Chanting Om (Aum)
You can read all over the internet about the significance of the sound Aum and the benefits of chanting it and so I do not want to go into those specifics here. You will hear it chanted in many yoga classes. I always finish my classes by chanting Aum with my students. It is a great way end to a great practice.
One night as I listened to the students chanting Aum I realised that for some it had become little more than a vocal practice, with no real intention. For yoga to have lasting transformational benefits it needs to be practised with intention.
A few days later I was inspired to say this to my students before we chanted Aum together:
The chanting of Aum
When we chant Aum, there are four parts the A sound, the U sound, the M and the aftersound. Each part of the sound should be of equal length. As we chant Aum we want to start the sound deep in the belly and draw the energy up into the chest as it changes from A to U, and then up into the head to resonate with the M, we then release the sound as we breathe in to prepare for the next one.
The beginning of the Aum is the birth, the new activation of energy, then the sound has a moment of development and stability before it begins to mature and dissipate — with the “M” sound. We need to ensure that we do not become so caught up in the birth, activation and stability of the sound that we forget to leave enough breath for the M; remember, each part should be of equal length. The “M” teaches us about the appropriate to time to surrender and let go — it is a small death — before the aftersound, which you can interpret in whatever way you wish.
The chanting of Aum is a bit like entering a forest; when we first walk in we see the abundance of life, the multitude of trees and different sounds all around. If we look closer however, we see that there is an equal part of death and decay, that one is dependant on the other.
If we look closer still, we see and realise that even those trees and plants that appear to be dead are not really, different animals and plants live on them and inside of them and so we begin to understand that it is not death at all, but a transformation in preparation for renewal.
Just as in a forest, all of the trees do not drop down dead all at the same time, nor should our Aum’s all begin and die at the same time. As we chant Aum tonight, let’s all begin at different times so there is no part where all of the “trees” die, there is no point of silence until the very end, as you chant listen to the sounds around you as well as listening to the sound of your own Aum, let our chanting of Aum be like the symphony and wisdom of the forest, let our Aum be a transformation in preparation for renewal.
