Sound of Your Being

Namaste and welcome back on this exciting adventure in the discovery of the power of sounds. In our previous episodes we had looked at how simple sounds can have a transformational effect on how we feel, on who we are. I hope you have been working with them to free yourselves, to discover spaces, to see how your breath moves more freely when you engage with these powerful sounds, the mantras. Today we are going to look at another sound which is the sound hamsa. Hamsa is a sound, a mantra that is very closely linked to our breath.

They say that the ham is related to our exhalation whereas the sa is what we inhale silently. When we are trying to produce the sounds of course both sounds come out on an exhalation. But if you close your eyes and you just try and feel the relationship of these sounds with your breath, you would notice that ham corresponds to your breathing out or exhalation and sa would relate to your inhalation. The sound ham by itself is the seed sound which is related to the centre of energy at our throat and that is again related to all the different vowels that we have been looking at earlier. So when we do the sound ham, at a certain level we are stimulating the entire range of simple sounds of the vowels.

And then when we do the sound sa, the sound sa would correspond to letting go but at the same time to take hold and to energise. So ham has all the sounds of the vowels, all the simple sounds and sa is like holding them and energising all of it. The word hamsa in Sanskrit means the bird, the swan. It is the symbol of a swan which is seen as golden in colour and in the spiritual tradition this golden swan is said to reside in the heart. When we do hamsa, the swan rests on the breath and the two wings of that swan are the ha and the sa.

So with the sound hamsa, one can visualise that this bird is really taking off and reaching the higher spheres of our own consciousness. The sound hamsa ha in astrology also corresponds to the soul, the innermost truth of the individual and its connection with the breath. When the breath is in harmony with the deepest tune of ourselves. And so the sound hamsa can help us to tune in to the sound of our uniqueness and the sound of our own being. So we are going to practise that, I will say it once and you could repeat after me, hamsa.

Lovely when you do the sa really feel that the air is getting released when we are doing it aloud. So hamsa together, hamsa lovely. So close your eyes, visualise this swan, this golden swan seated on your breath in the core of your being in your heart centre. And as you do the hamsa, imagine that this bird is taking off on the wings of your breath. Alright so close your eyes, hold this image as concretely as you can in your heart centre.

Take a deep breath and say hamsa. Once more hamsa, hamsa. You can practise the sound aloud whenever you feel the need to get in touch with your own tune really. And if you feel that your breathing is disturbed because you are agitated because of circumstance in life, just fall back on this sound. If you are alone you can do it aloud with hamsa.

And the sound is also pronounced as hamsa, it's a variation. But hamsa is also fine. And in case you are in the midst of a lot of people and you have this rising agitation and your breathing is not so easy, all you need to do is just close your eyes and then very silently you can repeat the sound hamsa, hamsa. If you do it slowly with your eyes closed and even without lipping it, then the breath of exhalation would relate to the sound hamsa and hamsa as you inhale. You will see how this will bring in a rhythm to your breathing.

If your breathing has a nice rhythm, your mind will be more quiet. It's like the lake, when there is a lot of wind, the waves are ruffled, there is a lot of waves in the water. But when the winds are quiet, then the lake becomes quiet again. Similarly, when there is a lot of agitation in the mind, the breathing is disturbed. And for whatever reason, if the breathing is disturbed, the mind is affected.

So calming down of the breath using sound can be a very effective tool in bringing in peace in the mind. So try this practice, do it aloud, do it silently, understand the power of the sound, stay with the mantra, feel happy and be at peace. Namaste.