Mantras are far more than simple relaxation words—they are powerful sound vibrations and universal psychic forces accessible to anyone willing to study and practice them. Derived from Sanskrit roots meaning "mind" (man) and "liberation/protection" (tra), mantras serve to liberate energy, expand awareness, heal, and enlighten the mind while accessing our limitless creative potential.

Beyond Words: The Science of Sound

Unlike ordinary words, mantras consist of letters and syllables combined through complex esoteric mathematical systems passed down through millennia. These combinations create specific sound vibrations that induce elevated states of consciousness. Mantras work similarly to music, affecting our thoughts, emotions, and entire state of being through energetic vibrations that penetrate deep into our psyche.

The mantra system operates through two complementary aspects: name (mantra) and form (yantra). The sound itself liberates energy trapped in limiting mental patterns, while the corresponding visual symbol or image concentrates awareness and awakens psychic power. This dual approach helps practitioners break free from conditioning and expand their understanding of reality.

Psychological Applications

From a psychological perspective, mantras function as sophisticated mind tools that break destructive thinking patterns. They work like gentle mental massages, spreading sound vibrations throughout the mind and enabling access to profound, joyful aspects of ourselves usually hidden beneath constant mental chatter. This process releases energy from neurotic patterns, redirecting it toward healing, creativity, and a higher level of consciousness.

Mantras operate by balancing the three fundamental forces of nature (gunas): tamas (darkness/inertia), rajas (restless desire), and sattwa (luminous clarity). Being primarily sattwic in nature, mantras stimulate awareness of mental processes while expanding positive energy, balance, and inner joy. They can calm anxiety, energize depression, heal trauma, and influence entire personality patterns.

Spiritual Practice and Development

Within the yoga system, mantra yoga serves as an intermediary stage between physical preparation (Hatha yoga) and advanced consciousness practices (Laya and Raja yoga). Different personality types—active (karma), devotional (bhakti), intellectual (jnana), or mystical (raja)—approach mantras according to their temperament, using them either as religious tools or purely psychological instruments.

Two primary meditation techniques exist: japa (repetitive chanting) and ajapa japa (mantras synchronized with the breath). The most powerful mantras include AUM (the fundamental cosmic sound) and HAMSA (the natural breath mantra). Through consistent practice, these sounds eventually repeat spontaneously, creating continuous inner vibration that stimulates bliss, self-knowledge, and spiritual awakening.

Universal Wisdom

While India's ancient sages developed mantra science to an extraordinary sophistication over thousands of years, mantras themselves are universal forces that exist in all cultures and psyches. They represent proto-thoughts and primal energies vibrating in our unconscious depths, which have been discovered by mystics during deep meditation and made accessible through the Sanskrit language.

Mantras should be understood as pure sound vibrations rather than religious tools, though they can serve both scientific and spiritual purposes. They function as building blocks of consciousness itself, capable of transforming practitioners at personal levels (releasing trapped mental energy) and transcendent levels (awakening knowledge of the highest Self).

This ancient science offers profound pathways for healing, psychological growth, and spiritual evolution, providing practical tools for anyone seeking to understand and transform the deeper dimensions of mind and consciousness.

This episode on Mantras introduces the fourth workshop in our comprehensive Yoga of Mental Health Workshop Series, a four-part exploration that integrates ancient yogic wisdom with modern psychological insights. Each workshop includes teaching lectures, guided meditations, and interactive Q&A sessions and comes with a CPE certificate upon completion. All participants receive 24/7 online access to recordings and resources after each live event.

Begin your journey from darkness to light, from unconsciousness to self-awareness, and discover the extraordinary healing potential that has always existed within you.

📩 Subscribe to our Newsletter

🎙️ Big Shakti Podcast

🎧 Big Shakti Meditations

🌿️ Big Shakti’s Yoga and Meditation Courses

🧘🏻‍♀️️Jayne Stevenson’s intuitive healing and dream therapy practice

🧘 Dr. Swami Shankardev’s medical and psychotherapy practice

📹 Big Shakti’s YouTube Channel  

Welcome to this episode of Big Shakti’s podcast, an interview with Dr Swami Shankardev by Janie Larmour, the organizer of Yoga Day Sydney, which will be held at Sydney Boys' High on Sunday, June 22nd, 2025.

Get 20% off your ticket price using the coupon code BIGSHAKTI20.

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/yogaday/1413531

Janie states - "Swami Shankardev is this year’s featured teacher and headline speaker. He is a medical doctor, yoga acharya, psychotherapist, and all-around wisdom ninja.

