On my iPod, I have a small playlist called “Meditation.”  It contains various and sundry chants, affirmations, and soothing sounds I’ve collected over the years.  Lately, though, I’ve returned again and again to one particular piece.

It’s called “Om with Harmonies” (you can find it here), and it’s basically “om” chanted in harmony for 30 minutes or so.  In a doctor’s waiting room, waiting for a computer program to boot up, sitting in traffic–the number of places this has come in handy for me in recent weeks is staggering.

But what is “om” again?  Many of us chant it at the beginning and end of yoga class, and many see it as the single most identifiable symbol of a meditation/yoga/holistic lifestyle.  But what does it mean?

Seek and ye shall find….right here on Fresh Living!  I rediscovered a post Valerie wrote last year on just this topic: “What Does ‘Om’ Mean?”  She covers the roots of the word–it’s actually 3 Sanskrit letters strung together into one mystical syllable that is thought to be the sound of the Universe–but here’s my favorite part of what she wrote about chanting “om” in harmony with others:

“It doesn’t matter if we know what it means or not, it’s a moment when
all these people, usually strangers, join their voices together in
harmony. It’s a brief communal moment when we’re all acknowledging the
“it”–the divine, the thing we’re all trying to get. It’s like a tiny taste of
enlightenment.”

A tiny taste of enlightenment indeed.  Sounds like a worthy goal, and something I want to flow through my earbuds and into my deepest self.

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