FROG POSEWhen I first started practicing yoga, I used to
be uncomfortable with the Om. Our teacher
would have us chant it before and after class,
and I would try to stop before everyone else
did because I didn’t want my voice to be the last
one heard. I also wasn’t sure what Om meant.
Not that I’m such an observant Jew, but in the
beginning I remember being led through Om
and other, longer Sanskrit chants and wonder-
ing, “What am I saying? Does it contradict my
Judaism?”
Now I understand that Om is really just a
sound—a universal sound—and a vibration in your
chest cavity. I like the way that vibration feels. It
is an internal massage and it stretches my lungs.
I find it very comforting, especially after the
practice. I went from “I don’t want to do this” to
really looking forward to it, to wanting my voice
to be heard.
I love chanting now. It turns out that it’s
very nice things you are saying. The singing and
music is my favorite part of going to synagogue,
and the Sanskrit chants are all the same stuff
expressed in another way. They’re about nature
and intention and balance. Om Shanti Shanti, like
shalom, is a call for peace. Another chant I love,
Om Namah Shivaya, was more troubling for me
at first because it is a prayer to the Hindu god
Shiva, but I substitute a prayer to my inner self
and to healing.
There’s nothing in those chants that contra-
dicts my Judaism. Instead, they add to it.