Creation

When I started thinking about my very first yoga blog post, I thought long and hard about what the topic should be. After all, the very first post?! It had to be perfect! I wrote a long list of options, couldn't decide on any one of them, and almost decided to just give up. Later on, I was teaching a class when the answer hit me like a ton of bricks. In that moment of clarity, it was so obvious! And thus, I begin my blog with the sound of OM- the sound of creation.

You may have chanted OM many times, at the beginning or the end of a yoga class; and the OM symbol is probably the most recognized symbol in yoga. But, truth be told, many of us don't know much about what OM really represents.

The sound of OM is made up of four parts, A-U-M-silence. The four parts are said to correspond to the levels of consciousness experienced through yoga. "A" represents waking consciousness, a place of logical reasoning, where matter is stable and slow to change. The sound resonates in the throat, at the root of the tongue. "U" represents the dream state, in which matter becomes more fluid and changeable. It is the state where imagination begins to awaken. "M" represents the state of deep, dreamless sleep. It is hummed with the lips closed, creating vibrations throughout the entire head. This is the state of pure consciousness, where all is nothing and nothing is everything. It is also said to represent the endless night that exists before creation. The fourth element is the silence after the end of the audible sound. It represents a continual state of infinite consciousness.

How do these states of being and sounds connect to yoga? OM, or AUM, is the all-connecting sound of the universe. It is the sound of creation; it encompasses all speech and all thought, voices joined together to create a "white noise" of the blending of all intentions. It expresses the ultimate reality, the ultimate "joining together"- which is the very meaning of yoga: union.

Everything in the universe is composed of energy, which vibrates at different frequencies. The apparent distinctions between solids, liquids, gases, sounds, and light are merely differences in the speeds at which they vibrate. By chanting the sound of OM, we are connecting to each other, to the universe around us, and directing our bodies' supply of energy to become a healing force for the body, mind, and spirit.

Om, shanti shanti shanti.

Peace to the body.
Peace to the mind.
Peace to the spirit.

Namaste,

Rebecca