In the classic book, To Know Your Self by Sri Swami Satchidananda one of the chapters is called If You Tune, You Hear the Music. I wonder if what we are mostly tuned into isn’t static, white noise, and the vrittis or monkey mind or the chaos of our minds. I wonder if we have lost the tune and no longer hear the music or even remember it is there to tune into. The news, just scrolling through the feed of headlines is static and chaos, and so much conjecture and opinion that truth is lost in the need to overproduce articles that incite rage, irritation, anxiety and fear. Social media can be a regurgitation of those articles but presented more personally through the vein of personal friends, colleagues and family so maybe we give it more cred. and more attention. Where then in all of this world we know and call our reality, our comfort zone, our known now do we hone the skills needed to tune ourselves to hear the music of what life is, truly? Is not Heaven here on Earth?

One of the most magically meaningful aspects of Nitya Living Summer Yoga Camp is introducing children from ages 5 – 14 to the idea that 1) There is Music and 2) They can tune into it and most importantly 3) How. Which week of camp did we not do this? Um, none. Every day is a tuning, a defining, a learning, a teaching, an experiencing directly in many forms that How. The How for us adults is this: 1) Shut Up – I don’t like to say those words but it is a critical time and we need to Wake Up! So yeah, get quiet and that means inside of yourself as well as outside. Put down the phone, walk away from the screen and sit with yourself quietly every damn day for any length of time, the longer the better. 2) Stop – You do not have to do it all and all does not need to be done today. The world, your job, your family can wait for you to have 5 minutes or 30 minutes or whatever it is you need. Don’t ask anyone for permission. Tell them. Okay, so that is the start, get quiet and get still. Next up, get a journal and start writing everything in your heart no matter what it looks like on paper – a horror story, a romcom, a wine sipping novel, or a cartoon. Even if the words don’t come easily, start with what you are wearing, the weather, the view from your window, what you just ate, etc. The more you give your heart permission to be heard, it will speak.

Okay, so there you are sitting still and silent purging your heart out of everything trapped in there banging to get out. Beautiful! I am hugging you with support and admiration that you did this much for Self already! The next part is Meditation. Your sitting time is one of the most important gifts you could gift yourself. Don’t worry about time. No one gives a crap if you sit for 4 hours or 4 minutes or 40 seconds. The point is you are sitting, eyes closed, breathing in and breathing out. If you can be in nature that is even better. And if you need something to focus on focus on Om. That’ it, the sound vibration Om. Sri Swami Satchidananda says that if you can work that mantra everyday to the point where when you wake up, when you go to sleep, when there are pauses in your day what you hear in your head is Om, then you are making it happen. You are tuning to the music. What’s the instrument? What’s the song? Those analogies are for you to figure out for you. The point is to start to get your band together for you and only you. The more you tune into yourself through stillness, silence, journaling, and meditation the more you will hear the music and it will be the most exquisite song you ever heard. It will be the song of your own soul, your own heart singing.

Om unites you to the Source.