Hari Aum.
We are approaching the halfway mark of this year (unbelievable how quickly it's flying by!) and I hope all of you are well and enjoying your sadhana.
In my case, as I mentioned in a recent post, I am on a spiritual 'holiday'-- I am presently between purascharanas and am making the most of my spiritual downtime! :)
I am doing a mere 1 mala a day of the ashtakshara mantra of Narayana (down from the average of 7 during the last purascharana). Having taken mantra initiation, the yogic rule is that the mantra must be repeated daily (at least 1 mala/ 108 recitations which takes only 5 minutes). I am therefore dutifully sticking to this rule.
Aside from this, I am repeating some mini-malas (27 recitations) of a Durga mantra, and occasionally some mantras of Lakshmi and Sarasvati almost daily. I remember the Divine Mother a lot these days-- I actually feel closer to Her than Krishna/Narayana (my ishta devata) at present.
As mentioned in previous posts, I have not been too pleased with Krishna in recent years. I have been trying to escape Him but it is of no use.
My Bharatanatyam dance exams are looming in a couple of months. (I have a number of dance pieces to learn for this examination, including the material from previous years, so it feels a lot more challenging than preparing for our performance in January which went off fairly well!). The syllabus this year includes various aspects of Bharatanatyam such as 'nritta'/pure dance, and 'nritya'/ narrating a story-- and no less than two out of six or seven dance pieces this year are dedicated solely to Krishna!
As part of learning these dances (a 'shabdam' and a 'kirtanam'), my dance teacher has asked our class to explore the lilas of Lord Krishna from the perspective of the gopis (the cowherd women of Vrindavana and perhaps His greatest devotees). We, therefore, have to contemplate, and give expression to, His various childhood lilas such the stealing of butter and hearts, lifting the Govardhana mountain, and playing the flute and mesmerising everyone.
As we dance, we need to contemplate Krishna's divine form as we gaze soulfully into the distance! It appears that meditation upon Krishna is vital to be able to survive my upcoming dance examination. (As I said in a previous post, once there is a bond with the Divine, He/She does not abandon us, even if we want to abandon Him/Her!)
Speaking of dance, I would like to say that modern medicine says that this is excellent for both physical and mental health. Dance gets the blood circulating, strengthens muscles (a student who recently started told me today that she has discovered muscles she never knew she had!) and improves coordination.
And, unlike many other forms of exercise (such as swimming, walking or running), dance develops memory as one needs to learn various types of choreography. The article below describes the many health benefits of dancing:
From a spiritual perspective, dance can be a dynamic form of meditation upon the Divine (as explained above). It can also help stimulate the flow of prana (or chi in Chinese medicine) and thus benefit the astral body (sukshma sharira) not only the physical one. This is perhaps why many people who feel a bit jaded before a dance class feel much more energised and refreshed mentally afterwards.
Dance also helps creativity. Some say it helps people get in touch with their feminine side (a male student in my class informed me last year that his wife, who is also a student, had encouraged him to join for this reason; he had been learning martial arts for some years but still found dance to be physically challenging!). And of course, it is also a great way of spending time with family and friends.
There are so many different dance styles to choose from (virtually every country in the world has developed some form of dance so there are options to suit a variety of tastes). If you haven't yet explored dance as a hobby, I would recommend trying a few styles and picking one that suits you.
As mentioned last month, I am busy placating my lower mind with chocolate and other sweet treats as I prepare myself mentally to take on another purascharana (probably after the dance examination). All this dancing has given me a good excuse to enjoy more of these (yet another benefit of dancing)! :)
I will conclude by sharing a link to a beautiful piece of Odissi celebrating the arrival of the monsoon rains (including the dancing of peacocks) after the scorching heat of summer; this is one of the most ancient classical dance forms of India:
Om Sri Krishnaya Namah. Om Sri Durgayai Namah. Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya.
Hari Aum Tat Sat.
