An email I sent to the Gayatri Parivar Yahoo group, over 11 yrs ago.
While chanting Gayatri mantra, oftentimes I used to find myself
1) unable to focus on the spirit(meaning) of the mantra, as the mind was wandering hither and thither
2) unable to consistently do my spiritual activities due to various daily life hindrances
3) my chronic breathing problems interfered with my concentration
While experimenting with various ways on overcoming the above obstacles I found the below remedies helpful. Hence thought of sharing the same.
1) Prayers to Lord Ganesha (the God of obstacles) even a few minutes daily, asking him to help me overcome all kinds of obstacles in my spiritual practice, helped. But it has to be regular. Hence I've made it integral to my daily Sandhya worship. In fact, we do chant 'Shuklambaradharam...' which is a prayer to Ganesha only. While chanting the sloka we can pray to HIM to remove all kinds of obstacles and make us disciplined practitioners.
2) Hanuman Chalisa - I have found that chanting it gives me energy and drive to pursue intense spiritual activities. It's a truly powerful prayer. Sri Rama is the embodiment of Dharma and a worshipper of the Sun too. Hence I have found that prayers to Hanuman through hanuman chalisa asking him to give me strength, intelligence, knowledge (and avoidance of mistakes) and motivation towards overcoming all obstacles in my daily spiritual practice helped.
3) Chanting Aditya Hridayam stotra immediately after the Gayatri mantra chant has helped me overcome my breathing issues. It has also given me a lot of energy, vitality and drive.
May the blessings of divine mother Gayatri shine on us!
Regards,
Hari
