Tune Up

I've been searching for a title to this post for a couple of days. I knew what I wanted to talk about, but couldn't quite put a title to it. At first I thought of a 'pick me up' or a 'quick fix' as appropriate. However, the title 'tune up' described more accurately my thoughts. When one hears of a tune up, one would think of a car tune up or adjusting a machine. A few definitions of tune up when used as a verb could be to adjust a (a musical instrument) to a particular pitch ; to adjust the engine of a car, etc., to improve its performance a car, or adjusting a machine. If one looks under the Thesaurus, words like adjust, correct, tweak, fine tune are given. You might wonder does a tune up relate to always be om or to yoga, or to you?

Sometimes when I am teaching a class, I tell my students that practicing the yoga postures, or any aspect of yoga is like tuning up your body, your vehicle, your instrument. We all need tune ups in the sense that just like a car won't run at its optimum or its best unless the oil is changed; the air filter is clean; new spark plugs. If you really think about it, everyday people are plugged into ipods, cds, the radio listening to their favorite songs or vocal artists. People use songs and music to tune up how they 'feel'.

So for me a great tool yoga to use for a tune up is chanting! One of the definitions of chanting from the Wikipedia is (from Old French chanter[1]) is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures, often including a great deal of repetition of musical subphrases...

Chanting is magical. You can do it alone by yourself out loud or internally or with a group of people. My experience is that it is magnificient if one really studies and experiences it! Like the other day, I put on a chant by Alice Coltrane - Turiyasangitananda with a choir. It was off the hook (great)! I had not heard it in a long time and I was chanting, singing with the cd. From there I was singing in the shower, chanting driving to teach a class. It put me in such a great mood! It gave me a tune up!

These days listening to the news constantly can be a downer. For me chanting counteracts those effects by helping me to be focused and feeling great in the present moment! As a yoga instructor I use music that is meditative, calming or chanting in my classes. A lot of my students love it as well. This practice keeps me enthusiastic as well. It's magical in that there is no need to take a pill, drugs or a drink of alcohol. I remembered being in a group chant a long time ago and my spiritual teacher said 'if you are tired CHANT, if you feel down CHANT!'. I was tired at the time I went to the chant. I felt the tiredness leave me. I felt renewed, more energetic and happy! The chant gave me a great adjustment! It was an estatic experience.

WARNING: This tool can lead you to your inner joy in no time! If you don't believe try it for youself. Investigate for your self. Go inside your tool box (inside yourself) and use your voice to uplift yourself. It's always available and it is FREE!.