What the F' is chanting, you ask? Believe me, I had the exact same response when I was peer-pressured to do it one day at the end of a bitchin' yoga class.
Let me start by explaining what it is and what it is not.
What it's not: some new-age, hippy, witchy shit.
What it is: in layman's terms, it's repetitively singing a word or phrase (mantra) for a set amount of time.
The official definition, from Yogapedia, is "a rhythmical repetition (either silently or aloud) of a song, prayer, word or sound. It is one of the most ancient spiritual practices and a part of most religions and spiritual paths. According to the Indian yoga tradition, sound is healing and sacred. It is also believed that sound is one of the most powerful forces to calm the mind and improve awareness."
I think of it simply an amazing way to manifest a flow of abundance into your life. You read that right- it can bring you money, new opportunities, friends, you name it. A mere couple of months ago, I was reluctant to try but am now full-on obsessed. "HAR" was the first chant I ever did and is still-reigning the favorite, maybe because it's the chant for prosperity, and let's be real- everyone's looking for more prosperity in their lives, amiright?
Back to the "first time"; for a whopping 6-minutes I sat in easy seated, or criss-cross applesauce for you parents, and very quietly and rhythmically chanted HAR (Ha-Da).
My yoga teacher preached that if we did this chant daily, for at least 4 days, we would see significant changes in our lives; any existing blockages would be removed and replaced with an effortless "flow".
I was super skeptical, but thought what the hell? Even though I feel sometimes frantically busy, I have 6 minutes to spare everyday in return for some abundance.
I watched a couple YouTube videos showing how to do it, how long to do it, and explaining all the incredible things it can bring into your life. I downloaded the Beyoncé of chanting's song, Mantra Girl "HAR", on iTunes and made a commitment to myself to do it every night after I got the kids down- before the first (or 2nd) glass of wine was poured.
No joke- after doing it for only a week, blocks and obstacles started disappearing from my life.
For example, I'm writing a book- and most days have been filled with crippling doubt and fear that I'm an idiot and no-one will want to hear anything I have to say, I'm no expert on anything, and I better get a real friggin job asap, or my kids could kiss the prospect of college goodbye.
I totally believe this chant helped open the floodgates of my creativity. All the sudden I had a tough time falling asleep, something I used to be able to do as soon as The Real Housewives of whatever as over, and would annoyingly wake up at 5am because I had so many ideas that I had to get them down on paper asap. I should mention that at this same time, our “strong-willed” 2-yr old was waking up, getting out of her new big-girl bed, and walking around crying at all hours of the night. So, even though I was most definitely sleep deprived- I still felt an undeniable urge to write, sometimes even at the ass-crack of dawn before I had my Starbucks.
Everyone's entitled to believe what they will, but I choose to believe that the extra meditations and chanting I did facilitated the blockages being removed; even if one of the blocks was my 2 yr old's restlessness.
The cherry on top, I'm writing with ease most days and Vivi is sleeping peacefully through the night...at least for the time being.
And if she starts feeling like she needs a midnight hug again, you can bet your ass Mama's gonna be chanting up a storm. Maybe I'll bust out the chant for strength "Aham Brahmaasmi" which means "I am God", and if that doesn't work I'll try making a custom vision board of her snoozing away.
Resources: HAR chanting link: