Aham Prema (I am Divine Love) – from practice to workshop

Whole Hearted Healing Center
409 N Humphreys St
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
928-779-1201

Sunday, June 8th, 2025
10:30 am to 12:00 noon

Cost
$40.00 in advance / $45.00 at the door
space is limited – sign up today
I accept payment through venmo @cosmic-holly-troy , paypal , and cash

Questions?
please contact me

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I heard when you are having a hard time it’s good to do service for others.

In November 2021, I began the practice of chanting aham prema live on instagram with the intention of repeating the mantra 125,000 times. Aham prema means “I am divine love.” I was feeling overwhelmed, I needed some love, and I figured the world could use some love, too. I reasoned, “the more people tuning in and taking time in their day to recognize and declare Divine Love for themselves, the more that love could ripple out into their lives and the world.”

My hope was and is that my offering lightens the world.

What first began as a mantra repetition practice expanded into guided breathwork and meditation, mantra, and creative visualization. Sometimes I would intersperse life updates into the practice as well. It kept me sane – my mom had progressive supranuclear palsy – I left the life I had built in Flagstaff to take care of her. I’m grateful I was there for her, and I also had no idea how isolating and all-consuming caregiving can be.  

Chanting aham prema and creating meditation videos was often the only time out I had for myself. It was a lifeline away from the heavy energy and emotional turmoil inherent to caregiving and losing a parent; a lifeline toward spirit, love, curiosity, play, connection and strength. The practice prepared me to be the curious present love I hoped I would be during my mom’s final days. 

About a week after my mother died, I taught the workshop I am Divine Love – a playful affirmation of the true nature of Self for the first time. 

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This is from November 2021 – when I first began chanting Aham Prema publicly . . . 

I am Divine Love – a Playful Affirmation of the True Nature of Self

Be love in the world

Join me in chanting “Aham Prema” every day in order to set the mantra in our hearts and achieve mantra siddhi.

Remember we are Divine Love – past, present, and future. 

Om shanti, shanti, shanti.
Om peace, peace, peace.

I will be chanting once or twice a day.

To join me, find the videos on Co-Creating with Cosmic Holly on youtube.

Personal History of the Mantra Practice of Aham Prema 

This is the second time I am repeating the mantra Aham Prema with intention for 125,000 times, though it is the first time I am sharing it with others. One day I thought, “I should share this with others!” and, so, I am. 

The first time I practiced Aham Prema, I used the mala during walks along paths in the forest. I needed to heal my heart. Flagstaff was a tough place for me in terms of love relationships, and I found myself often quite lonely. I’d had a few relationships that devastated my sense of self-worth, and I was feeling worn down. The combination of nature and the mantra were stabilizing and shifted my perspective on love. 

With the first intentional practice of Aham Prema, I noticed my ability to be more loving and compassionate for myself opened considerably. I experienced more gratitude and less anxiety. My heart opened to a more calm and grounded way of being.

Today, I feel more connected to and honoring of my nature. I am less swayed by others. I am far more peaceful in general. 

My ability to hold space for others, to be present and listen has increased. For me, the most valuable things in life are relating and connection. I think personally, that is a powerful siddhi.

The first time I practiced aham prema, I did 10 to 30 malas a day. I was in heartbreak and grief, and needed relief. The mantra, along with therapy and EMDR, body work, yoga and time in nature, was a powerful exploration in healing. I pushed. Of course, meditation is not supposed to be a push, but I was willing to try anything to feel better.  

The process of reaching 125,000 repetitions is far slower this time around. This time I am exploring meditation to really feel and use the energy of Divine Love in my body. I am also exploring using Divine Love as a blessing to Earth and all beings on the planet, to the present, past, and future self, and to anything that comes to mind while practicing. The visualization meditations before and after the mantra have shifted the experience to one of “getting it done” to one of being present and seeing where Divine Love leads in the moment. With the video and the visualization meditation before and after the mantra, I do one mala (108 repetitions of the mantra) on average.

I’m thinking about the flow of love and of being connected to the body in a peaceful way, rather than trying to get through pain. Now I am more apt to explore pain, pleasure, emotions of all nuance when they arise. I feel my body as I chant, which is often why I rock while chanting. I feel energy moving up and down my spine, between my shoulder blades, in my sternum when I chant.

The practice of guiding the meditations and the mantra is something that feels good to me, like I am doing some good, and maybe others will benefit, too.

Once again, it is helping me stay present. It’s important for me to slow down and experience my mother as her body becomes more frail. I think I was led to do this practice again because of the, perhaps not so unique but once-in-a-lifetime experience, of being with my mom as her life winds down. Also, I am reinventing my life through this process, why not fill the rebirth with Divine Love?

Some days I don’t do the mantra. On the days I miss, it’s usually because I am just too tired. Though, when I miss a day or two, I find myself having less patience the next day. So, it has been interesting for me to observe. 

The Power of Mantra

Thomas Ashley-Farrand writes in his book, Shakti Mantras:

“The reason 108 beads are used [in the mala] is directly tied to the number of energy channels, nadis, surrounding the spiritual heart in the subtle body. As each mantra is chanted, energy is evoked into one channel so that by completion of the round of chanting on the mala, energy has passed into all 108 nadis that surround the spiritual heart . . .

“There is a mysterious relationship between the heart and the shakti. Over a sustained period of time of chanting mantra, the power of the mantra comes to rest in the heart, even as it reverberates in the mind while energizing the chakras. When this happens, a mystical resonance takes place in the shakti at the base of the spine. Providing the energy for manifestation for that which resides in the heart, the shakti empowers the heart’s desire expressed through the mind . . .

” . . . [Approximately] 125,000 repetitions were required to seat a mantra in the heart . . . [and] will enable you to reach . . . Mantra Siddhi, a term denoting power and facility with the mantra. More repetitions magnify the result even more, so one may affect not only one’s own life but others as well . . .

“In the process [of making your life better], help to make the ultimate manifestation of your shakti rest in the foundation of Divine Love. It is our common human destiny. So make a decision to affirm your own nature as one of Divine Love, using the mantra ‘Aham Prema.’

“She who empowers all, in every realm, will surely respond.”

Courage

Another outcome of chanting Aham Prema is I have more courage. More courage to be vulnerable. More courage to take risks. More courage to follow the path of the heart.

Divine Love is our common human destiny. That is a beautiful idea. And the more I practice, the more it seems true. 

Perhaps the siddhi is to be human, wholly human.

My intuition told me to share the mantra like this, and I was curious enough to see what would happen if I followed through. We shall see where this goes!

Aham Prema Playlist from Youtube

You are Divine Love!

Aham Prema. 

Namaste ~

Holly