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

Thought for today

"A Ship is always safe at the shore - but that is NOT what it is built for"

- Albert Einstein

I resolve....

MySpace Codes!

I resolve to be happy as my baby has taught me that happiness brings positivity, cheer and good health

I resolve to be confident to be able to speak my mind with the purity of my own judgement and perception as I believe each individual is made differently

I resolve to be peaceful as anger is the cause of slavery of our minds

I resolve to be healthy as only good health makes life worth living

I resolve to be a good parent as my baby’s taught me that there is no greater satisfaction than in the upbringing, growth & development of your child

I resolve to love myself as love for others will come hence and not otherwise

I resolve to rejuvenate my mind with faith and hope as I feel it’s important to refresh & re-energize the mind before heading to ‘the spa’

I resolve to keep challenging myself as I feel that its leads to character building

I resolve to take pleasures out of life’s small things ‘coz just as little drops make an ocean, little moments make a life

I resolve to appreciate the beauty of the dawn, the day, the dusk and the night of my life as beauty truly lies in the eyes of the beholder

I resolve to be there for my parents for we can never be as much for them as they’ve been for us

I resolve to bring joy to my mother as I have realized what motherhood means…

I resolve to blossom in my companionship with my husband with commitment, respect, sincerity, love, space and romance; as that makes an institution of marriage more meaningful

I resolve to forge newer bonds of friendship and strengthen the older ones as friends add colour & value to your lives

I resolve to keep smiling as my baby has taught me that a smile is worth a million bucks

I resolve to practice what I love as there is nothing more delightful than treating your work as worship

I resolve to keep learning and to share my learnings and experiences of yoga and health so that others can experience and appreciate the goodness it has brought me

I resolve to pursue my hobbies as I believe that growth comes from co-curricular activities

I resolve to stay in the present as the past has gone and the future is yet to come

I resolve to be grateful to all those who’ve touched my life directly or indirectly as ‘how can I be so selfish?’

I resolve to embrace each form of life in it’s utmost purity and creativity as only different colours make a rainbow

I resolve to indulge and party as it makes it easier to accomplish other resolves :-)

I wish everyone a rollicking 2009!!!