I just started a new daily pranayama and chanting practice. I am enthralled with daily chanting. Why Chant? Chanting is a fun, active way to promote health. The healing power in chanting transforms old emotions, thinking patterns in your mind, and decreases stress in the body. Chanting forges and stabilizes our connection with the whole. Historically, many indigenous peoples chanted to come together, help and heal.
Ayurveda & Yoga Have A Long Relationship With Sacred Singing
Chanting in verse is the ancient communication vehicle for Ayurveda and Yoga; both use chanting to convey sacred texts, teach, and as energy medicine. Even now, I go to a seminar, and Ayurvedic doctors chant verse as part of their presentation. I believe they do this to convey information and vibration in a pure form. I close my eyes and soak in the energy.
John Douillard suggests a mechanism in which pranayama and chanting lessen emotional ama in a recent discussion on detoxification. He suggests that the vibrational energy in the humming in bumblebee breath humming relaxes the samskara in the Taparka Kapha(white matter in the brain where memory is stored). The Chopra Center also gives specific suggestions to chant and use sacred singing for healing.
Kirtan in Bhakti yoga is a form of devotional chanting. People gather together and chant or go to a concert to chant. Sometimes as a group and other times as call and response, but everyone leaves in a more sattvic frame of mind. 2 hours of chanting shifts the focus of the mind from tamas or rajas to sattva, relaxes the body and lifts the spirit. Do you have a favorite artist you follow? Snatam Kaur and Wha are two of mine.
How did I Connect To The Magic Of Chanting?
I grew up in a house with a battered old upright piano. My mom, who played by ear, would gather us around after homework before bed to sing. We sang on holidays to celebrate, in the car to stop fighting and in the church choir. I was in the chorus in high school too. Sacred singing and music drew me in from an early age. But I lost my connection when I started working, except for Christmas caroling.
My yoga classes often included an opening and closing chanted invocation. I loved it and the kirtan music that played during group practice. Chanting relaxes you when anxious and energizes you when exhausted. My mood brightened, and I felt at ease. Chanting encourages you to breathe deeply. So I started to repeat Mantra, breathe and chant more often. When I felt stressed out or tired, I chanted.
When I was studying to be a yoga teacher, I would drive 2 hours for the weekend. My car radio was busted, so I used to chant to stay focused on the road. I would arrive grounded and centered. We learned the chants as part of our homework, so all the practice had me ready to recite on command.
The Vibration of the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra Opens Your Heart to Heal
Repetitious chanting has become a go-to healing agent for me. Triple M as I call it, is a favorite chant I learned about 10 plus years ago in yoga therapy training with my fabulous yoga therapy teacher Jenny Otto. Chanting mantra has fantastic transformative powers for vibration and health. Some things from the training stick with you and others you release. This Mantra stuck, and I’m so glad it did.
Years later, when I had to hold my head still for 3 months after surgery for a detached retina in my left eye, there wasn’t much I could do. The discomfort and isolation tested me. I meditated for hours each day, prayed for support, and recited the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra in my head over and over. I wasn’t able to chant out loud, too much movement. Chanting, in my mind silently, steadied me and moved me through my healing process.
So when in AHC training at Himalayan Institute, we made 100 times washed ghee , while chanting the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra it felt so right to reconnect to Mantra open to healing, breathe and chant the night away. I took my jar home and used my 100 washed ghee to soothe sunburns and cooking burns. Each time I use it, I chant the Mantra and feel the blessings.
Use Chant In You Life
I know that starting this new program of breathing and chanting is creating a definite shift in my life. So each morning, I include it as part of my dinacharya and try to notice the shift beginnings. Do you do mantra as jappa or chant? Try a mantra or chant to help you focus, redirect mental chatter, relax, and feel more ease.
Ayurselfcare’s purpose is to educate on the benefits of Ayurveda. This article is not a substitute for professional medical care, treatment, or advice. All the material here is for learning purposes only. Always share strategy and work with your health care team.