By Sukhdev | Aykanna
It was warm dewy Los Angeles night when Akahdahmah, who was my friend back then, picked me up from my J.O.B and took me to some event at Krishna Kaur’s house. There was an excitement in the room as some fifty people in white gathered for a special event. It was all brand new to me, I was taking it in. We all settled and I felt pretty comfortable until people started chanting, they had their hands out and begun to rise their voices in unified melodies and words I had never heard before.
Ra ma da sa, sa say so hung….Hmmm, this is interesting I thought, though I felt very closed off. There was something tugging at me that wanted me to join in but my ego got in the way and instead I listened with skeptical ears and a mind full of questions!
Well, something went down that night…. a tension broke its hold inside of me. The “Naad” they call it, got deep under my skin and I walked out of that light filled room more curious and open than ever. I saw something about myself that night; I was all bundled up in knots within and didn’t even know it. It just was part of what I was used to. There was a tight rope that needed to break loose, and it did……
And thus, shortly after, my journey begun in the study of Kundalini Yoga and meditation. I begun to chant along to the mantras in classes and morning Sadhanas and I got connected to a space within me that I had not touched for what seemed like eons. That space we reside in so naturally as children…the heart.
I spent many classes and years allowing the chants to show me how to heal myself…they taught me to listen, to meditate, to breathe deep and weave the tapestry of my heart center back together. It felt good and the chants naturally begun to flow, more and more I was hearing melodies which I strummed on my guitar and soon enough I was writing my own versions of those beloved chants that were healing not just myself but lifetimes of suffering it felt like.
Mantra can be translated as ” mental liberation”. Mantras can be looked at as formulas that alter the patterns of the mind and the chemistry of the brain. The genuine goal of repeating mantra, which is a science, is to connect to the Divine, to a state of awareness rising up from the heart. It allows us to express and awaken the human potential through a very precise science of the way the tongue hits the 84 meridians on the roof of the mouth as we chant and stimulates the hypothalamus which is then translated to give instructions that regulate chemical messengers that go to all the vital areas of the brain and body. It changes the chemistry of the brain and the immune system.
I have been teaching these workshops I am very passionate about called “The Power of a Woman”. I use this tool of chanting in every class, I have witnessed its power over and over again. When we gather in a sacred circle of women and do the work of coming back into our power, our hearts, our prayers and our grace, I have witnessed the power chanting brings to the group consciousness time and time again. The release, the tears, the smiles, the ecstasy, women love to sing, especially when we do this circle style. This tradition of chanting in Sanskrit, Gurmukhi or any other ancient languages, goes back centuries. It is ancient, it is sacred and these tools have come back around at a much needed moment as we face these shifting times. We are remembering that this is how we use to pray, this is how we use to teach the children, with song, in circle, this is how we use to heal, to bless the food. It is time to re-ignite the fire of our hearts, to come back to the center, we can feel empowered through using our voice to connect with and revere the Divine and heal what might have been broken on this journey. Yogi Bhajan said it so beautifully, “The Power of a woman is the power of her prayer.” Let’s chant! Get Uplifted! And be happy!
Sukhdev of Aykanna featured on the cover of LA Yoga in April 2013.
