Proper Practice of Mantra chanting

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Namaste,

I am starting to practice mantra chanting after my asanas and pranayama and before going to meditation for few minutes.

My yoga teacher recommended me to chant the Gayatri Mantra in the morning to open chakras, then as it is bringing lot of energy during the day, I have to reverse it with Sahana Mantra before bedtime (after meditation)

My question is(are)

Is there a prefered order like i mentionned (asanas, pranayama then mantra) or can it be changed from time to time?

I read lot of books on ayurveda, and according to one type (Vata, pitta or kapha etc...) some mantras are strongly recommended, for exemple Ksham and Ram are good for Vata and Vata-Pitta types of humors,

so can I inegrate these mantras after the Gayatri and Sahana (or before) ?

Thank you

Aum Shanti
Peace

#2

Best asked of your teacher my friend, so as not to muddy the waters of your practice.

The Gayatri mantra is the mother mantra, the essence of yoga itself. In my practice I chant the Gayatri just as soon as I’ve settled into Virasana - the pose in which I begin - and aligned the spine. I follow that with asana in a bell curve fashion - slowly warming, building, then cooling toward Savasana. It is during the cooling stage that I do pranayama.

I believe pranayama requires a gentle state of being and I suggest to be completely undisturbed during this time AND to budget enough time for savasana as a “must do” afterwards.

To close my practice I return to a seated position after Savasana and chant Sri Aurobindo’s Gayatri to finish.

#3

Dear IA,

How is Sri Aurobindo?s Gayatri different? Do you chant aloud?

I admire your disciplined practice (Mantra, Asana, Pranayama all integrated), how long does your practice take?
Do you do Puja or Meditation after the practice?

How long have you been practicing & do you have a sense of where you are heading?

How did you ?fall into? Yoga?

How much attention do you give to diet?

I ask all these questions with great respect with the hope it sheds some light on how I can improve mine.

Thanks.

Namaste,
Love,
Fin

#4

I think Fin that you have some misperceptions about my practice. It is a very normal practice with obstacles and challenges just like any other person’s practice.

The two mantras are part of my asana practice each time I practice. There are days I do not do asana, especially those where my SI joint is cranky. I’ll typically add a pranayama component to my practice a couple of time each month. When I meditate I do so independently of my asana practice though they can be done one after the other. I would prefer asana after meditation, rather than before.

There are times where I am teaching beginners and do not find the mantras appropriate material for that group. In those cases I recite the mantra to myself. Otherwise they are always aloud.

Generally speaking, the focus of the Gayatri from the Rig Veda is enlightenment. Aurobindo’s Gayatri focuses on transformation. A sanskrit scholar might expound on this more eloquently than I as I am but a simple yogi.

I have been practicing for eight years or so. I tend not to retain such information though it was around 1999 or 2000 that I began my practice. I do not mandate a particular duration for practice. Some days it is 90 minutes. Other days it is 9 minutes. Where am I going? I am not going anywhere at all.

How did I fall in to yoga? I was invited to an ashram in Orlando by some dear friends. I enjoyed how I felt after class and explored some other teachers and some semi-private instruction in asana.

In Purna Yoga diet and nutrition is one of the four main elements of yoga. Again, my diet is not to be admired nor is it pristine. Some days it is not even clean. But it is important, what things we do eat and what things we avoid. There are some basic things in each category so I’d say I give a fair amount of attention to my diet.

How that is the information you were looking for Fin.

Namaste.

[QUOTE=Fin;10406]Dear IA,
How is Sri Aurobindo’s Gayatri different? Do you chant aloud?
I admire your disciplined practice (Mantra, Asana, Pranayama all integrated), how long does your practice take?
Do you do Puja or Meditation after the practice?
How long have you been practicing & do you have a sense of where you are heading?
How did you “fall into” Yoga?
How much attention do you give to diet?
I ask all these questions with great respect with the hope it sheds some light on how I can improve mine.
Thanks.
Namaste,
Love,
Fin[/QUOTE]

#5

Dear IA, thanks for your reply

My teacher is away for a while and I won’t be able to ask him immediately, in the mean time I keep my practice at home but I want to keep up with the mantra chanting as well;

actually, my practice toda is the following:
After rising and before breakfast, I do Jala Neti, then asanas including Suryanamaskara A & B, then I include some Yin Yoga poses to open my hips or lower spine (I have chronic scoliosis which is a trouble for my knees, hips and lumbar spine), Savasana, then Pranayama, most of the time Kapalabati, and then the Gayatri Mantra (the full version with each line starting with Om), I try to chant it 50 times.

I’d be happy to have your opinion about my routine.

