Breathe in your So and out your Hum

It’s been a couple of weeks since I have last written. I have been struggling with not only the time and focus but also the desire to write my thoughts.  I write when I have something to say and I have had that less in these recent weeks. However, it feels as if the desire and the voice are returning now and for that I am truly grateful. Last week, my message was simple and focused, (as my mind is attempting to be), and forgiving and accepting of body and self (as I have set my personal intention).

So Hum, very simply…the sound of the inhale (so) and the exhale (hmmm). So Hum in Sanskrit is I AM THAT….I am connected to the energy, greater power, higher consciousness around me. However, I see it having more meanings than that. So Hum can be used as an affirmation; I am That! A proud declaration of who we individually are. Also, when it’s used as a mantra repeated through the practice with each inhale and exhale, it is a statement of acceptance (without judgment) of ourselves… I am that I am that I am.

As we flowed on our mats, I asked everyone to pick an interpretation that served them, and use it as a guide for practice. After inner core warm up and Sun Salutes, we moved deeper through the flow and found Bound Side Angle Pose and Bound Trikonasana (pictured above). On our mats, as in our lives it is truly about the journey, not the destination….how we find ourselves in each pose, not whether the hands meet in the bind. We used straps if necessary to bridge the gap and stayed with our So Hum mantra; whether it represented a spiritual connection to a higher power, an affirmation of all that we are or an acceptance and appreciation of what was available… it was to each individual, their choice. As we danced in Dancing Camel (alternating one arm at a time reaching back to the same side leg), So and Hum were powerfully synchronized and the collective energy was powerful.

Off the mat, I have been battling my own judgment this year; with so many things on my plate but nothing I am ready to give up, I often need So Hum in all its forms to ground me. I have surrendered this year to the universe knowing things will be crazy until June when many of my commitments end, I have cheered myself on when I feel success in the juggling and I have found acceptance (without judgment…mostly) when I can’t do it all (like finding time and space to write this blog).

At the end of class, I watched my students release So Hum in the breath and come into stillness. I asked them to continue to connect to these Mantras in the mind. The breath is a simple yet powerful tool, it can calm the body and the mind. The inhale So and exhale Hum can connect us to a greater consciousness, it can be an affirmation of how amazing each of us are and it can cultivate acceptance of all that we are. As I again called to So Hum in my own mind as I have so often recently, it was there as it always is…this amazing gift comes with each of us wherever we go, and we all have the power to connect to it. Such gratitude. Namaste.