In his keynote, “The Principles of Yoga Therapy for Mental Wellness—Ancient Wisdom for Modern Minds,” he’ll unpack how Samkhya, Vedanta, Patanjali’s Yoga, and Tantra can team with modern psychology to develop mental strength and emotional resilience and illuminate the path to deeper Self-realisation."

Yoga Day—Sydney is a full-on, feel-good yoga festival created to “teach, inspire, and unite” the community in one jam-packed day. There will be 30+ yoga, meditation, and wellness sessions running four at a time from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., a buzzing marketplace for healthy goodies, and plenty of space to meet kindred spirits of every bendy (or not-so-bendy) level.

The doors swing open at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, 22 June 2025, at Sydney Boys High School in Moore Park, giving you a whole winter-solstice weekend reason to roll out the mat and warm up body, mind, and humor muscles.

Yoga Day is a fantastic gateway for individuals to delve into various yoga styles and wellness practices that they might not typically encounter in their daily lives. By attending this immersive event, participants can learn new skills, broaden their perspectives, and embark on a journey of exploration and growth. Yoga Day 2024 was a huge success for all attendees, yoga teachers, and vendors.

The founder behind Yoga Day is Janie Larmour. With a career spanning 30 years in health and wellness, she has been sharing her passion nationally at large expos and festivals for 16 years and most intensely, internationally for the past 9 years in the USA and UK. Her extensive global experience has exposed her to the transformative power of yoga events, witnessing firsthand the excitement and wonder they create in both beginners and experienced yogis.

Janie was inspired to create Yoga Day, recognizing the need for a dynamic platform in Australia. The vision is to provide a remarkable opportunity for yoga teachers, studios, and wellness brands to showcase their offerings to a large and diverse audience. ​

📩 Subscribe to our Newsletter

🎙️ Big Shakti Podcast

🎧 Big Shakti Meditations

🌿️ Big Shakti’s Yoga and Meditation Courses

🧘🏻‍♀️️Jayne Stevenson’s intuitive healing and dream therapy practice

🧘 Dr. Swami Shankardev’s medical and psychotherapy practice

📹 Big Shakti’s YouTube Channel 

Are you struggling with feelings of being trapped in cycles of mental and emotional suffering without understanding why?

Do you sense there's untapped potential within you, yet can't seem to access it?

This illuminating lecture may hold the key to your transformation.

In this podcast episode, we discuss how ancient Indian philosophical systems—Sāmkhya, Vedānta, Yoga, and Tantra—serve as powerful maps of consciousness, maps of wholeness, that can revolutionize your approach to mental health and personal growth.

The episode describes why most people remain unconscious of their inner world and how this lack of self-awareness creates the greatest obstacle to healing. You will learn how these timeless wisdom traditions break down overwhelming mental challenges into manageable components and provide structured pathways to recognize your true nature beyond suffering.

This lecture reveals why many people find it easier to identify with their limitations than their strengths, trapped in what Jung called the "dark shadow" while resisting their "golden shadow" of inherent wisdom, creativity, and resilience.

Through the lens of Eastern philosophy, you'll understand how transformation occurs not by eliminating your darker aspects, but by reclaiming your disowned strengths.

You'll gain insight into:

• How Sāmkhya provides the vertical structure of existence, revealing the organization of your mind
• Why Vedānta's five koshas (sheaths) offer crucial depth perception for targeted healing
• The practical wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita for everyday mental wellbeing
• How Patanjali's Yoga creates a methodical path toward inner liberation
• Tantra's powerful energetic techniques for tangible transformation

This episode introduces our comprehensive Yoga of Mental Health Workshop Series, a four-part exploration integrating ancient yogic wisdom with modern psychological insights. Each workshop includes teaching lectures, guided meditations, and interactive Q&A sessions and comes with a CPE certificate upon completion. All participants receive 24/7 online access to recordings and resources after each live event.

Begin your journey from darkness to light, from unconsciousness to self-awareness, and discover the extraordinary healing potential that has always existed within you.

📩 Subscribe to our Newsletter

🎙️ Big Shakti Podcast

🎧 Big Shakti Meditations

🌿️ Big Shakti’s Yoga and Meditation Courses

🧘🏻‍♀️️Jayne Stevenson’s intuitive healing and dream therapy practice

🧘 Dr. Swami Shankardev’s medical and psychotherapy practice

📹 Big Shakti’s YouTube Channel 

Welcome to this episode of Big Shakti’s podcast. I'm Dr. Swami Shankardev. Over my nearly 50 years as a medical doctor and yoga therapist, I've discovered that true healing requires us to look beyond symptoms to understand the deeper architecture of our minds and consciousness. In this podcast episode, I'll introduce you to an ancient map of consciousness called Samkhya that has revolutionized how I practice medicine and help people heal.

This episode offers a glimpse into the framework we'll be exploring in depth through our upcoming workshop series at Big Shakti. Starting in March 2025, we'll be hosting monthly workshops that dive deep into this fascinating intersection of Eastern wisdom and Western medicine. Today's episode will give you a taste of how this 4,000-year-old wisdom surprisingly aligns with modern neuroscience and can be practically applied to challenges like anxiety and depression.

The workshop will help you to understand how your mind really works - not just the surface thoughts and emotions but the deeper patterns that shape your experience. Whether you're struggling with mental health challenges, working as a healthcare professional, or simply curious about integrating ancient wisdom with modern medicine, you'll get a sense of the practical insights we'll be exploring in our workshop series.

The monthly workshops at Big Shakti will build on these foundations, offering in-depth training in combining traditional practices like meditation and pranayama with modern medical understanding. We'll create a comprehensive framework for understanding mental health through both Eastern and Western lenses.

Let's begin this journey of mapping the territory of consciousness and discovering practical tools for lasting change. If what you hear today resonates with you, I invite you to join us for the full workshop series, where we'll explore these concepts in much greater depth.

📩 Subscribe to our Newsletter

🎙️ Big Shakti Podcast

🎧 Big Shakti Meditations

🌿️ Big Shakti’s Yoga and Meditation Courses

🧘🏻‍♀️️Jayne Stevenson’s intuitive healing and dream therapy practice

🧘 Dr. Swami Shankardev’s medical and psychotherapy practice

📹 Big Shakti’s YouTube Channel 

The practice of Yoga Nidra unfolds in stages:

1.        The first stage consists of moving awareness from part to part of the physical body, called body rotation. 

2.        The next stage is usually based on breath awareness, which involves using our awareness to observe the breath, which is a subtler part of us. 

3.        Then, we move to an even subtler level with meditations on sensations, feelings, and emotions, which begin to work directly with the mind. We are asked to feel warm, cold, heavy, light, pleasant, and unpleasant feelings.

4.        The last stage is often a form of visualization. 

However, the order can be adjusted according to the purpose of the practice so that feeling meditations can come straight after body rotation when feeling is the main focus. This might occur when we really want to develop the skill of creating and destroying feelings so that we have more choices over which feelings we have. 

Because emotional feelings have such a powerful impact on us, the ability to remain grounded, aware, and centered while facing challenging situations requires practice. It is best to start this process by meditating on contrasting sensations, both pleasant and unpleasant, and then moving on to pleasant and unpleasant emotions.

The systematic exploration of contrasting physical sensations, such as hot and cold, heavy and light,  and contrasting emotions in Yoga Nidra serves several important purposes in promoting relaxation and emotional well-being. 

We are learning to safely experience the full spectrum of feelings without being overwhelmed.

📩 Subscribe to our Newsletter

🎙️ Big Shakti Podcast

🎧 Big Shakti Meditations

🌿️ Big Shakti’s Yoga and Meditation Courses

🧘🏻‍♀️️Jayne Stevenson’s intuitive healing and dream therapy practice

🧘 Dr. Swami Shankardev’s medical and psychotherapy practice

📹 Big Shakti’s YouTube Channel

This podcast episode is divided into two parts.

1. The first is about how chronic, unresolved stress wrecks your brain.
2. The second is about how yoga and meditation repair the damage of chronic stress. We describe the four stages of repair, moving from basic repair of the damage to stabilizing normal function, then building a stronger neural architecture, and finally, the phase of mastery in which you optimize brain function.

Stress is an unavoidable part of life. While acute, short-term stress helps you cope with challenging situations, chronic, long-term, unresolved stress is different. Long-term stress doesn’t just deplete your energy and affect your mood; it damages your ability to think clearly, process information, and handle emotions.

Chronic stress wrecks your brain—it physically reshapes it, changing the size, structure, and function of parts of it. Over time, persistent stress alters neural structures, shrinks key regions involved in memory and decision-making, and overactivates the parts involved in emotional control.

While these changes often develop slowly and are initially subtle, their effects can profoundly impact cognitive function, emotional well-being, and behavior patterns throughout life.

