Sound waves in Chanting & Mantra
One
common thread among most, if not all, cultural and spiritual
practices around the world and throughout time is the
phenomena of sound and music as a means of both social
interaction and as a meditative pathway. Both Eastern and
Western cultures, including indigenous cultures of Asia,
Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, and the Europeans have
all used singing and musical instruments as a way to tune into
different energies in the body (some more purposefully than
others).
Taken from yogaforthenewworld.com
In yoga, chanting and using mantras,
such as "OM" (traditionally pronounced "AUM"), are a means to
settle or slow the cycle of thoughts in the mind before either
an asana
(physical posture) or meditation practice. "AUM" is said to be
the sound of the universal consciousness; possibly the first
sound of the universe during creation, or the sound of the
"Big Bang". Many yoga practitioners find this mantra to be
quite natural and calming.
We usually think of sound waves traveling through air, but sound can travel through any gas, through liquids and even through solids. As sound vibrations/waves in a fluid move forward, they collide with molecules and push them closer together. A half cycle later, the waves move backward and the fluid has room to expand and density decreases. In this manner, a sound wave in a fluid is a sequence of compressions and rarefactions, regions of higher and lower density, respectively, and thus higher and lower pressure. Individual molecules oscillate back and forth with some displacement and the compressions propagate forward at the speed of sound.
The periodic sequence of compressions and rarefactions travels outward as a longitudinal sound wave. When the wave reaches your ear, the oscillating pressure causes your eardrum to vibrate. These vibrations are transferred into your inner ear and perceived as sound.
(Knight 2013)
Liquids (such as water in the human body) and solids (such as bones and muscles) are less compressible than air, and such, sound actually travels faster through these media. The speed of sound through water, such as found in the body, is 1480 m/s, while through air at 20 degrees C, the speed of sound is 343 m/s (Knight 2013). Sound has a powerful physical effect upon entering the human body body as waves and into our cells, which largely consist of liquid water.
Mantra is a group of sounds and vibrations that effectively change the physiological aspect of the brain. Thought patterns can be re-drawn or removed through sound therapy in terms of how they are physically structured in the brain through the synapses (electrochemical pathways transmitting neurons / nerves).Sound serves as a healing mechanism because of its universality, both physically and subtly. Every part of the body, from the cells to the toes, moves. Movement produces sound. The resulting sound waves and fields help regulate more than 50 percent of the body's biological processes through the ligand/receptor interactions. These interactions occur on every cell surface through sound frequencies between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz, the range of human hearing. There are also special sound pathways in the body, however, that convey sound.
Sound enters through the cranial bones and hearing apparatus and travels through the body via connective tissue. It uses water to speed vertically through the body at nearly 5,000 ft/s. This transmission slows or stops when the connective tissue is too thick, inflexible, or dry - problems often created (in the body) by emotional experiences that cause a bodily disturbance such as tension or tightening. Sound can stimulate blocked emotions and trigger the original memories or feelings.
(Dale 2009)
A study conducted at Spina's College of Engineering & Technology in Maharashtra, India, on one particular mantra, OM, resulted in some profound conclusions. Ajay Anil Gurjare, Siddharth A Ladhake, and Ajay P Thakare explain, "OM is considered the most powerful of all mantras....It has been recognized that the mantra has beneficial effects on human beings and even plants... The syllable OM is not specific to Indian culture. It has significance in other religions also."
Chanting OM resulted in significant brain wave frequency changes, as evidenced in the participant’s EEG readings (See figure above). Gurjare, Ladhake, and Thakare explain, “Chanting OM mantra results in stabilization of [the] brain, removal of worldly thoughts and an increase of energy. It means that concentrating on OM mantra and continuously doing it slowly shifts our attention."
http://yogaforthenewworld.com/the-mind-blowing-power-of-mantra/