On the other hand, my main concern is to know if I can include RAM and KSHAM mantras singing with the Gayatri Mantra ? or should I do it at another time, like before bedtime for exemple ?

Thank you again for your kind and helpful posts

Namaste
Peace

#6

Thanks IA for your response. One can learn a lot from other yogi?s triumphs & struggles.:slight_smile:
Best,
Fin

#7

Why no more answer from InnerAthlete…? you seem pretty well instructed on the subject, can you help with my questions ?

Thanks again

[quote=ELNINO;10414]Dear IA, thanks for your reply

My teacher is away for a while and I won’t be able to ask him immediately, in the mean time I keep my practice at home but I want to keep up with the mantra chanting as well;

actually, my practice toda is the following:
After rising and before breakfast, I do Jala Neti, then asanas including Suryanamaskara A & B, then I include some Yin Yoga poses to open my hips or lower spine (I have chronic scoliosis which is a trouble for my knees, hips and lumbar spine), Savasana, then Pranayama, most of the time Kapalabati, and then the Gayatri Mantra (the full version with each line starting with Om), I try to chant it 50 times.

I’d be happy to have your opinion about my routine.

On the other hand, my main concern is to know if I can include RAM and KSHAM mantras singing with the Gayatri Mantra ? or should I do it at another time, like before bedtime for exemple ?

Thank you again for your kind and helpful posts

Namaste
Peace[/quote]

#8

elnino,
the path is your own path, is there a “right path” for you? I dont know if anyone on the board is qualified to tell you that and anyone short of an enlightened person may not be able to tell you that as well. They can tell you what they are doing and what has helped them, but they cannot tell you what is your right road to take. Just believe that the answers are inside of yourself. choose a mantra and stick with it, read, go to classes, etc… Whatever gets you the best results stay the course. enjoy the journey, God is all around you
the best to you
justwannabe

#9

I realize you’d be “happy to have my opinion” on your sequence.
Understand, I am not your teacher.

If the current practice you list is one you have been given by your chosen teacher (who I understand is away) AND that practice is working to move you toward rather than away from Svadharma then it is absolutely perfect for you and not for me to say otherwise.

What I can share is that it would not be a practice for me for several reasons, none of which seem relevant or productive to share.

#10

Thanks IA, you are right, my path is my own journey and I should find the right practice that is right for me…'ve heard that before, done that before :wink:

Gayatri Mantra was given to us by our teacher and advised to sing every morning or before any practice of Asanas… I like it, I’ve been reading beautiful texts mentioning Swamis who sang this Mantra for hundreds of thousands of times, and it’s very inspiring

Now my question was just a slight detail, which you are right, should normally come from my teacher, my “assigned” Guru, my mentor… anyway, where I live now and at the present time of my life, I don’t have any assigned Guru, my teacher is a man of his time and has his businesses to attend (teaching Yoga on several other places, where opportunities can take him) and I am keeping up with my practice, truly motivated and moved by my love for Yoga…

So I practice, I read books, I meditate, I observe my body, how my mind and spirit change day after day, how I feel so much better day after day and how it helps me to build love in myself…

But I am at a very early age of Yogic practice and study, only 3 years, and I am still in the process of finding out more about the truth beyond the actual aspect seen of Yoga, my practice feels more experienced than yesterday but I am still a novice compared to tomorrow’s… and sometime external help can be this little kick to climb this additional step that will make a difference and waive doubts in my mind, and in today’s world, Internet and Yogaforums.com can replace the advice of a teacher (only for some slight details like this one, not for an actual practice,don’t get me wrong once again)

So my question was simple and needed a simple answer:
I have read in books that chanting short mantras like Shrim, Ram, Sham, Ksham etc… are very good for pacifying certain excess states of the humors or Doshas, so can thse Mantras be integrated in the chanting of Gayatri before my Asanas practice? and how many times is it usually done?

Thank you if you can help me with that, :smiley:

Namaste
ElNino

#11

[QUOTE=ELNINO;10694]
So my question was simple and needed a simple answer:
I have read in books that chanting short mantras like Shrim, Ram, Sham, Ksham etc… are very good for pacifying certain excess states of the humors or Doshas, so can thse Mantras be integrated in the chanting of Gayatri before my Asanas practice? and how many times is it usually done?

Thank you if you can help me with that, :smiley:

Namaste
ElNino[/QUOTE]

When desiring a yes or no answer it is best to ask a yes or no question :slight_smile:
Yes they “can” be done. They could be integrated with the Gayatri not in the Gayatri. If I were to elect to do such chanting I would do it following the Gayatri. Additionally, if electing to do such chanting I’d pay close attention to the after effects. In fact I would be still for several moments after the chanting to feel the residue of it.