Chronic, unresolved stress creates an imbalance between the self-aware, rational, decision-making, and problem-solving parts of the brain (the pre-frontal cortex) and the emotion and memory-controlling parts of the brain (the amygdala and hippocampus). However, yoga and meditation can restore normal function, build stronger neural architecture, and optimize brain function in the final phase of mastery.

Stage 1 - Relaxation techniques such as  Three Easy Steps to Deep Relaxation guided meditation series and Yoga Nidra.

Stage 2 - Techniques such as Ajapa Japa and Meditations on the Third Eye of Intuition.

Stage 3 - Advanced methods of Chakra and Ajapa Japa meditation.

Stage 4 - Advanced Chakra and Kundalini Meditations.

📩 Subscribe to our Newsletter

🎙️ Big Shakti Podcast

🎧 Big Shakti Meditations

🌿️ Big Shakti’s Yoga and Meditation Courses

🧘🏻‍♀️️Jayne Stevenson’s intuitive healing and dream therapy practice

🧘 Dr. Swami Shankardev’s medical and psychotherapy practice

📹 Big Shakti’s YouTube Channel

This episode is the talk from our Core Strength Clam Mind Guided Meditation Series, which is now also available in our Life Force Meditations Series.

The Life Force Meditation Series has bundled three of our programs, Prana, Core Strength, and Chakras, into one mega program, which is divided into three phases. The first phase covers all you need to know about prana to generate and store prana.

This talk introduces phase two of this mega program. Phase 2 focuses on developing core strength through grounding, alignment, and pulsation practices. These are the keys to self-regulation and building resilience in handling the stresses and challenges of daily life.

You will learn powerful yogic techniques to cultivate a deep sense of inner stability, strength, and connection to your body-mind. You gain essential tools for establishing a solid foundation for your meditation practice and to remain grounded, centered, and stable in daily life.

The meditations in this phase guide you in exploring how to ground yourself, align your physical and energetic bodies, and work with the natural pulsations of life force within you.

To build energy and resilience, you will learn to manipulate two important internal muscles: the respiratory diaphragm and the pelvic floor.

By the end of this phase, you will have developed practical skills for centering yourself, managing your energy, and maintaining a strong, relaxed presence even in challenging situations.

You will better understand the subtle anatomy of the body-mind system and how to work with it for greater stability and awareness in meditation and in daily life.

These practices lay the groundwork for more advanced chakra meditations and ajapa japa in phase 3 of the course.

📩 Subscribe to our Newsletter

🎙️ Big Shakti Podcast

🎧 Big Shakti Meditations

🌿️ Big Shakti’s Yoga and Meditation Courses

🧘🏻‍♀️️Jayne Stevenson’s intuitive healing and dream therapy practice

🧘 Dr. Swami Shankardev’s medical and psychotherapy practice

📹 Big Shakti’s YouTube Channel

This podcast episode focuses on the third eye of intuition, ajna chakra. We have compiled two talks by Jayne and myself.

The first is the introduction to the Awakening The Third Eye of Intuition Course.

The second is from the Light on the Chakras and Kundalinī Course held in 2022 and 2023. 

The purpose of this course is to support you in activating and awakening ājnā chakra, your third eye, also called the divine eye. It is the eye that can see into your soul. One of the great byproducts of activating your third eye is the development of a powerful intuition to gain access to the knowledge and wisdom in you. 

Intuition is the ability to perceive all the possibilities inherent in the present moment and know which is best for you at that time. A powerful intuition enables you to make good decisions in line with your life purpose. It also helps you support others and form meaningful relationships. Unfortunately, intuition, which is potential in all of us, is usually dormant or functions erratically unless it is developed through regular meditation practice. 

This is why Jayne and I have designed this course to give you the knowledge, techniques, support, and inspiration to initiate and develop a stable relationship with your ajna chakra, your third eye. 

The meditation techniques in this course activate your ājnā chakra, enabling you to “see” the subtle dimension of your inner being - the part of you that is rich with knowledge, meaning, and purpose, and infinite possibilities. 

By turning your attention inward, you connect with yourself and your latent, dormant powers. This connection turns on inner guidance, which is what most people need. 

Most people look outside of themselves for guidance, have lost connection with their own inner wisdom, and, therefore, feel lost and confused. 

As you develop your third eye, you also have access to your own inner wisdom, which is your intuition. Of course, we all need to learn from the world, but we also need to tune in to our inner sense of what suits us. That is important. Without that inner sense, the outer world can’t make an impression and loses its power and ability to change things for you.

You will learn how to reduce your mental noise so that you can tune into the silence at the core of your being, where great power, knowledge, and wisdom reside. And this is where you will find your intuition.

