Scientific Evidences of Om Mantra Chanting and its Benefits.

Scientific Studies on Om Mantra Chanting

The OM sound is often associated with religion. However, according to the great scientist Nikola Tesla.

In order to understand the secret of the universe we should think about energy, frequency and vibrations. This leads us to consider the idea of connecting OM mantra with science.

Most people associate the OM sound with religion which is not right. Om sound is not just related or belongs to a certain religion or practice rather it is a universal sound connecting us with the universe. 

It is believed by many that OM was the first sound of the universe just how the big bang theory is associated with the starting of the universe. But that is not the only reason for its importance and value in Indian culture.

Many of the practices in India have scientific reasons in them and so does the mantra OM. This chant teaches us about the energy, frequency, vibrations and their benefits for us. We’ll be exploring more about the scientific reasons and benefits of chanting the OM sound. 

What is a Mantra?

Mantras are the combination of different Sanskrit syllables which have the impact on us through vibrations and sound. Different sounds make you feel different vibrations in different parts of the body. Each syllable or vibration have different connections with the body. 

For example, the chanting of “aaaaaaa” will make sensation in your stomach as well the chest, the reason behind being the vibration and resonating ability with the nervous system.  Making the sound of “uuuuuu” will have a sensation in the area around your throat and the sound of “mmmmm” will help you connect with the nasal area or the brain.

When you combine these syllables and chant them together, making the sound of "AUM" it activates the different parts of your body one after another, beginning from the stomach, along with your back, and reaching till the brain. 

This chanting of AUM creates an energy circle in your body which Scientists have connected to how the sound of "A-U-M" looks like a wave. This wave explains the vibrations moving upward in your body while the sound is being chanted. 

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Here is a short clip in which a Doctor explains the same:

Yogis have been guiding and informing us with the benefits of OM mantra chanting such as providing peace and stability to the mind, reducing stress, and avoiding distractions. Most of the people who regularly chant the OM mantra claim to have benefited from the practice and the scientists wanted to check the evidence and its connection to the realistic scenarios. 

An experiment was done a few years back on the people who never practiced chanting the OM sound which showed the formation of irregular waves and leading to the result that the minds were not steady. Then the same people were informed to regularly chant the mantra and after only a few days the results of the experiment were very surprising.

This time the waves showed more regularity and symmetry, people informed that the amount of stress was significantly reduced resulting in better focus and increased concentration leading to scientific benefits being true and the claims of yogis were considered correct.

Various other studies also showed the effect of regularly chanting the Om Mantra on the nervous system. Advanced systems were used while analyzing chanting. By using different mathematical methods on the raw audio of chants, the patterns were visible.

Same as the earlier studies, the results were very good. It showed several benefits which people experienced if they chanted the Om mantra regularly. People said that their ability to focus and concentrate became more stable and peaceful which also led to decreased stress levels. This implied that chanting the mantra had very positive effects on mind, body and our nervous system.

A separate experiment was done by scientists with the fMRI scans to study the activity happening inside the brain both before and after the chanting of OM was done by the subjects. fMRI scans help in monitoring the activity in the brain at the time spans by tracking the blood flow, increasing or changing in the areas of the brain according to its activity. 

The fMRI scans, both before and after the OM mantra chanting had a series of differences. They made the scientists highly confident that regular chanting of OM mantra was highly beneficial and had therapeutic effects on conditions like depression and epilepsy. 

The continuous and repeating nature of OM chants possibly helps to calm the mind, reduce stress and restore the sense of balance during the brain’s activity. This also explains the effectiveness in managing conditions like depression which is said to be connected with imbalances in the brain’s functionality as well as epilepsy that is related to abnormal electrical activity in brain. 

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Medical researches in recent days confirmed that mantra chanting such as OM mantra may have very positive effects in reducing the blood pressure. The mantra chanting can help in calming down and meditating, which helps in lowering the stress levels. When you stress more, your blood pressure increases which results in your heart beating faster and narrowing the blood vessels’ size. Chanting Mantra shifts your focus resulting in relaxation of mind and lowering the blood pressure. This way the size of blood vessels also comes back to their normal form and heart rate gets more stable. All of this study made scientists approve the benefits of activities like chanting, meditation and other relaxation practices for different health conditions.

Other studies by researchers talked about the impact of activities like chanting on molecular impacts which had very interesting results. The research showed that chanting the OM mantra regularly potentially impacted the genetic levels and improved the overall well-being. 

This type of research comes under the branch of biology which is called epigenetics that is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work. Although the genes themselves cannot change, their expression such as how active they are and their influence on the functioning of body can be changed by different factors which include the stress levels, lifestyle as well as the practices like chanting. 

After all the research and studies by scientists, now there is enough evidence and support to claim and approve the benefits told to us by the ancient yogis of chanting the Om mantra. 

These studies have proven that practicing the chanting regularly will help in reducing mental stress, curing depression, and improving concentration and focus. It also calms the mind and leads to overall well being, a peaceful mind and a happier approach.