How to Use Sacred Mantras to Harmonize Brain Function and Balance the Chakras

HJ: Mantra’s are one of those things which seem so innocuous, yet in reality are incredibly powerful and transformative.  Just uttering a few words with intention and awareness can have a profound effect on your mood, health and perception.  Truly beautiful.

I will share with you one of my ‘spiritual tools’ that I regularly use to stay centered and/or enhance my mood and awareness. The beauty of this practice is that it is so simple and yet still so powerful.

If you are feeling down, out of sorts, anxious, tired, stressed, imbalanced or any other state which you deem undesirable or if you feel fine and are looking to move into an even higher level of awareness, happiness or centeredness, simply do the following: Audibly recite the mantra ‘Aum’ to yourself 10 times, taking a deep breath before each repetition and really drawing out the pronunciation so that it sounds more like “Aaaauuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmm”, where the ‘mmm’ sound is held as long as possible.  You will feel the sounds resonating in different parts of your body depending on the pitch you hold.  Notice these and you can adjust the tone to focus in on specific areas you may want to heal or adjust.

That may sound deceptively simple and indeed it is, but there is more going on here than meets the eye and that is the subject of the article below, which explains exactly how the above process operates and goes even deeper into the science of how mantras work to harmonize brain function, balance the chakras and ultimately transform and expand consciousness.

– Truth

Mantra – Key to the Psyche

By Swami Poornamurti Saraswati | Yoga Mag

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From a scientific point of view, two of the most interesting aspects of the sounds called mantras are their reported ability to tune the brainwave frequencies, and to stimulate the energy centres called chakras. Firstly, tuning or entrainment of the brainwave frequencies can be achieved with certain specific syllables or sounds, thus creating a change in the overall state of the thought patterns of the mind.

Secondly, there are mantras that activate the specific energies associated with the chakras, which are the bodily complexes associated with individual primary aspects of the mind. This is principally achieved via a number of specialized sounds called the bija mantras of the chakras: lam, vam, ram, yam, ham, aum. This is a process we might call ‘archetypal harmony’, as it involves keying into something elemental in the mind at a very specific level.

Tuning the brain

The first major aspect of mantra is the ability of specific sounds to alter the predominant brainwave frequency. To experience a calm but aware inner state, one needs to bring the brainwave frequency to about ten cycles per second – the ‘alpha’ state. If the frequency is too high, our awareness tends to be either externalized, or caught up in a torrent of active thoughts. If the frequency is too low, we move into an unconscious state. It is important to maintain an alpha state for effective meditation practice, so that we can become more aware and accepting of our nature. A simple way to achieve this is via the mantra Aum. This consists of three syllables, each with a specific effect:

• ‘a’ (pronounced with a long ‘a’ as in ‘aaa’) promotes beta waves (15Hz) related to externalized awareness
• ‘u’ (pronounced as ‘ooo’) promotes theta waves (5Hz) related to the recall of impressions/dreams
• ‘m’ promotes delta waves (2Hz) related to deep sleep and the unconscious.

The combination of these sounds, repeated with appropriate durations for each syllable, can tune the brainwaves to alpha (10Hz), which creates a relaxed, creative awareness and sometimes a very blissful state of mind. An effective way to practise Aum is to set the ratio of the durations of the syllables to one for ‘a’, one for ‘u’ and four for ‘mmmm’ and repeat the sound for about ten minutes while sitting very still.

The chakras and what they represent

The chakras are known as psychic centres. They are located at points in the physical body where there is direct interaction between the energies of a specific ‘room’ or department of the mind and the physical body. Physically the interaction takes place via the dual media of the nervous system and the endocrine glands. The various departments of the mind, in this sense, are related to different levels and regions of expression and perception.

