Breathe it All In

Anyone else still find themselves writing 2018 when they are writing the date? I’ve done it twice this month and its freaking May! What the?! Talk about habits being difficult to break. Geesh. The mind likes to go with it’s neuronal grooves, doesn’t it? It’s not too fond of making new ones, which is precisely why we must work extra hard at creating new patterns if we want things to change in our lives; if we really want to change ourselves and our experience. My daily kundalini practice includes a lot of mantras (listening to and repeating out loud), and these mantras help to change my brain and transform my spirit. In case you are not familiar with what a mantra is, it’s defined in few different ways. Some define it as a word or sound that is believed to have a special spiritual power; a sacred utterance. In Kundalini, “mantras are sounds, syllables, words or phrases that are believed to be capable of creating spiritual transformation” (Insightstate.com). I used to think it was all a bunch of bologna myself, until I decided to open up my mind a bit and give it an honest try. I mean, it couldn’t hurt to repeat some sacred sounds, right? Well, while it hasn’t hurt my sweet little mind at all, my mind has been rather blown by the effects, but in a good way. I find the mantras, which are found in the form of beautiful songs all over the internet, to be very calming and soothing to my sometimes frantic, chaotic state of mind. Listening to and repeating mantras can help create new neuronal patterns, which help to create new thoughts and feelings, which then bring about a fresher, more expanded experience of myself and my world. Our world. My takeaway? Mantras are extremely powerful and potent and should not be so easily dismissed as mere weird and wonky new age music.

While listening to mantras has made a difference in my days, my daily kundalini and meditation practice have also changed so much for me this past year. I accept more easily what comes my way. I don’t freak out as much. I am breathing more deeply and consciously throughout the day. Shallow, rapid breathing tends to make one more frantic and anxious. The way we breathe affects how we live and experience life. It’s that freaking powerful and most of us never even think about it! Giving some attention to how we breathe can change so much. We don’t think about it, but we should. The way we breathe will affect how we live, what we feel and our energy levels. I’m working on breathing more deeply throughout the day. Yogi Bhajan said to try and take 8 breathes a minute. Those are some deep, long ass breaths. I am no where close to that, but I am remembering to take deeper breaths more often. These deep breaths are calming to the nervous system and the mind. Slow, deep breaths in and out. Try it. Our breath is our life force (prana). In this busy, chaotic way of life so many of us are living, our breath can take us back to ourselves, to our peace. It’s so easy to neglect the breath, but the breath is your life. No breath, no you. Become more conscious of it. Work on it. Practice it. The flow of your breath is the flow of you. How do you flow? Do you flow? Or do you ride that choppy wave life where you are up and down and all around, never knowing what is around the bend and how you will react? Stop reacting to your life. Focus on how you breathe and you will find yourself accepting your life with love and gratitude, and that feels good. So very good. And we all want to feel good, right? Of course we do. And guess what? We are most useful in the world when we are feeling good. It’s the truth. How cool is it that our Creator wants us to feel good as we do good? Like Guru Jagat says, “When you feel good, you do good.” So simple. So true. And breathing mindfully is one great easy way to start feeling good. Breathe in the Light. Breathe in your Soul. Breathe in the love you long to feel and embody. Breathe it all in.

*Here are some artists that are currently playing 24/7 in my house. I feel the magic of mantras and maybe you will too. They may take some getting used to, but there is a reason these sacred sounds have been around for so long. They work. Play them while you clean, cook, journal, drive, help the kids with homework, journal, meditate, read, water the plants, sleep, etc. They are always good to play in the home and can have a positive effect on all of those in your household. I think that’s really cool. Ok, here’s my list: