Sound Castles
The other day I came home from teaching at a nearby workplace and noticed my house felt a little empty. Sure I was greeted by an adorable, squirming (70+ pound) puppy, but I had the distinct feeling that something was missing. I put down my bag, walked into the kitchen and realized what it was: my 24/7 mantras had somehow stopped playing.
And while that may seem distinctly normal to you, it was a strange experience for me. An uncomfortable and almost eerie emptiness had settled in to the spaces between the usual sounds. I noticed how interesting the contrast was, and realized it’s time to share more about why.
Why did I feel as though something was missing? What was so strange about a silent house?
Well, for starters, as we learned with the gong post, sound is everything. Our universe begun with a big…Bang! The O.T. begins with the sound of the “Word” of the creator. Universes. Divinity. Creation. Modern science has taught us that sound is a vibration and everything in us and around us is also a part of that cosmic dance. As Albert Einstein put it, “Everything in life is vibration.” Everything from our water bottles, to our books, to our bodies is all vibrating at a tempo. The molecules that make up every object in the universe are moving at a particular frequency. That frequency can be manipulated via sound.
And sound is everywhere. Even in a silent house. They’re just on a level our human ears can’t quite pick up. But think of the sounds you do pick up, some intentional, some not so much: Like the sound of the coffee dripping into the coffee maker, or the sound of the first birds chirping. The sound of a car engine starting, the sound of the news, or the sound of a favorite song.
Each has a cadence, each produces a response. Some sounds can energize (birds, coffee, 80s songs), while others can deplete (a boring meeting, anger, the news).
I’m on a mission both personally and professionally to infuse my environments with intentional sound currents that have energy and are elevating. And because I’ve had a palpable experience with sound in terms of it’s ability to change a mood and space, I know its transformative powers to be true. I invite you to explore for yourself.
When it comes to yogic technology, the power of sound through mantra can - with great agility and speed - set us on course for our day, our mission, our purpose, even our lifetime. Mantra can be translated to “direction of the mind” - which is exactly what it does - harnesses and directs the mind to a better, brighter, more energizing place. Thus it’s a shortcut to short-circuit mental thought patterns that are entrenched, hypnotic, and depleting.
Maybe we’ve been struggling with old and stale mental thought patterns (i.e. mental sound currents), like: I look so tired and so old lately. Or I really don’t have any good friends anymore. Or I’m just not good enough, nothing I do will ever be good enough. Or perhaps we’ve been inverting everything that happens to us externally, thinking: “there must be something awfully wrong with me.”
Any of these sound familiar?
Mantras, like an adaptogenic superfood potion, target those inner subconscious weaknesses and redirect them. They carry us through the flash-flood of our negative thought patterns to higher ground.
And from there, we can harness this power even more by repeating the sounds over and over, allowing them to build vibratory energetic fortresses - like sound castles - that can be protective, creative, and healing.
A sound current can re-pattern a line of thinking and a space, be it the office, the home, your bedroom, or your electromagnetic field (i.e. your own little bubble) that travels with you everywhere you go.
So yes, I play them constantly. Sometimes I play 2 or 3 different ones at a time, which in a tiny house can be well… a lot. A client asked the other day if in addition to the mantras playing in my home, I was playing a “secret gong” on my phone that was right next to me. Yes, indeed I was.
Upon meeting one of my first Kundalini teachers (who happens to be the lead singer of White Sun), she said with great seriousness that I was starving for mantras.
Huh? Starving?
Now I know what she meant.
When we train ourselves to be surrounded by and aligned with a high-vibrational sound, it’s like a nectar to the soul. It really IS a form of nourishment at a core level as it reconnects us to our wholeness, our innate divinity, the essence of our immortality and also that which we came here to see through (i.e. our mission on earth). Healing sounds can be the balm to all the places that were lackluster and well, hungry for something higher.
This attunement to strategic sound has also made me extra sensitive to the agendas and utilization of this mechanism. Take the airport for instance: The talking heads and their constant vibration of fear on CNN is a palpable downshift from the sounds I’m used to. Or take a moment to sensitize yourself to the vibration of not-enoughness when you listen to the next commercial that comes up. This sensitivity has even helped me call bullshit on the sound current of self and others that is decidedly untrue. I am learning to resonate with that which is authentic, and very quickly understanding that which is not - no matter how shiny and polished it may look on the surface.
And then there are the protective mantras. We live in a weird time. There is a lot of unexpected violence. There’s also a lot of unexpected kindness. But to add another layer, again as all things are vibration, and all vibration on some level is creative or destructive, I often employ the use of protective mantras around home and person when wandering, traveling or sleeping. Call it a security blanket, or call it yogic technological strategy at it’s finest. Either way, it helps.
Sounds don’t lie, but they do direct. My mission is to share the ease of using sound to change your experience. You don’t have to be a yogi, you don’t have to even care about the origin of these mantric frequencies, but you can utilize them for your health and happiness.
Here’s to building the finest and most beautiful castles of sound around your life and your mission.
A few of my favorite mantra artists sounds below for listening and building pleasure:
As I’ve shared before, anything by the band White Sun (they won a grammy last year and will likely win another this year) is a great place to start. From there I also love the artists Singh Kaur, Nirinjan, Ajeet, Oslee, Snatum, among many many others.
Here are a few of my favorites to share with clients these days:
A mantra to help lift us out of mental lethargy or depression: Ang Sang Wahe Guru
A mantra of protection: Tithai Too
A mantra to increase energy: Pavan Pavan
A mantra to rise above your fate and open up your destiny: Mul Mantra
A mantra of miracles: Guru Ram Das
A mantra for radiance: Ajai Alai
A mantra to open up the heart center: Mere Lal Jio