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Unsounded sounds are a whole world of amazing. Practice on an imaginary instrument is effective for the same reason the mantras work. The mind must really engage to support these activities. For building mental discipline the unsounded syllable may even have the advantage. In the main, I am working with "sounded internal sounds" and voiced breaths. I'm feeling standing wave motion in deep tissues consistent with that. There can be disquieting sensations, and wavelike feelings rise and fall through the day. Once again, silent practices are absolutely essential as well. I tend to use a mala and a softened breath for this part. Any sort of obstacles to practice with silent mantra recitations seem like something that would resolve over time, with plateaus and valleys...like any other musical instrument. I'd love to recommend adding a sounded practice of some sort to tonify breathing parts and make you happy but I've been recommending singing for health forever, it's just more of the same.

I use "om" along with sounds derived from the Daoist six healing sounds, Alexander technique, and sounds based on Emilie Conrad's Continuum practices. This is in conjunction with stillness practices, quiet attention, and zahn zhuang standing. The overall practice has been built around tissue change, and the sound work seems to amplify or support the rest. Sessions are early morning, 2 shifts of 20 minutes, one syllable running through various pitches, layered with a complimentary syllable in the second shift. Quiet meditation before and after, lots of exploration in between and regular vocal exercises and singing through the day. The short term effects are strong; the sound work is every other day. Over time, an interior vocabulary will emerge. Problems with audio recording interior sound practices may remain insoluble. Very interested in reading about other's experiences with sound based practices.

I would love it if some of the experienced practitioners would "check my work" here. None of this is intended as an assertion of truth or as a teaching - it reflects my current understanding, based on my own experiences. If I'm understanding things as they are, the movement of my body coordinate around three sets of joints - the hips, shoulders and spine, each of which can be considered to have an "open " and "closed" postural orientation. The closing of these joints generates spring tension which is distributed into the naturally springy skeleton. Continual "closing tension" is eventually transferred beyond the skeletal arcs and drives tension into the fascia, muscles and ultimately affecting all the tissues of the body. Opening these same joints allows the spring tension to be released. Practice time spent with the body in an empty posture - a "correct meditation posture", one which allows the large joints to open up along the spine - allows the tissues supported by the skeleton to transfer the vibrations of this spring tension more efficiently. I became aware of the pulses of fluid through the venous systems, particularly at nodes in the Aortic column. This adds to the strength and complexity of the vibrations. Practice time with an empty mind will allow the proprioceptive net of the body to feel these vibrations with the delicacy and detail of hearing. So far , I'm talking about mechanical processes within the body. The mental components involved in reaching these conclusions have been A ) Setting up the conditions - the time and space, stances to use, a breathing strategy, and the experience of all previous practice sessions. B ) Getting out of the way. This has been a healthy practice; body parts I'd been holding "closed", "clenched" or merely in the wrong alignment have had an opportunity to lose tension and to "float" and "wriggle" into a better set of shapes and positions. One perception has been that none of the bodies parts or systems have a steady shape - they are formless blobs, shaped by constant movement. Over time, perception of these rhythmic cycles of movement can be perceived as resolving on a "one" located at the bodies center of gravity. Much like a guitarist flatpicking a Texas "Circle Strum", (Think Stevie Ray Vaughan, "Pride and Joy" ) this can be coordinated into a tiny muscular cycling with the muscles in this nerve dense position in the lower torso. Is this cool musical toy is the much fabled "Lower Dantian"?

Give things a a good airing, open the windows, before using any kind of smoke or flowers. This is not the sort of thing I like to give advice about, these days, and thinking about these kinds of factors is just part of how I've done things. And in general, the less attention pointed at certain issues, the better.

Smudge, incense and fresh flowers work a treat too

Your space shares the same energy that you do. How it's arranged and what you let in has an effect. Feng shui has a lot of rules, but it's a good approach - it leads to pleasant living spaces. Many cultures have different ways of controlling living spaces this way that don't involve as many compass measurements...

This sort of thing is why I occasionally mention feng shui. If smudging is more your thing, that's good too.

After just a few sessions experimenting with internal sound, I'd say that if anyone is involved with mantras, healing sound, chanting or any other voice based practices...you're on to something big. Practice diligently and with enthusiasm.

I can dig it. Playing a bard in tabletop d&d as a teen gave me a platform to work out a lot of things.

Grading myself that way is one of the behaviors I've worked to get out of in order to level up.

I maintain a small rented island on the Second Life mainland. Visitors could be...interesting.

If laughter adds to manna (or whatever) then that working might have some legs.

Awesomeness

Physical results over time are undeniable. Long term pains have receded, parts move differently. The change to my rotator cuff damage alone has been worth the effort

Bits of a critter we don't have around here, at a guess.

I've given more complex charms away; finger bones on a 12 gauge guitar string was the coolest.

I've sold a mojo hand for twenty five dollars, but it also had the sense of being a curio.

This could just turn into a fuzzy echo of my archive dives on this site . When i say peep in on my third eye, I really mean the spot surrounding the midbrain - the highest outpost of feeling nerve endings inside the middle of the skull, and the surrounding reservoir of blood whose pulse they can pick up. Not there for long, there's a reciprocating pulse in my abdomen and breathing between my kidneys to manage . I don't know if that makes any sense whatsoever.

As I say, these things are done with a very different emphasis. I establish the breathing pattern from the microcosmic orbit as an anchor while using standing postures for tissue change over time. Very different. I keep my third eye out of it, except for a wee peek as a catalyst at the beginning of a session.

Improve? I have a wonderful opportunity, a great life. Far better than I deserve. Please don't misunderstand. No one who meets me feels in the least bit sorry for me, I assure you.

All of these things have a very different emphasis. I'm working on mending my body, mind and spirit after a life of messing all that up. If I were one short step from total enlightenment, I suppose I could afford to be choosy.

But you have the idea of "filling your lower Dantian " but not of circulating the substance you're filling it with? I might research that idea further if I were seeking a good result.

Quite seriously, that took some googling. I'm absolutely certain you know everything you need to know though.

Unassailable source. Who is he?

Ah well Bill Brodhi. I'll look him up. I'm no doubt wasting a lot of time then.