gayatri

We have been given the assignment to spend a week chanting the gayatri mantra. This is one of the few mantras I was already familiar with, since the lovely RMH spent a period of time a couple of years ago repeatedly chanting this mantra (I think it was once a day for a month), and I do think it is a lovely mantra.

This was the first version I had heard, followed by this, but neither of them really resonated with me (the latter one, specifically, sort of made me want to dance around the room in a mildly silly fashion - which I wholeheartedly endorse - but I couldn't get into chanting it). Finally, I came across this version by Mahendra Kapoor, which appealed to my apparent preference for more a more moody take on this mantra.

In any case, the experience of chanting this mantra was a positive one, but I am unsure of its effect on me, mostly because I think it felt a little forced on my part and I don't know if it was a matter of feeling pressed for time, and therefore less engaged in the practice than I would have liked to have been, or if, as a fellow yoga student of mine put it, it's just not "my jam."