Music for the mother & the baby

I have a lot of faith in the power of music and sanskrit shlokas. Therefore, that played a very important part in my pregnancy & is doing so in my motherhood.

The Saptak Music Festival (a very prestigious music festival that happens in Ahmedabad every year) is going on and this post derives itself from there. It features all the maestros of Indian classical music along with students aspiring to be ones.

I used to listen to the cd "Garbha Sanskar" by Times Music during pregnancy. Now I make my baby hear "Well being mantras for the newborn" by Times Music again. Apart from that i used to and still keep playing the sacred chants of India, Indian classical instrumental music whenever i get a chance. My collection includes works of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (santoor), Rahul Sharma (santoor), Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute), Ustad Zakir Hussain (tabla), Ustad Amjad Ali Khan (sarod), Niladri Kumar (sitar), Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and various others.

i am feeling a little lazy researching about music and sanskrit sholakas partly because i am trying hard to time manage my day, restoring normalcy and partly because i truly have faith in them to make effort for reading out the reasons. There are different kinds of music or ragas for creating different effects but honestly i listen to what i like without going into the finer details. Even shlokas of the ancient sanskrit language stimulate the various chakras (plexuses) in the body. Our ancient arts (eg music) and languages (eg sanskrit), as research now proves, are very potent. People in those days knew what we are trying to prove through science. It is also the same with yoga. These are all sister sciences and overlap each other.

i am sure these have profound benefits, both seen and unseen, short and long lasting but this is what i have experienced of the kind of music & chants that i have been hearing, till now. i am sure i will discover and experience more goodness along the way.

(just a rough note of experiences)

- i have always felt much better

- my baby is quiet and peaceful

- touch wood, but i feel my baby cries only for a valid reason and is easy to handle :-)

- balances the negative emotions i have

- creates good, harmonious environment

- enhances my practice of yoga

- induces sleep when i want to but can't

There is loads written about these ancient sciences but an ounce of practice (experience here) is worth a tonne of theory. I recommend music to everyone but ancient chants and any kind of classical (indian, western etc.) is the most meaningful and so very effective.

Music is magic