The Healing Power of Chanting: What Science and Tradition Both Know
Research on chanting and mantra repetition has found measurable effects including: reduced cortisol levels, activation of the vagus nerve, increased alpha and theta brainwave activity (associated with meditative states), and the release of oxytocin — the bonding and trust hormone — through communal singing.
But traditional practitioners would say science is only beginning to scratch the surface. The Vedic understanding of Nada Brahman — the universe as sound — teaches that consciousness itself is vibrational in nature, and that sacred sound has the capacity to reorganize our inner experience at the most fundamental level.
Many contemporary artists work consciously at this intersection of sound and healing. Snatam Kaur's luminous Gurmukhi chants are used in hospitals and hospice settings; White Sun won a Grammy for music built on healing mantra; Simrit draws on ancient sound-current traditions with hypnotic effect; and Donna De Lory came to mantra music from a pop career precisely because of what the practice did for her own nervous system.
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