A classic mantra of togetherness is Saha Navavatu. This mantra is a shantih mantra, a mantra of peace.  Traditionally it is chanted at the beginning and end of any study. It is a mantra chanted by teacher and student. We are all each other’s teachers and students. May we learn together in peace. 

We can also chant this on our own when undertaking a project or undergoing personal study.  This prayer brings in help and blessings from the teacher’s beyond the beyond, or of our  own personal guru’s if a physical teacher is not seated in front of us. It is a chant or mantra that protects the sacred relationship of student and teacher.  It is a mantra for study.

God, Parham Brahma, formless and supreme, is our ultimate teacher. It is important to remember we do nothing on our own or by ourselves. It is “together” that we have yoga and union.  If we try to accomplish something on our own we do not get very far. If we ask for divine help miracles happen and obstacles can be removed. Experiment with this concept. Operate from the ego or smaller self in the mistaken idea

that you are doer.  Then, when this does not work well, beg for God’s help in all sincerity. Warning: if you operate alone too long you may find yourself on your knees crying for God.   Experience the divine and find out what “both together” in this ancient mantra means.

This sacred mantra is an invocation asking for  protection and guidance. It  honors our teachers and sacred partnership:

OM saha nAvavatu | saha nau bhunaktu | saha vIryam karavAvahai   |tejasvi  nAvadhitamastu mA vidviShAvahai |OM Shantih Shantih Shantih |

Om.  May we be protected both together

May we be nourished both together

May we grow in spiritual knowledge and energy both together

May our study together be luminous

May we not hate or have discord between us

Om, peace, peace, peace.

 One of my favorite places to hear this is on the CD Sarva-Bhuteshu – track number 7, by Manorama D’Alvia.  Her website is www.sanskritstudies.org . May we all be one together.  

                                                Mantra Workshop with Sudevi @ Everman’s –  Sunday March 9th – 1-3 p.m. $35

by Linda Kramer

“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts.”  –Thich Nhat Hanh 

According to Dr. Dean Ornish in his book, Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program For Reversing Heart Disease, deep breathing is the best stress reducer known to man.  The link between stress and heart failure and the immune system is universally recognized by all health professionals.   When your stress level is up, your immune system is  down.   When your stress level is up and your tolerance level is down —  it becomes difficult to live from the heart.   

Breath and thought are also partners in the act of creation. What we are thinking as we breathe manifests in our outer reality.  That sounds so simple. The problem is many of the thoughts that are creating our experience or personal reality are unconscious.  Our personal realities are a reflection of what we believe to be true.  Our programming starts at birth. Data goes in and creates a file. We have to be conscious of the file to change it, alter or purge it. As a child we receive programming from the adult figures in our lives about the  “Absolute truths” in life:  unconscious ideas about love and our own self worth.  If we are lucky these are happy loving messages and we create a happy loving life. 

If we are not happy, we may not even be aware that we are carrying messages  that separate us from happiness; these messages may be creating low self esteem  and destructive behaviors.  Sometimes in our state of disconnect we do not even realize that we are unhappy until we create a drama or personal disaster. 

Our perceptions of the way people treat us in interactive exchanges can reveal what unconscious messages or patterns we are acting out. It is important for our self esteem to examine our behaviors—they are linked. We need to evaluate what we feel is truly missing in our lives.   Is our life balanced?  Do we have a material, spiritual, or happiness/fun deficit?  Are material gains acquired at the expense of our health? Can we pay our bills?  What are we feeding our bodies and our minds? When we can change our deepest personal lies and erase the false messages we were unknowingly imprinted with, we can change our outer realities.     

We only utilize 10% of our brains consciously. That leaves considerable room for the subconscious mind to co-create with us.  Even if we are consciously trying to change our life patterns we can still be derailed by old belief systems that are still stuck in our internal data files. These old programs keep us stuck in recurring situations and life outcomes. Our thoughts can separate us from the divine, and prosperity on every level—including health. 

Again, we have to go beyond the surface of what we think we know.  Most of us will  say we believe we deserve happiness and peace. Yet, somehow we are completely  unaware of our own self sabotaging program that is simultaneously running with  our vision of how we what our life to be.  When we are able to eliminate the shadow program we can have the life we want. We will notice the dramas start to fade and see improvement in all of our relationships.  We will be in harmony with ourselves and all others.  Once we are able to release our hidden resentments a whole new world of possibilities opens to us.  The way creative thought works is that anything good or bad that we’ve created can be uncreated. So we have to stay vigilant about what goes across the mind screen.   

There are many tools we can use to address the subconscious mind.    Yoga, meditation  affirmations, and hypnosis can help. Yoga philosophy teaches  us (See Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 2:33) that when thinking something negative we  should immediately replace the thought with it’s opposite.  The  Sanskrit for this is Vitarka Badhane Pratipaksa Bhavanam.   This is very helpful if we have conscious awareness and the self discipline to stay present.   If we don’t  know what our deepest unconscious patterning is we can only make surface changes  and are still shooting arrows in the dark.  Even if our desire to change is great –  if we are unable to accurately identify the root belief we are holding, we will  have only applied a band-aid, and not addressed  the cause.  If we find we are stuck  in any area of our life we may want to contact a professional rebirther, or someone who can help us with through mind/body therapies.  

