This video is the result of a "downturn" my mood took a few days ago. I realized something profound as a result of it that I felt was very much worth sharing.
I call it "STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP FOR YOUR NEGATIVITY || CAN YOU LOVE THAT TOO?"
My prayer is that we can all be a little easier on ourselves. Let our emotions be there and not add insult to injury by judging them so much.
I have more live footage to show you from Bhakti Fest (thanks Masood Ali Khan!).
I want to share with you a most magical mantra... it's called... wait for it... THE MAGIC MANTRA.
Yep. For real.
I first learned this mantra in Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training in 2010. Yogi Bhajan said that if you repeat this mantra five times it stops the momentum of negative thought in its tracks and reverses it.
This mantra was again brought to my attention when my dear friend and teacher (here in Phoenix AZ) suggested I use it.
She never told me this exactly, but looking back, I can tell that she saw how destructive many of my thought patterns were at that time. It has taken me a lot of deliberate re-focusing to stay on productive (aka positive) thought tracks.
So here I give you a yogi hack: The Magic Mantra.
~It goes like this~
Ik Ong Kaar Sat Gur Prasaad Sat Gur Prasaad Ik Ong Kaar
(Many will pronounce it EK, but I have yet to hear the sound "eh" in the Gurmukhi alphabet, so please do tell me if YOU have!)
I recorded a new(ish) version of "Ajai Alai" the other day. This mantra is for VICTORY, RADIANCE, and POWER.
Most of the longer mantras I do are from a hymn (called "bani") called Japji Sahib (Nirankaar, Bahuta Karam, Amul, etc...).
This one however, is from Jaap Sahib. It was written by the 10th Sikh Master, who was a SPIRITUAL WARRIOR. When I recite Jaap Sahib I feel carried by a very forceful and consistent rhythm... like being on horseback.
:: THE POWER OF NEGATIVE WORDS ::
The rhythm of this mantra, which is created from using couples of words that sound very similar to one another: ajai alai/ abai abhai/ abhoo ajoo, etc... These are all aspects of GOD, but because God and Me are One, these are aspects of all of us.
It's also worth noting that the sound "a" at the beginning of most of these words is a negation. Each word brings up its opposite. Alai--cannot be detroyed; abhai--beyond fear, etc. This is a bit confrontational. In order to qualify God, you are speaking all the things that God isn't. All these things that we think we are (full of fear, perishable, visible) because we often limit our sense of who we are to that which we see in physical form.
Guru Gobind Singh is saying God is NOT and we are NOT limited to these "human" weaknesses.
:: POWER IS INTERNAL ::
POWER is not something we can exert over anyone else. POWER comes from the eternal flow of our beingness. It is innate within us. It like an underground well, waiting to be tapped. It's just there. Ever-present. Ever-flowing.
We become very powerful when we realize that everything we need is always available to us. And that is radiance. It is a confidence rooted in spiritual knowing.
Ajai Alai brings this understanding to us because it vibrates within us at the frequency of our eternal power.
:: VICTORIOUS UPLIFTER ::
It may sound lofty or even esoteric, but I if you think of someone who can command a room when they walk into it--not by yelling or asserting their power, but by a subtle yet forceful presence--THAT is radiance. That is true power.
That power can be used to elevate others. That is a true victory in my book.
When you have that kind of power, it's easy to maintain it.
If you're looking to grow it, it just needs to become a habit.
Try reciting this mantra 11 times per day for 40 days and see what happens. (Let me know!)
