Resetting and Settling with a Hum

Sometimes I get overwhelmed. With noise, with crowds, with situations, with other people's attitudes. That's when I start to hum. To focus, reset, clear my mind, and settle back to a peaceful place.

Normally, I would choose a walk in the woods, a paddle on the bay. But those options are not always available.

This mantra came to me over the Easter holiday weekend when we were traveling to Boston. It came during a turbulent early morning flight. I snuggled down, eyes closed, and here is what arrived:

I am

a pebble in a pond

a pebble who hums

a pebble in a pond

who hums

I inhaled, expanding my lungs, and thought,

I am

Then, on the long slow exhale, I began a low monotone hum, too quiet for others to hear, but enough for me to feel the vibrations inside, and chanted in my mind:

a pebble in a pond

a pebble who hums

a pebble in a pond

who hums

I used this hum on the plane, then on the Silver Line and the Red Line, loud, busy metro trains filled with people and noise and voices. I let it all wash over me, because I was humming under the pond where lilies lined the surface.

My mind calmed. My spirit gentled.

I've used it ever since, often several times a day, to settle my mind, or reset after frustration or an uncomfortable situation. Sometimes, after a few chants, I just hum.

The long slow exhaled hum is best, I've found, while looking at natural beauty--the blossoms of trees, the surprise of flowers, the dash of birds.

Like listening to a ringing bowl, the hum grounds me, puts me back together.

Once again, I feel like the me I know I truly am.

#mantra #hum