When I was in India earlier this summer I gained a whole new understanding about two things: breathing and chanting. Last week I shared what I learned about breathing and its benefits. Today I’d like to share with you what I learned about chanting.

I first heard of chanting when I did yoga teacher training back in 2007. During a two or three hour class we learned a couple of nice chants (mantras). My favorite was the Gayatri Mantra.

And although I personally had no real challenges or objections to learning the mantras, I absolutely understand how some people might.

There is the potential concern about “singing”. People may not feel comfortable with the sound of their voice, especially in a group setting. There’s also the concern about reading and/or memorizing and pronouncing a chant that’s written in a different language (Sanskrit). There’s also the concern about not understanding exactly what it is you’re chanting. And of course the concern that the chant could potentially be some form of a prayer to a God different than your own. All legitimate concerns.

So at The Yoga Room, because we’ve wanted to be cautious to not offend or cause discomfort to any of our students, we haven’t really offered chanting, in classes or in workshops.

But what I learned in India opened my mind to the possibility. I think I may have mentioned previously that the yoga practice that was prescribed to me at the Krishnamacharya Yoga School (KYM) had two objectives: reducing the pain in my left hip and improving my relaxation (stress management).

The combination of asana (physical yoga poses) and breathing reduced my hip pain. And the breathing and chanting have been miraculous in helping me with stress management.

The chanting I was assigned is super simple. It’s easy to understand, no need to memorize anything at all, and nothing remotely prayer-like.

The chant I was assigned is Om Shanti. Om is the sound of the universe. You can read more about the meaning of Om in this helpful article. Shanti simply means peace.

Isn’t “peace” a lovely chant for a person who is working on stress management? But the benefit is derived from more than just the word alone.

When we chant, we’re doing and experiencing a few things:

• We’re breathing in order to create sound.
• During the exhales we’re generating sound. The control and constriction required to generate sound create a slower exhale.
• We’re hearing the sound made by the voice.
• We’re feeling the vibrations made by the sound.
• We’re focusing on the creation of sound, thus we’re unable to think about/worry about any other things.

Just like the author of the Om article I linked above said, it’s easy to gain an intellectual understanding of chanting, but actual benefits can only be gained through experience.

Remember that everyone starts as a beginner; we’ve all been there. In the beginning you may struggle with short breaths, you may be unsure of your voice, but if you are persistent you will find that the duration of your breaths increases, your sound becomes stronger, and you really begin to experience the benefits of chanting.

After a few rounds you can’t help but be more focused, calm, and relaxed, and before long, you’ll be chanting in the car to maintain your peace during rush hour traffic. ;)

If chanting is something you want to try, be sure to join us for one of our Mindfulness classes starting in September. You can find a printable version of our Fall Class Schedule here. I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions about chanting! Please send me an email or post a comment!

All my best, Zelinda

P.S. In case you missed it, last week I offered a free class pass for a new-to-you class to be used during the month of September. Click here to send us a quick email if you'd like one of these free passes. Psst! It's perfect for trying out a Mindfulness class!

Oh! One more thing. Tomorrow at 2:00 pm PST, I'm doing my first Facebook Live event, where I'll be live on Facebook via video. I'll be doing a Q&A about yoga and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have, including questions about our new class schedule and even my trip to India. I'll share some exciting news, too! Click here to visit our Facebook page and make sure to like the page so you'll get a notification when we go live. And if you miss the live event, you can always check out the video later on our FB page.