• Mooladhara, the lowest chakra, located at the perineum in men, and the cervix in women, is associated with self-identity and security, possessions, fears and inhibitions.
• Swadhisthana, located near the sacrum at the bottom of the spine, is associated with the unconscious, sexuality, joy and trust.
• Manipura, located in the spine behind the navel, is associated with personal power, dynamism and self-esteem.
• Anahata, located in the spine behind the heart, is connected to the emotions of love, compassion and forgiveness (as well as their counterparts, hate and revenge).
• Vishuddhi, located at the base of the neck, is associated with the various levels of communication with people, and with self-will, flowing with life.
• Ajna, located at the pineal gland behind the eyebrow centre, is associated with wisdom, intuition and discrimination – all the mental abilities.

Beyond there is sahasrara, at the crown of the head, associated with our personal spiritual connection to the absolute.

For each of the chakras, as an aspect of mind, there is a large range of images, sounds and melodies which will create activity or stimulation of that region. In their most essential or archetypal form the images are known as yantras (specific geometric shapes) and the sounds are known as mantras. The effect of sounds is dependent on their pitch, rhythm and syllabic structure. The results of stimulation of a centre may be on the level of evoking a feeling, an image (a scene or shape), a sound may be heard, or there may be a manifestation of a situation in life connected with that chakra.

Each centre is a powerhouse of some complexity and many experiences manifest when a chakra becomes more active. Activation of the centres is a normal and necessary state in our lives, but it often happens in a haphazard fashion with lots of complications. But gentle and systematic stimulation of the chakras can be achieved via various yoga practices, especially mantra. Such gentle stimulation allows our abilities and effectiveness as human beings to increase without creating an overload or imbalance.

As mentioned above, some specific sounds, which are keys to stimulating the chakras, are called the bija mantras of the chakras. One group of bija mantras are: Lam (pronounced lum) for mooladhara; Vam (pronounced vum) for swadhisthana; Ram (pronounced rum) for manipura; Yam (pronounced yum) for anahata; Ham (pronounced hum) for vishuddhi; Aum (pronounced om) for ajna.

A good practice for balanced stimulation is to mentally repeat the mantras while taking the awareness to the relevant chakra. This should be done in order, while breathing in, starting from mooladhara (lam) and moving one by one to vishuddhi (ham). In this way we do each mantra once (lam, vam, ram, yam, ham) during inhalation of the breath up to the throat. Then we pronounce the extended sound Aum breathing out, with the awareness starting at ajna (eyebrow centre) and descending during exhalation right back to mooladhara, where we begin the cycle again with lam (mentally). For initial familiarization we can pronounce the mantras out loud, each on one breath, with the awareness at the relevant chakra.

Awakening of the chakra energies is awakening of parts of our nature. To deal with the positive nature is easy, but to deal with the negative nature can be very difficult. It is often necessary to seek advice from a competent teacher or guide (guru).

The long mantra

There is a further range of more sophisticated mantras based on the sounds of the Sanskrit language (and some from other languages such as Greek, Latin and Hebrew). These may be quite long phrases, such as Aum Namah Shivayah. In each case they key directly into a particular set of archetypes in the elementary nature of the human consciousness, and each one awakens a certain aspect of our makeup. Their literal meaning or translation is not important. There are many mantras that are suitable for general usage, such as the Gayatri: Om bhur bhuvah svaha tat savitur varenyam, bhargo devasya dheemahi, dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat. These are generally chanted to an even rhythm.

For each individual, depending on the personality, certain mantras are more appropriate, and the choice of which to use is difficult for the beginner. For such a personal mantra one should seek the advice of an expert – the guru.

Mantra and music

When mantras are combined with musical melodies the result is one of the most effective forms of yoga – kirtan. The introduction of music and rhythm keys into the emotional aspect of our being, producing a wonderful sense of completeness and relaxation.

This is a very brief overview of mantra. Nearly all the knowledge we have on this subject has been derived from the ancient yogic tradition. Much research remains to be done to provide thorough statistics about the effectiveness of mantra. Yet the anecdotal evidence from those who practise any one of the techniques of mantra is that it does help a great deal in achieving better health as well as a more positive and creative frame of mind.