Rebirthing, or “Sacred Renewal Breathwork,”  is a powerful safe gentle breathing  technique which releases stress from the body and helps reprogram old patterns. This breathing technique also increases our energy level and  creates more ease and peace.  This application of the sacred breath as used in rebirthing was pioneered in the early 70’s by Sandra Ray and Leonard Orr.  Sanra Ray is also a disciple  of  Babaji, also named Sri Sri 1008  Bhagwan Herakhan Wale Baba, is an immortal maha avatar and yogi master who blessed this work and supported it while in his physical Body.   Ray is also dedicated to Christ believing that truth is but one.     

When I took Sondra Ray’s professional rebirther training course I made big sweeping changes that are still resonating. As a self aware yoga teacher with a strong meditation practice I thought I was aware of most of the  self-limiting monkey chatter in my mind. The personal transformation that took place for me was amazing.  My life shifted within one week.  The changes I made in my earliest rebirthing sessions had already began to shift my life in new directions. Still I hadn’t turned the circle and was still operating out of worn out paradigms and thought I knew   what my patterns were.  This is why Sondra  recommends a minimum of ten rebirthing sessions   

Those of us on the spiritual path that are guided by the unseen hand know  we are always being guided.  The concentrated work shifted by psyche in an  unprecedented way and I am dedicated to sharing it with others. It is part of my  yoga.  Yoga is not limited to our physical bodies.  As the Yoga Master Dhrama Mitra points out, “Our bodies are one giant thoughtform.”  To change the body we have to change the mind.   

A rebirthing session involves a consultation and approximately an hour of connected breathing.  In the consultation, your  rebirther will have the opportunity to discuss with you where  you are in your life now and how they can best support you.  Your rebirther will collect information from you with the goal of supporting you in resolving current issues and changing  undesirable patterns.   

A rebirther is a professionally trained facilitator who will guide your breath in a way that allows you to process what occurs during a session. They will guide you and support you through emotional releases, thoughts and memories that may surface and  physical sensations that you may experience during a session.  A  rebirther is highly skilled at helping you trace complex issues in your  life to the origins of  your subconscious mind.  By becoming aware of this information, your rebirther will support you in finding solutions and resolutions.  

The rebirther guides your breath in a manner that increases the level of oxygen in the body, which increases energy in the pranic body. The increased level of oxygen stimulates the body’s natural ability to cleanse itself.  Seventy percent of the bodily toxins are eliminated through breathing. 

The hour long breathing session in  rebirthing also raises the blood’s alkaline level which increases our health.  One lovely side affect of the concentrated breathing is that it gives you beautiful skin—everyone will tell you look great!  Where did you get that new glow…Deep breathing also increases the oxygen levels in the blood which strengthens the immune system.  Dr. Alec Borsenko  states, “Oxygen gets rid of toxicity. Bacteria, viruses and parasites are destroyed in the presence of oxygen—especially cancer.”   Breathing controls the flow of the lymphatic system.   When the lymphatic system is unbalanced we become unhealthy  and subject to eventual pain and suffering.   

Yoga teaches us that separation is the cause of all suffering.   When there is a split in our thinking or in the mind/body then there is  pain, and often ill health.   A misdirected or false thought can lodge in the body as a physical discomfort. We’ve all experienced tightness in the shoulders or neck when we are in the presence of other’s whose thoughts are incongruent with ours. Imagine what our own thoughts can do to our bodies!  

To begin the yoga of rebirthing is to begin the study of the  Self. So let’s start by taking this little quiz. Be honest –  No one will see the answers but you: 

1.      The most negative thought I have about myself…

2.      What I’m afraid people will know about me…. 

Now turn around this thought with a positive affirmation by writing the opposite; turn it around by feeling the opposite, turn it around by visualizing the opposite; turn it around with connected breathing throughout the process.  Connect your breath to your heart and soar to your highest life intention.  When we are connected to our own hearts and life’s intention then we can have and be the love we want.  The breath is the sacred connection. Get connected.   

Linda Kramer, M.A. (Sudevi) is a transformational life coach who uses rebirthing and the principles of yoga  to help others transform through mind/body therapies. Visit www.myspace.com/sudevidasi for more information: contact Sudevi@vedicstudies.net  or linda@livingyouryoga.net or call (850)380-7166

                           Please join linda sudevi kramer for an experiential class on:

                                             Breath as the Heart of Change

                                                February 17, 2008 in Pensacola, Fl.

                                                   from 1:00-3:00 p.m. – $35

                                                      at Everman’s on Garden St.

                  *In Group experience classes everyone focuses their intention and breath

                on a set theme. In the ten individual sessions as outlined by Sondra Ray,

                the breath is used as a vehicle for individual change and evolution and

                is uniquely personal.

Reprinted with permission from “The Light.” Thank you Dana! Please review The Light

for other articles on creative transformation.