Finding the Sacred in Sound and Stillness

This fall I was lucky enough to journey west to spend some time with family. I love where I live in Portland, but even in the quiet places I can still sense an underlying movement in the space around me.

There is a quality of profound stillness here in Colorado that I hope to carry home with me.

Stillness is even more marked next to the contrast of activity. Similarly, the gifts of silence are even more pronounced after an immersion of sound. Here is a place we can truly recharge and hear deep wisdom.

As we begin to walk towards darker days, I have been spending more time with my spiritual practice and have been contemplating how much better I feel compared to times when it sometimes slips away from me.

The other morning I woke up just feeling off about something. It wasn't something I had any control over but it was really affecting me. As I wandered around my kitchen, my mind started spiraling but as I began to feel worse, it occurred to me that although I might have any control over the situation, I might have some control over how I was feeling about it. And so, as a science experiment in the moment I decided to chant because that is what I am always telling people to do.

Maybe I wouldn't be sharing this story if it didn't work, but I can report that once again it didn't fail. I really believe that chanting is so effective for shifting an emotional state or a mind spin because it works on so many levels. The vibrations (if you chant out loud) literally stir the energy in the body, cleansing and purifying negative states. Mentally, it invites a one pointed focused concentration, shifting your attention away from whatever it was you were thinking about allowing a break in the thought pattern that was bringing you down. Spiritually, it connects you into the divine part of yourself, so can feel guidance and support from the divine all around you however you choose to connect to it.

And then there is the stillness after the chanting is over, which in its bliss, holds the potential for a transformed perspective to surface allowing you to move through difficult situations with greater ease.

If you are interested in exploring the benefits of this beautiful practice join me for a program this fall or the 40 day practice that begins in January.

Much love,

Sri