10-1-08 Chanting OM

This is my third and last session of chanting OM. I have found that I am most comfortable chanting OM in my head rather than aloud. The most important aspect of this style of chant is being comfortable. Only when you are comfortable can you achieve the inner peace in which you are working towards. Like yoga chanting OM creates a peaceful atmosphere in which a person can focus their mind on nothing while achieving wonderful things. To achieve these wonderful things a person must gain the inner peace in which chanting OM can provide. I have found that chanting OM even a few minutes at a time throughout the day can help allivate stress. I feel that chanting OM does achieve its goal of providing a inner peace. However, I do not understand why the website states that chanting OM is not for heavy meat eaters? I will continue to chant OM while at work. I feel that out of all the yoga philosophies this can be easily done throughout the day. Also, the deep breathing which is done in many yoga practices does seem to help clear the mind.

9-27-08 Chanting OM

This is my first session in chanting OM. I have decided to chant OM in my head to see how I feel about it. The website that we were asked to use was www.meditationiseasy.com. The website states that OM is "the original primordial creative sound from which the entire universe have manifested." However, OM has no meaning because it is a sound; but it is known as the name of God. By chanting OM the website states that a person can achieve an inner peace. To achieve this inner peace a person must chant OM 15 minutes a day for 7 times in succession for 7 times. This will create a inner calmness achieving what every yogi wants which is the inner peace. While chanting I did feel very comfortable and ended up falling alseep. As an insomniac I feel that I did achieve inner peace. I was able to clear my mind and concentrate on one thing rather than all the stress that I had at the moment. The philosophical elements of chanting OM go deeper than just the inner peace. In fact chanting OM is paying respect to God by devoting 15 minutes of pure meditation and purifying the surrounding atmosphere. I believe that chanting OM does achieve this and creates inner peace as well.

9-29-08 Chanting OM

Today is my second session in the art of chanting OM. My first session resulted in me falling asleep from the practice. Instead of chanting OM in my head I am going to do it aloud to see if I get the same results as before. I start chanting on the couch as I did the time before. However, chanting out loud is not as comfortable as chanting in my mind. Unlike many yogis who practice this daily this is only my second session. With time I am sure that many people are comfortable with chanting aloud. I am not comfortable with this. I am not experiencing the same level of peace that I was experiencing on 9-27-08. It is weird by changing one thing I do not get the same results. I fell asleep the time before because I was experiencing the inner peace that http://www.meditationiseasy.com/. At the bottom of the section it states not to continue if you are uneasy. I find this to be very beneficial because once I stop and start again with chanting in my head I start to become comfortable again. By chanting in my head it creates a peaceful rhythm in my body which seems to help with stress. The main goal of chanting OM is to achieve this inner peace. Like other yoga practices OM is meant to create an innner peace and I feel it does achieve this level. However, it only works if you are comfortable.