Last Saturday was the Chanting and Mantras Workshop, which is one of the many workshops I have to take as part of the teacher training. Overall, chanting was not a part of my early relationship with yoga. Mostly because the studios I was at focused on the asana practice itself and less on the other branches of "yoga". Sometimes I have to remind myself that asana (poses, and what the west knows as yoga) is not the only type of yoga and that meditation, chanting, and other devotions are integral to "yoga" and yoga philosophy.
The chanting portion of the workshop was interesting, and was mostly focused on the history. Many teachers have a "favorite" chant or invocation that they use for their classes. A very common one is the Gayathri Mantram, and many specific disciplines of yoga have a specified chant or invocation. There was also a discussion on how yoga and chanting in general are not conflicts with other religious beliefs. Chants typically invoke hindu gods or other mythologies. For many religious people that's a conflict to some extent. That is another discussion entirely.
The other section on mantras was more interesting to me. I had a mantra when I was running, and it helped me finish a lot of really hard runs. It was something to the effect of "I will finish this run. Running is everything to me." It was pretty accurate at the time, and is how I actually feel about running when I get back into the grove of 20+ mile weeks.
I know I've been talking about running more lately, and I think it's time. I may not be able to touch my toes in all forward bends, but I think with time and dedication I can find a balance with running and yoga.
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