I could hear the break in his voice when my friend Jim left me the message this week that his mother, Audrey had been diagnosed with Covid-19. She was in a nursing home where it spread to 25 people. They took her to the hospital and things were dire.  Jim and I traded calls and texts and I knew I would pray for her in my own way.  For my sound bath Tuesday night on Instagram live, I dedicated the Triple Mantra (for protection) to Jim’s mom and all the loved ones in our lives who are leaving us suddenly. Loved ones we thought we would see again — and sometimes don’t.  Right before the sound bath started, I received a message from Jim saying what a wonderful woman Audrey was. Was? 

The mantra practice can be applied as a form of prayer, always meant to open the heart; to allow in a greater depth of connection, courage and compassion. We reset the compass of the heart and this was the process that we shared that evening. After the sound bath, I discovered that Jim's mother, Audrey had in fact passed.

Heart opens. Heart heals. Heart breaks.

The prayer did not change the physical outcome. It doesn’t always work like that. Some wonder, does it even really work? There comes a point where there is a knowing that it does work. A belief reveals itself from within. It’s all so mysterious. And so the needle on the compass of the heart unsteadies as it throbs and flits, in search of its healing again.

So I decided to do an impromptu chanting session on Instagram Live that evening.  I messaged my dear friend Lauren Waggoner and mentor in sound healing to help choose some mantras.  I chose Ra Ma Da Sa, Om Mani Padme Hum and Lokah Samastah.  For those of you who are new to chanting, I realize that it may sound like I was about to build a piece of Ikea furniture, but I can assure you the mantras which are mostly in sanskrit hold a deep and sacred resonance.

'Lokah Samastah' is one of the most beautiful ‘on message’ mantras for our times. It speaks to our universal connection.  It means ‘may all beings everywhere be happy and free.’ 

Jim and Chelsea both joined in the sound bath that night.

Do our prayers work? I guess if you believe they do, then they do. And to some degree, if you believe they don’t, they don’t. The challenge for those of us who do believe in the power of prayer is to also allow room for results that don't align with our will.

I believe that prayer as well as the vibration of mantra can have a profound effect on us. But, am I right? Who knows? This is simply my truth. And if I was leaving this earth to go to who knows where or fighting to stay, I would certainly hope that people would pray for me.