Join evolution Physical Therapy & Yoga teachers at the monthly teachers meeting this July.

July’s theme of the month is chanting. What is your favorite chant so far?

Learn more about Evolution Physical Therapy & Yoga

The yoga of sound involves chanting; chanting is a centuries-old technique that connects humans with themselves, the universe, and Spirit.  Chanting raises vibrations of the individual practicing and a result, people who chant feel alive, peaceful, and centered.  We all know that in order to attain good physical health and happiness, the body requires adequate exercise, proper diet, and rest.  More importantly and more overlooked is the health of our inner self which also requires nourishment and attention.  When we neglect our spiritual, inner self, we become imbalanced and negative in attitude and emotions.

Expert Yoga teacher Adrian Cox explains,  “When you chant OM with the right understanding, it becomes a powerful yoga practice in it’s own right…Chanting OM creates detachment and empowers all mental and spiritual processes. It can take you all the way to deep states of yoga, if you have good concentration.”  Cox reminds us that “It [can take] a long time before [any mantra] takes effect. Depending on the number of syllables in the mantra, it can take 16,000 or more repetitions before it ‘unlocks.’  That’s if you’re concentrating… Having your brain wander off on to unrelated things while chanting might make it take longer.”

Chanting is fun, easy, and always available to you!

Chanting is a useful anecdote in our fast-paced lifestyles, stressful lives, and during our modern times.  Chanting is a good habit and beneficial to bring into your life, no matter how busy you are each day:

• You can chant alone, silently, quietly , or aloud… anytime…anywhere
• You can chant with friend or a group of friends
• You can listen to chants throughout the day on your CD or Mp3 player to feel soothed and energized
• You can chant as you sit still, as you move, as you travel.
• You don’t have make any adjustments- you can chant in any position

Medical and research studies have shown that chanting positively effects the physical body, the mind, and the spirit.

When a person chants, studies have shown:

• “According to a research done at the Cleveland University, USA, the rhythmic tones involved in chanting create a melodious effect in the body called the Neuro-linguistic effect [NLE]. When we know the meaning of the mantra we are reciting, it creates a Psycholinguistic effect [PLE] on the body. The NLE and the PLE effects are by-products of the production and spreading of curative chemicals in the brain. The research concludes that this is the real reason why chanting provokes curative effects in us.
• A study by Dr Alan Watkins [senior lecturer in neuroscience at Imperial College London] revealed that while chanting, our heart rate and blood pressure dip to its lowest in the day. Doctors say that even listening to chants normalizes adrenalin levels, brain wave pattern and lowers cholesterol levels.
• Using chants as part of our exercise regimen, helps facilitate movement and flow of the body during exercise.
• Studies prove that making chants a part of our daily yoga can help achieve greater weight loss in a shorter span of time.
• Neuro-scientist Marian Diamond from the University of California found that chanting helps block the release of stress hormones and increases immune function. It also keeps our muscles and joints flexible for a long time.
• The body’s energy and vitality are augmented by regular chanting.
• Chanting cures depression: An 8-week study was carried out at the Samarya Center for Integrated Movement Therapy and Ashtanga Yoga in Seattle, WA, to see the effects of chanting on general well-being and particularly respiratory functions in people suffering from mild-to-severe depression. The results showed that chanting helped participants increase control over their breath and expiratory output level. The participants claimed that chanting reduced their anxiety and improved their mood. Researchers thus concluded that if done at least once a week, chanting is an effective means of enhancing people’s moods in the immediate present, as well as over an extended period of time.” (http://completewellbeing.com)

Specific sounds can add focus to class, improve concentration, and even help to clear the mind and heart.  Our throat chakra contains or ability to speak truthfully and receive truth.  Opening the throat and voice can aid greater self-acceptance and confidence.

When practicing yoga with your child consider integrating laughter, lions roar (lions breath) to table pose or lions crawls, practice OM, the words “Shanti,” “Namaste,” and even some mantras (which encase special meaning)- like “Loka samasta sukhino bhavantu,” which means, “May all beings everywhere be happy.”

Most importantly- smile!  Then make some noise!

“The fish in the water is silent, the animal on the earth is noisy, the bird in the air is singing.  But the man has in him the silence of the sea, the noise of the earth and the nusic of the air.” -Rabindranath Tagore

visit http://www.globalfamilyyoga.org for more on this topic.

The only real control I have is the choice of my own thoughts, my own words, my own actions

Borrowed from Living Your Yoga, by  Judith Lasater.

May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life, contribute in some way, to the happiness and freedom for all.