Mantras and Poses for Sharing our Words: A Powerful Metaphors Post

In addition to being butt busting time when it comes to working on academic writing, summer is also a time when I catch up with my magazine subscriptions.

As I was reading through the May issue of Yoga Journal, an article caught my eye. Kathryn Arnold's piece, "How to be Fearless," discusses the use of mantras, chakra work, and yoga poses for overcoming public speaking anxiety. You can read it here: http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/3253

Because I am revising the bad old dissertation into a book manuscript, which means re-processing lots of old writing anxiety, Arnold's little article really resonated with me. Even those of us who don't particularly have public speaking anxiety (teaching on a regular basis is quite effective for overcoming this) may suffer from some kind of anxiety about putting ourselves out there, particularly in the form of the written word.

When we receive rejection of or feedback on our written work, it doesn't always come in the kindest form. And even if we haven't had trauma in relation to writing or speaking publicly, exposing one's self is always a little risky. As I worked on my book's introduction this morning, I though, "oh, shit, can I really say this?!"

In her article, Arnold suggests using bija mantras (seed syllables) to tune the chakra associated with particular emotions or aspects of personality. Whether or not you believe in chakras, focusing on some inner aspect of personality and tapping into strength in a particular area can be a nice way to gain focus either before public speaking or a writing session.

For example, the sound "om" corresponds to the third eye chakra, which is the seat of intuition and imagination. Whether you think you have a third eye or not, reminding yourself that you have intuition and imagination that are worthy of expressing can be a powerful practice. If you'd like to take this deeper, Arnold suggests that tree pose also taps into this center.

Tapping into inner resources becomes a way for bringing the voice out into the world.