How Chanting Mantras Helps in Healing

Jonathan Goldman writes in his book “Human Sounds” about the miraculous effects of chanting on a group of French Benedictine monks. The monks used to chant daily, but one day they made a decision to stop the practice. Soon after, they began to fall sick. Strangely, they had never fallen sick when they were chanting. Countless studies claim that chanting regularly has a therapeutic effect on our minds and bodies and boosts our immunity.   

Hindus have always believed in the power of Vedic Mantras. Many chant the Mantras to achieve health, wealth, prosperity, etc. Mantras like Mahamrityunjaya Mantra and Dhanwantari Mantra are believed to heal diseases. It is believed that the vibrations produced in the atmosphere when we chant Mantras produce such results.

Chanting of “Om” and other Vedic verses supposedly has a deep impact on all the energy centers or ‘Chakras’ of the human body. There are 7 Chakras in our body. These can be tapped with the proper rhythm of breath that is controlled by means of the proper pronunciation of certain frequencies of sound energy.

The human body has a “self-regulating” system called homeostasis, which helps to keep our body parameters stable. The energies produced by Vedic chanting have an impact on the medulla, the sound-related nerve that is associated with all the muscles through neurotransmission. These vibrations interact with the larynx, lungs, heart, liver, stomach, kidneys, bladder, etc., through the vagus nerve and the internal ear.

Chanting Mantras in a rhythmic manner supposedly creates a neuro-linguistic effect, even if one does not understand the meaning of the Mantra. But one must have a good ear and adhere to the pauses, punctuations, pronunciation, notation, length, and force of the chant when repeating it again and again. Even listening to Mantras can regulate the heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves, and adrenalin levels.

Let us see some of the Health Benefits of Chanting Mantras or Spiritual Words.

It Can Heal Diseases

Dr. Alan Watkins, who is a researcher at the Imperial College, London, claims that chanting of any kind, be it Gregorian Chants, Vedic Chants, or other chants, can improve health. There have even been reports of people suffering from cancer getting cured of the cancer by chanting.

Chanting Boosts our Energy Levels

Chanting can boost energy levels.  

Chanting Reduces Anger, Anxiety, and Fear

Chanting regulates the hypothalamus region of the brain. This region controls our emotions. Chanting also calms the brain’s amygdala, which is the anger center of the brain. The amygdala is very sensitive to anger. The more we feel angry, the more the amygdala becomes active, leading to a vicious cycle. But chanting Mantras has a calming effect on both areas. This heals the amygdala, and emotions like anger and anxiety begin to fade.

Chanting Can Reduce Blood Pressure

Studies have shown that heart rate and blood pressure will become lower while chanting. The blood pressure also remains low for the rest of the day. This may be because we breathe better when we chant, and it makes us feel better. This releases feel-good hormones like dopamine.

Chanting Elevates the Mood

Chanting can create more endorphins in the body, thereby improving our mood. A study in the International Journal of Yoga revealed that in those who chanted, the limbic system of the brain was stimulated. This helped those who had depression. Many areas of the brain are stimulated during chanting. They include the amygdala, hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate gyrus, insula, thalamus, and parahippocampal gyrus. Chanting is good for those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It also increases brain function for those who have strokes and epilepsy.

Chanting Helps Alcoholics

Studies done in 1991 by Sethi, Golechha, Deshpande, & Rani, revealed that alcoholics who chanted every morning and evening for 6 weeks experienced a significant decrease in delta and alpha brain waves. This led to mental tranquility.

Chanting Lowers Stress Hormones

Another study done in China found that chanters had lower levels of theta waves and delta brain waves after chanting. Due to this, they had less stress throughout the day.

Chanting Slows Aging

A study by Lavretsky in 2011 showed that chanting increased cellular telomerase activity, which can slow the process of cellular aging.

Chanting Improves Sleep

Chanting reduces stress chemicals in the brain and body. This helps us to sleep better and wake up refreshed the next day.

Chanting Reduces Negative Emotions

Chanters are less prone to have negative moods due to the changes in their brain chemistry.

Chanting Induces Feelings of Well Being

A 2013 study by Gupta and Bhatt says that those who chanted regularly experienced well-being and a better mental aptitude.

Chanting Aids the Digestive System

As chanters suffer less anxiety and stress, they also have less digestive problems. It is well-known that stress can cause digestive problems, stomach aches, diarrhea, etc.

The Words We Chant Matter

Studies show that the words that we chant do matter. Chanting Sanskrit words or other spiritual words has a beneficial effect unlike any ordinary words.

Science behind Mantras

Scientists did an analysis of power versus frequency of the signal energies associated with OM. They found deviations in Electro Encephalograms (EEG) waves towards low-frequency rhythms of OM chanting and inferred that such changes were caused by the electrical activity of the brain produced by Vedic chanting.

Research was also done to find out the beneficial effects of chanting the Vishnu Sahasranama for 12 weeks. It revealed that it helped in stress management. There was a significant reduction in stress levels after listening to the chant regularly.

In another study, women with hypertension underwent “Om Namah Shivaya” chanting sessions for 3 days. Then they were asked to chant the Mantra, “Om Namah Shivaya,” 108 times for 40 days. The experiment showed that depression, stress, anxiety, and cortisol levels reduced significantly when the chanting increased to 108 times.

 Conclusion

Mantra chanting benefits have been widely researched. Such experiments reveal that the energy released during the chanting of the Mantras

has the power to heal the human body.