This section aims to explore each chakra individually, deconstructing the chakra and kundalini system. It's very important that you spend some time contemplating each chakra, allowing the various elements within it to come alive within you. Some of these elements are easily accessible to you; you have a karmic relationship with them. Some of them are not accessible, you don't have a karmic relationship with them, or you have a negative karmic relationship. Those are the elements that you need to examine.

See the course

📩 Subscribe to our Newsletter

🎙️ Big Shakti Podcast

🎧 Big Shakti Meditations

🌿️ Big Shakti’s Yoga and Meditation Courses

🧘🏻‍♀️️Jayne Stevenson’s intuitive healing and dream therapy practice

🧘 Dr. Swami Shankardev’s medical and psychotherapy practice

📹 Big Shakti’s YouTube Channel

This episode is the talk from our Prana and Pranic Healing Guided Meditation Series, which is now also available in our Life Force Meditations Series. This series has bundled together three of our programs, Prana, Core Strength, and Chakras, into one mega program. 

The first phase of this mega program, the Life Force Series, enables you to gain an authentic experience of prana and the ability to generate and store prana. 

In the second phase of the Life Force Series, you learn how to use your prana to create physical and emotional resilience to handle daily life's stresses and challenges. 

In the third phase of the series, you learn to use prana to purify, activate, and eventually awaken two important chakras. 

The first is the manipura chakra, which is responsible for health, vitality, power, and resilience. 

The second chakra in the bundle is ajna chakra, the third eye, which is responsible for intuition, higher intelligence, and access to the highest consciousness. 

You need as much prana as you can get to live a healthy life and progress on the spiritual path.

This talk describes prana, why it's crucial for our health and spiritual development, and how we can become more aware of this subtle yet powerful force within us. We'll discuss the different types of prana in the body, how to cultivate and direct this energy, and its role in yoga and meditation practices.

Whether you're a seasoned yogi or new to the concept of subtle energy, this episode will provide valuable insights to help you tap into your inner vitality and enhance your overall well-being. 

📩 Subscribe to our Newsletter

🎙️ Big Shakti Podcast

🎧 Big Shakti Meditations

🌿️ Big Shakti’s Yoga and Meditation Courses

🧘🏻‍♀️️Jayne Stevenson’s intuitive healing and dream therapy practice

🧘 Dr. Swami Shankardev’s medical and psychotherapy practice

📹 Big Shakti’s YouTube Channel

Following our episode on self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-mastery, episode 13 of our podcast series, quite a lot of people have written to us asking us which meditation practice they should start with and how to use all the various meditations we have on the website. Which meditations are particularly suited to cultivating self-awareness, which is for self-regulation, and is there a path that can be followed to support successful meditation? These are great questions because we need to understand what techniques are available and how to apply them properly.

We discuss

1. What is success in meditation?
2. Should we use one technique or many, and if many, how do we use them?
3. The success path is defined.
4. The journey begins with relaxation techniques because self-awareness is difficult if you’re not relaxed. The first is the 3 Easy Steps to Deep Relaxation, which teaches this.
5. The second stage begins once you have attained a degree of relaxation and is when you cultivate self-awareness. The primary practice for this is Inner Silence, Antar Mouna.
6. Being inside the mind is like being inside a washing machine. Inner Silence gets you outside of your mind.
7. The third state of self-awareness and self-regulation is mastering our energy systems, our life force, prāna. Initially, this can be done by learning the breathing technique Ujjayi Pranayama.
8. Once you have developed ujjayi and connected to the breath and prana, you will move to the Pranic Healing Meditations series, which teaches you how to direct prana to specific parts of the body, facilitating healing and revitalization.
9. Once you can charge your body with energy, we teach a very important series of meditations called the Core Strength, Calm Mind. It teaches grounding, the ability to remain grounded and stable in the present moment, and self-awareness while facing stress and life's challenges.
10. Once you can work with your prana and these grounding and energizing practices, you can move into the next stage by developing your connection to your highest self, the source of your intelligence and intuition. Advanced mantras and Ajapa Japa Meditations are taught at this stage.
11. The fifth stage takes self-awareness and self-regulation to self-mastery.

📩 Subscribe to our Newsletter

🎙️ Big Shakti Podcast

🎧 Big Shakti Meditations

🌿️ Big Shakti’s Yoga and Meditation Courses

🧘🏻‍♀️️Jayne Stevenson’s intuitive healing and dream therapy practice

🧘 Dr. Swami Shankardev’s medical and psychotherapy practice

📹 Big Shakti’s YouTube Channel