Om

“It is also called nadam because it is the supreme music present everywhere eternally…The entire universe is penetrated by this supreme music. In an individual it is manifested as a ringing sound in one’s head. By meditating on it, yogins feel increase in intensity and volume and ultimately they realize that the entire universe is vibrating in nadam.” (Jivamukti FoM, June 2000)

Om (pronounced AHH-OOO-MMM), when chanted, vibrates throughout your body, starting in your abdomen, moving through your heart, and then finally into your skull. Om was the first sound that was, when the world was created, and it resonates in all that surrounds us. It is universal. It is boundless joy. We are “om.”

In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, it is referred to as pranava, ever renewing, and each time it is said, you are renewed, “brought into alignment again.” When you chant om, you are connected to everything and anything that is part of this earth.

This past weekend, a fundraiser was held at Jivamukti to raise money to help send me to teacher training in April. The Jivamukti teacher training costs a small fortune, and although I’d received a partial scholarship already, I still need to come up with the rest of the money somehow.  I was nervous about how the class would go, and even a bit embarrassed that it was for me. After planning the event for 4 months, I wanted to run and hide. Why should all these people care about sending me to teacher training? What makes me so special?

More and more people kept piling into the room, totaling about 50. And as we started to om, I felt something move inside me. A resonating sound that filled my body with joy, and almost made me a bit teary-eyed. Not because they were all there for me. They weren’t there for me. All these people were in the room because of their love of yoga. They were not there for the amazing teachers, the live music. They were in the room because of the sound of om. And I know they all felt it also. There was definitely a tingly vibration moving throughout the room, that got bigger and better with each round we chanted. And then I knew it was ok for me to be in the room. Because I am “om.”

If you’d like to learn more about my fundraising efforts, or just read more about everything I’ve been doing to prepare myself for TT, you can do so here http://www.gofundme.com/1krdz8. I might even post a video of me chanting sutras while baking one day 😉