. To chant is to express praise, to show gratitude and generate the inherent joy that as human beings we are born into. To put it simply, to chant is to be enchanted.

source:www.saraswatiriveryoga.com