Interview: Hawaii-Based Yoga Teacher and Life Coach Anandra George Talks about Teaching Yoga Mantras in Tokyo

Interview by Dylan Robertson.
Edited by Kresta Painter.

In March this year, we were visited by Anandra George, a yoga teacher and life coach from Hawaii, who was here in Tokyo to give some mantra workshops. There appears to be an increasing interest in mantras here in Tokyo, so I took the opportunity to interview her about her visit.

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I understand this is your first visit to Japan, can you tell me what some of your first impressions have been?

Immediately, I was struck by the sense of precision and excellence, even down to the smallest things like the people who take your ticket for the luggage on the airport limousine. You can tell they enjoy doing a good job at what they do. In the States, they would be slacking, they would give you attitude, they would just throw your bag in the bus. Here in Japan, they were very professional. To me, this means they have a sense of pride in what they do. I am deeply impressed by a culture that supports such a sense of self-esteem at that level.

Then there is the heated toilet seat—can we not put that in the interview (laughing)? Personally, I’m thrilled with heated toilets. They’re amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it! Coming from Kauai it’s cold here for me!

What are your hopes for your workshops in Japan?

I hope to share my enthusiasm and passion for the power of mantra. I hope that students would come away with a sense of empowerment—that a state of meditative, inner peace is no farther than their next breath, the tip of their tongue. It’s very fulfilling for me to share a mantra with someone, to hear it was a powerful experience for them to chant (or even to listen) and then come back to me a month later and tell me it’s opened up a whole new window in their inner life. It’s very humbling. That inspires me because I view all of yoga—the asana, the pranayama, the mantra, yama, niyama—all of the preliminary practices of the yogic path are tools to access the inner teacher in everyone.

What would you say to people who feel a bit intimidated by mantras?

I would say we make sounds all the time. Even when we’re not talking, we’re always thinking, and thought is subtle, but no less powerful, sound. Using Sanskrit Mantra is just a more deliberate and refined level of sound and thought. If you want to be scared, be scared of the rampant negative thoughts running around in your mind! (Laughs) They’re affecting your experience powerfully.

When you use mantra, you become more conscious of the power of your own sound. If someone is intimidated by the idea of learning Sanskrit, I’d say that the yogis who cognized the Sanskrit language listened deeply to the sounds of creation, of nature, of their own in-breath and out-breath, the pulse of the Kundalini—and the language is based on these natural sounds. It may feel unfamiliar and strange at first, but it will lead to being more in tune with reality. Also, I learned recently that Kukai, the “father of Japanese culture,” had studied Sanskrit and the Katakana alphabet is derived from it.

Japan has a long history of mantras within the Buddhist tradition. Will you have a chance to perhaps visit or participate in a Japanese Buddhist chanting session?

I did! I spent five days in the mountain retreat of Koya-san, which was sublime. Amidst the old growth cedar trees, all of the gravestones have the five elements written in Sanskrit, and it was really fun to recognize, even though the script is a bit different than I’m used to. Every morning I got to sit in on the monk’s chanting and fire ceremony. The chanting was hard to understand, because of the accent, but as I learned more about the Shingon sect, which is directly linked to the ancient Vedic culture of India, I was deeply, profoundly inspired by the universality of the practices. They have chanted the mantras for thousands of years because they work!

What did your friends think about you coming to visit Japan?

I have one friend whose parents live here and he said, “God, it’s kind of funny, an American going to the East to teach the Eastern traditions!”

Often people will listen more to a foreigner doing something because you stand out, as opposed to a local.

Yeah. I find that to be true everywhere. In Hawaii, I don’t teach much on my home island of Kauai, because if I teach all the time, people take it for granted and they’re like, “Oh, Anandra. I see her at the supermarket. I see her at this party or that one, or at the beach,” and it’s not special. But when I go to Honolulu, the reaction is different: “Oh, Anandra’s coming! I’ve got to make sure I go to her class!” It is definitely helpful to have that guest status, but it’s all about perceived value. I suppose we’re conditioned to want what we can’t have! (laughs)

What were your impressions of Japan before you came, and is there anything that surprised you during this visit?

I had an idea of Japanese people as being very shy. But so far, people I have met in the yoga community have been very friendly and fun. Certainly they’ve been respectful, because I am introduced as a teacher, but I try to quickly break down those barriers because that’s just my style. I want it to feel like it’s just you and me and we’re here, we’re human, and we are all divine—that I’m not judging you (laughs) and what I know, you know, you just maybe don’t know it yet. I have had a great time here.

How did you first get interested in mantras?

After a series of mystical events, I ended up in India at an Ashram. The Gayatri Mantra was the first one I learned. My favorite thing to do in India was the chanting, but I didn’t know anything. I only knew the words “Shiva” and “Krishna” and “Rama.” The feeling of the chanting and the music and the energy it created in me was so profound, I knew it was my path. That was thirteen years ago. Since then, I’ve taken several more trips to India, but it wasn’t going anywhere that taught me about mantra, it was the thousands of hours spent practicing and meditating.

How do you teach mantra or chanting in your classes?

I focus on direct experience. I explain each word, and often each syllable, and its general meaning. We make the sounds together, to feel the natural effect of the sounds and learn to distinguish them. It’s a process of self-discovery, and at the end of the chanting, I invite people to notice how they feel. I am also a very practical person, so I give a lot of examples of how to use a particular mantra in a particular situation (for instance, which mantra to use to overcome difficult emotions such as fear or anger, or which mantra to use to encourage a peaceful resolution to a misunderstanding).

What would you say to someone wanting to learn about mantra?

I’m so passionate about mantra, because it creates a conducive environment for a person to experience their inner teacher. You don’t need to go anywhere, do anything, have any special physical abilities or special clothing, props, etc. The power of mantra is in its ready availability for everyone. If you can think, you can use mantra. Special sounds have been used as a tool to remove obstacles on the path by virtually every culture and every tradition since ancient times. Mantra practice develops focus, dissipates negative thought patterns, and cultivates a great deal of energy and inner power. There’s a science to why it works that we won’t go into now, but I would encourage anyone who is the least bit interested to explore it and judge the results from their own experience. If you can’t make it to the upcoming classes, I’m happy to work with you personally.

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For more information on Anandra, please see the following:

• Website: www.TrueFreedomCoaching.com
• Facebook Profile: www.FaceBook.com/Anandra.George