The sacred sound of the universe, the sound that preceded its birth and everything in it, was first mentioned in the Upanishads, a mystical text dating back to 800 BCE, and is known as Om, or Aum in Sanskrit. That sound continues today, connecting you not only to the universe but to the whole of unity consciousness.
In a world of constant inundation and static, it’s important to use our bodies as healing instruments and chanting om is an easy, approachable, and powerful way to clear your energy field, raise your vibration, and connect with the universe. It works by sending the vibration you create through your bones, skin, blood and organs; as it travels through your tissues, it enlivens every cell, allowing you to hold more life-force in your body. With more life-force, you’re more connected to all living beings, source, flow, and intuition.
5 Benefits of Chanting Om
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Relieve Anxiety and Depression
The International Journal of Yoga published a study that found chanting om to cause limbic deactivation, offering mental clarity while lowering the intensity of fear and worry. As a whole, the limbic system is associated with emotions, learning, stress, and motivation. - Improve Pulmonary Function
International Journal of Yoga studied 82 people as they practiced pranayama (breath work) and chanting for five minutes a day, six days a week, for two weeks. All 82 participants showed significant improvement with various pulmonary functions.
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Improve Focus and Intuition
Just like meditation, chanting om improves your focus and intuition. Since Om is the seed sound of the Third Eye Chakra, as you chant om, you attune yourself to see clearly and with greater focus. - Increase Pleasure
Chanting om creates a vibration that moves throughout your skull and brain tissue, stimulating the pituitary gland and promoting the experience of pleasure in everything --- like driving to work, walking, or even taking out the trash. Functionally, the pituitary gland is responsible for hormone regulation and the secretion of certain hormones like endorphins and oxytocin.
- Balance Your Chakras
When you chant om, you practice moving the vibration from the base of your body to the top of your body (keep reading to learn more). As you move the vibration up, you clear and align your chakra system.
Here are some tips to get the most out of your om practice.
To understand how to move this sound through your body, let’s look at om in its Sanskrit form: AUM. When you say aum, you’ll want to feel the vibration move from the base of your spine up to the crown of your head and from the back of your mouth to the lips.
Before you begin, take a nice long deep breath in.
A - feel this sound at the back of your mouth, by the jaw joints. You can almost swallow the sound. Feel the tone just below the navel. Really let your root and sacral chakras open.
U - feel this sound in the center of your mouth. Try to send the sound upward through the roof of your mouth. Bonus points if you can get your sinuses to vibrate. Feel the tone move from your base, up through the solar plexus chakra, and into the heart chakra. Feel your heart center expand.
M - gently close the lips. Make a nasally sound so you can feel ‘m’ buzz or tingle in the sinus cavity. Feel the tone move through your throat and into the third eye and crown chakras.
Then pause and take a nice long deep breath in.
Try this practice for 5 minutes every day for two weeks and see if you notice a shift in your life.
Happy Oming!
