There’s No Place Like Om – August 27, 2009

Image created by Amy Ford

    We chant the sound OM at the beginning and end of each yoga class. Our goal, according to the ancient writing of Hatha Yoga, is to hear the sound of OM internally. By repeatedly practicing this sound, one day the vibration will become apparent in our waking consciousness.
    Breath brings us in and out of this life. We are able to live for long periods of time with no food. We can survive days with no water. We are unable to go for more than a few minutes without breathing.
    Though it is dubbed a mind-body connection, many who observe yoga see it as a physical exercise for the body. When students involve themselves in the breathing and sound producing exercises of the practice, they begin to taste what this really means.
    Producing sound is a way to exercise the breath. The practice of chanting in yoga is adjunct to the focus and development of the breath. Sound is an audible vibration. Vibration affects us at multiple levels. Sound can stand the hairs of your body on end. It can give you an unconditional feeling of satisfaction. Sound is all around you and deep inside of you at the same time. It can be heard as well as unheard. Sound vibrates and is just as you are, prana, pure energy.
    All energy vibrates but not all energy creates audible sound. Chanting the sound OM has long been practiced as the bridge from struck to un-struck sound, a journey which takes us to the other side of our being. In Sanskrit the sound OM is known as the Anahata Nada which literally means Heart Sound. To the Zen practitioner it is the sound of one hand clapping, the un-struck sound. Think of it this way: can we really hear an open heart? Though we cannot, we feel the vibration of one.
    Audible sound is made when two things strike together thus creating vibration in the atmosphere. The two things could be a hand on a drum or your two vocal chords. The waves crash upon the shore.  Rain falls upon the ground. These are the physically obvious ways to produce sound as in two sticks clicking. Sound made without the striking of two things is the sound of pure primal energy.
    Most cultures without our technology realize the importance of sound on our health and our mental well-being, In more “primitive” societies, everyone participates actively in ceremonies using chanting, singing, drumming and dancing to promote physical, emotional and spiritual health through the release of tension from the mind and body. For people of these cultures, sound and spirit are one. To make sound is to release spirit and energy, in order to restore balance and harmony to their lives. Chanting is one of the most natural and most ancient sound forms used by spiritual traditions in all ages to heal and energize,
    Chanting the complete sound of OM takes you through the three states of consciousness; awareness, dream and void to the forth state which is pure Bliss. This silent vibration fills you and all that is around you with pure primal energy.
    Think of the pronunciation of this magical word as a journey through yourself. Enjoy each phase of the sound as it flows from you. By chanting OM you will experience all of your voice as an instrument for awakening. To warm up, begin with the sound Ahhhhhhhhh as you inhale, opening your throat effortlessly then lightly release the Ahhhhhhhhh exhaling. You are relaxing, experiencing a true sense of well being and feel all is right in the world. Take a second even deeper breath than the previous, begin high in the range of your voice and let the sound fill your entire being as you sail down through the notes of your voice and release an even deeper Ahhhhhhhhhh. Now you have the beginning sound and you are ready to make the full journey of the sound OM.
    Begin with a deep long inhalation. The sound Ahhhhhhhhh comes out your mouth representing your awakening consciousness, logic, reason and matter. Shift your sound to Oooooooo (as in glue) taking the sound to the back of your mouth and moving you to the dream realm. Matter becomes fluid and changes swiftly, imagination, divinities and the inner world lie here. Continue to the Mmmmmm like humming, lips gently closed. Mmmmmmm buzzes in the front of your mouth. Mmmmmm is the place of pure nothingness, the unseen and the void. The moment when the sound is silence, is the place of pure bliss which the practice of chanting OM brings you to. This place of nirvana is the goal of the practice called Samadhi. After chanting the sound OM we can hear the Anahata Nada, the un-struck sound, though not with our ears. Within this sound is the vibration of self. The sound of being.