One dose of OM for the nervous system
Why chant? Just as relevant today if you’re chronically stressed or anxious as it was for the ancient yogis - sound has the power not just to relax but heal on a deeper level than you may realise.
Have you got a happy song? Something that always lifts your spirits? Intuitively we can be drawn to music to reflect, or change, our mood.
In my yoga classes this week we were playing with sound as a tool to cultivate the 'relaxation response’ - a term coined by Dr Herbert Benson in his 1975 bestselling book - but there is so much more to the magic of sound, not only for mood but for healing, health and wellbeing.
If you think of indigenous cultures, sound is ritual and ceremony - think didgeridoos, rattles, drums, bells, chanting. What these ancient traditions knew, science has proven to be beneficial.
Image: Awake & Mindful
By chanting this ‘sound of the Universe’ we physically and symbolically move into harmony.
You may have felt the physical effect of this sound which, by stimulating the vagus nerve, activates the parasympathetic nervous system - the relaxing, healing, feel-good branch of the nervous system. The chant gives the mind a job - it calms the busy mind and so calms the body.
So, if for any reason, your body has felt ‘out of tune’, sound is an amazing tool you have right under your nose for bringing in a sense of harmony. It may be chanting or Solfeggio frequencies or just singing along to your favourite song.
