Chanting Mantra: The Power to Heal The Chronic Stress Condition
Chanting has been shown to awaken deep states of relaxation. Because chanting emphasizes exhalation, the parasympathetic nervous system comes online, thus allowing the body to enter its rest and digest mode. When the parasympathetic nervous system is turned on, healing can take place.
Much of today’s socio-economic conditions emphasize an activate lifestyle, one in which pushing the boundaries of stress is encouraged. But what we are uncovering are hidden truths about mental health playing a predominant role in our overall well being. A mind conditioned towards goal-oriented worthiness oftentimes will overlook signs of ailment to achieve a sense of self acceptance. When acceptance and worthiness are things to achieve, health takes a backseat — even when health IS the goal. Because we think, ‘when I get there, when I achieve health, then I’ll be healthy.’ And yet this future-thinking mindset moves us away from healing, as healing takes place in the now, in this very moment, in present moment awareness. The mind can move multidimensionally, across time and space into the past, future, or some imagined timeline. The body on the other hand, only lives in the here and now, and it’s the mind/body relationship that must become equal partners. For each is a feedback loop for the other.
So what must be healed for the mind/body to be in sync? How about the main nerve that connects the two — the vagus nerve. This nerve extends from the brain through the heart and into the gut and is constantly feeding the body with impressions from the outside world through our senses, and from impressions made in the subconscious, such as memory. It is the responsibility of the gut to process and assimilate all this information we receive, making the gut a vital player in determining overall health and well-being. Which is why mindfully eating a balanced diet and living a balanced lifestyle can go a long way at encouraging positive mental health.
When the mind/body has been conditioned to remain in active mode, the sympathetic nervous system is functioning, and that is our fight-flight response. Signals get sent to our body/mind from the vagus nerve that tells us we must keep going to avoid danger. Of course many of us aren’t actually in danger, but we are evolutionary beings who have the same physiological systems as our stone-age ancestors. Sure, we’ve advanced in the ways of technology and lifestyle choices, but at a fundamental level how we operate is still exceptionally primal. Chronic stress has become a habitual condition, and it is living in our mind/body as trauma.
For those stuck in stress or trauma patterns, energy builds up in the body/mind due to unprocessed experiences. Like a large stone submerged in water, the energy trains itself to go around the obstruction. When this happens, information is sent to the mind that says, avoid this area, go around it. Problem is, the longer it’s ignored, the bigger it grows. The bigger it gets, the less fresh prana (life force, energy) is able to circulate and cleanse the body/mind of toxins. When the body/mind is filled more with toxins than with fresh prana, disease takes ahold and we fall ill.
Getting to the core of health and well-being is at the very heart of chanting mantra. For chanting has a calming effect on the mind/body. Chanting mantra (the repetition of words/sounds) stimulates the vagus nerve, sending out vibrations that move stuck energy. Chanting focuses the mind and improves concentration. When the mind is focused on the repetitive rhythm of sound, a lulling effect takes place, allowing the business of the thinking mind to organize and soften its edges. It then becomes a receptive vessel for the vibrations of sound frequency to come in and realign body/mind to its essential nature, to its most easeful self. In the mode of reception, which is opposed to the activity of doingness, the Intelligence of Source/Spirit has space to return us/Itself to its original radiance of peace, joy, and grace, clearing away all that keeps authenticity from shining.
One source claims..
“[Chanting mantra is helpful] to open to receive knowledge-grace. Repeated chanting and understanding of recitation of prayer will give priceless nourishment in the form of relaxation in one’s unconditionally trusting heart and thus free one from offense-defense postures.” — Anonymous
On a personal level..
I chant because it allows me the felt sense of connection and deep relaxation. Space expands internally and brings together all pieces of self in union with Divine Intelligence; I merge seamlessly with the All of all things, blend perfectly into the fabric of Pure Consciousness. I am the canvas.
With chanting, I get to experience prana wash over me like oceanic waves, coursing the length of my spine from tailbone to crown and beyond. My mind becomes an empty bowl of receptive offering, my heart radiates like the sun at midday, my belly feels fed and nourished. Words and their meaning are swept up by the currents of Life that come rushing through me, I am the power of silent reverence. I sit content in devotion to the seed of this practice. No longer willing anything to be. Drives, desires, emotional pleasures loosen their grips on me, for I am content in simply living the moment. Tall, sturdy, stoic, a thousand year old banyan tree, who wants for nothing, who is for nothing, ever in the eternal gratitude of getting to receive This.
