Releasing the Mind through Mantra Hum Sah Meditation Script

Meditation of the Mind


How does our mind play into meditation? This, of course can be a very large topic and much greater than what we wish to delve into when first beginning meditation.

The Snake and the Monkeys.

Our Mind can be thought of like a snake. At one level, the mind grounds us, there is a primal energy, a reptilian instinct for survival. But as our mind grows through experience, reflection and meditation, we must shed our old skin due to growth. We still have our body connected to the earth, our physiological functions, but we shed what does not serve our being any more.


When we meditate we are seeking to grow. Our minds have an Inherent Source (the Inner Self) which seeks growth. So much so, if we don’t shed harmful habits, we can make ourselves sick. Therefore, we slither and snag our old skin against obstacles and obscuration to facilitate peeling away our old ways. Even our eyes, our outlook, our thoughts, can be cloudy until we reach a higher level of awareness. A freeing of those things that bind us, constrict us, and what manifests is a newness, a clarity of understanding, a bigger, stronger mind, shiny and clear. This is the benefit and the blessing found through meditation.

The first step is to simply observe your breath. The depth, the feel, the temperature. Where is your breath sitting, witness the sensation of the breath. Sensing the quality, the condition, the space of your breath. 

The next step is mantra. Mantra is a meditation tool that helps the mind settle and focus (a way to exfoliate our old skin/patterns of thought). It is a repetition of a sacred sound. The repetition of a chosen phrase gives quality of the Inner Self and the wave-like patterns facilitate a slowing of the mind. Handed down from the ancients there are many different mantras, in many different languages; however, there are a few that transcend languages and one is the breath mantra. This mantra is based on the sound of the breath.


Learning mantra helps settle the monkeys in our brains the “Chitta Vritti’s” or mind chatter. Have you ever seen a NatGeo™ video of monkeys in Blagladesh (or somewhere like that) and they are hopping about madly when a snake enters their territory. That’s kind of like our mind, hopping madly about when we try to meditate. And using mantra can help calm the monkeys.


Sometimes when we first learn the Hum Sah mantra, our inner voice repeats the words over and over, now kind of like monkeys dutifully typing. These mantras are repeated like literal words. In someways it does calm the monkeys, but it also can Tap, Tap, Tap, just repeating itself. 

Then, after a little time and practice, mantra can manifest into a vibrational tone by listening to the literal sound of the breath. This mantra is more successful in quieting the monkeys (the intrusive thoughts) and the snake (our mind) is able to slough some more of it’s skin without monkeys distracting the process.

I invite you to join me in the Hum Sah mantra practice. I invite you, also, to listen to the natural sound of your breath, and, allow for the repetition by your inner voice. Explore what works for you to calm the monkeys.  Hum Sah in English means "I am That" these being words you can literally understand and mantra. Nonetheless, no matter where you start, it’s a process, a sloughing and a renewal.

Hum: is as the breath rides in, you can hear a slight hum through the throat.
Sah: is as the breath flows out, you can hear a slight sigh or sah through the throat. 

(Is sah part of the entomology of the word sigh?)

With this guidance,
~ Find Your Yogic Seat
~ Sit with a long spine, chin level, soften inner ears
~Gently clear your throat.
~Relax shoulders; tone your side-bodies
~At first I shall mantra the words for you, than I shall fall silent, listen, mantra, and remember your goal is not to achieve anything in meditation. Today we shed and vibrate growth through meditation.
~Please imagine your throat as a long wind tunnel, I ask you to hear your inhale without force or constriction. I ask that you also listen to the exhale, again without force or constriction. Hummm...Sahhh...Hummm...Sahhh...I am That...I am That...Hummm...Sah....etc.... 


***Tip: Remember, if your meditation silence is long, to help your class, bring them back to the Hum Sah...remind them of the vibrational tone, remind them "I am That"...Hum...Sah...end with Singing Bowl and Tingshas of close. 



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