Cannon Stall

Finding yourself stuck in a loop of negative thinking? One of my tricks... aside from chanting aum of course... is to jump in a pool of cold water. Trust me. It works!

Teaching yoga to a boys' baseball team in California, USA, I focused my Thursday night class on mantras. I was surprised - yet excited - to learn how none of the students had heard of the word "mantra" before.

For many, a mantra is something you repeat to yourself. Perhaps over, and over and over again. I think I can, I think I can. But typically, this is to bring a certain meaning into your psychological state of being... hoping it changes your vibe all together.

Vibrationally, however, a mantra is actually significant for its sound as opposed to its meaning...

Making the use of mantras quite sound!

I explored with the team the power of the sound aum (spelt literally as the word om). Together, we chanted...

Aummmm.

"I went somewhere else," one of the boys said to the group, explaining further how he was able to enter a state of transcendence when chanting aloud.

"It's like we are trying to all sync up together," another stated, "So we can all be one."

Then, we dove in a little deeper.

I explained to the team how if we take the meaning away from words, what is left is a sound. And sound is vibration.

...Eyes growing wider...

When we apply this notion to our everyday thoughts - "positive" vs. "negative" thinking - it might make sense that some words versus others actually sound... and feel... different.

"I hate"

vs.

"I love"

Feel the difference?

Now try it again by removing the meaning. What do you notice?

For this, it only make sense we be extra careful what thoughts we are feeding our minds. Thoughts, like music notes, determine our genre of music. Do you want to be a metal band or a symphony?

How do I check my tone?

Ummmmmmmmm....

No, no...

It's

Aummmmmmm.