How many times the chanting is done, I cannot say. For you it may be one or 108.

#12

Om Nama Shivaya,

In fact you are right, I must have been wrongly formulating my question , forgive my frenglish!

My question was indeed if it was ok to link together in the practice the short mantras after the Gayatri, so your reply explains it clearly now, thank you for keeping up with the thread

Although you raised more curiosity now, you’re stating about the "safety aspect’ of chanting Mantra, I have read similar statements before but never with the proper reason or explanation of why is it a risky practice. Since we know Mantra is a form of devotion that also brings Prana on a physical level by its vibration effect in the body, what can be the harm or danger of doing too much or doing it not properly? Does it initiate too much Agni? Does it bring too much vibration to the Mind? does it awake Vata?

I often find myself a bit dizzy after a long period of chanting Mantras, so I find your advice to rest and meditate after the chanting very wise

Namaste

#13

I have been practicing meditation and ayurveda for the last twenty five years and even so there are days I let my mind wander and don’t do my discipline. Is there anyone who can help me address this feeling of lack of discipline?

#14

Elnino,

“Is there a prefered order like i mentionned (asanas, pranayama then mantra) or can it be changed from time to time?”

Once you start entering into something like mantras, now you are dealing with more intensive concentration work. Unless you are simply using the mantra to awaken a general feeling. But if one is interested in using the mantra as a method for the expansion of consciousness, now harnessing the powers of your concentration is essential. There is usually a sequence for this, you do not start doing work with mantras before you start doing asanas or pranayama. In fact, all of the various asanas, pranayama, mudras, kriyas, bandhas, all are just various mechanisms to help prepare your inner atmosphere for the next phase of work, meditation. Not everybody can sit for meditation immediately. If one tries to sit for meditation immediately, one will find that it is almost impossible to settle the matter, one’s mind is scattered in a thousand and one directions. That is natural, the mind has a whole history of programming behind it. And all that it is interested in, is working according to it’s tendencies. So, to help prepare one’s inner space, all of these various methods have been created, most of which are centered around purifying one’s system so that one can become like a vessel for meditation. Once one has done the necessary preparatory work, now one will find that once one starts meditation, the mind tends to be far more balanced, grounded, centered, and friendly with the process.

So, ordinarily, if one is using a mantra as an object for entering into meditation, mantras are dealt with much later. You first start with asana’, pranayama, mudras and bandhas.

#15

Elnino,

“I have read in books that chanting short mantras like Shrim, Ram, Sham, Ksham etc… are very good for pacifying certain excess states of the humors or Doshas, so can thse Mantras be integrated in the chanting of Gayatri before my Asanas practice? and how many times is it usually done?”

Once you start dealing with mantras like Shrim, Ram, Sham, Ksham, you are working with a particular category of mantras. All of those single syllable mantras, the bija mantras, have no particular meaning in themselves. They are particular frequencies of energy and vibration. What you are repeating verbally or in the mind is just the gross expression of the real mantra, which cannot be spoken. Every mantra has an audible and an inaudible aspect. In fact, that is how the bija mantras were first discovered. They were never spoken, but they were heard. Just as one can use the five senses for exploring the outer world, the same five senses can be used for exploring the inner dimension. Once you enter into certain depths of meditation through particular techniques, it is possible to hear different frequencies of vibration. There is a whole science of the expansion of consciousness through these inner sounds, in yoga it is called nada yoga. The chakra center which is responsible for accessing such levels is the Anahata at the heart. In fact, the very word anahata itself means “unstruck sound”.

A mantra like Om was originally heard, the root sound of it is not exactly Om, but something similar. And, just as an attempt to capture the essence of the sound heard, the syllable “Om” had come into being. And through repeating the mantra, it was discovered that one can enter into the same level of existence, that there are some sounds which are a bit like geometrical forms. They create specific properties, some destructive, some creative, some preservative, some a combination of these. That is also why with the chakras, every chakra is not just corresponding to a mantra, but every mantra also has a particular form and color attached to it. Energy can manifest in many different ways, through sound, or color, or geometry - these are just different forms of the same thing.

So there is much more to these bija mantras than simply the doshas. They have a particular effect on the subtle body, the nadis, prana, and one’s state of consciousness.

#16

Amir, thanks a lot for your detailed and long response, your described explanation is very useful.

Actually I am just getting back to a regular practice now after 2 years of interruption due to a back injury until i had to receive surgery last month. I couldn’t even sit or lay down to meditate!

Your (late) reply reminds me that it’s now the time to dive deep again in the search for my state of consciousness and meet the inner truth.

Thank you,

Mat

#17

Elnino,

: )