How to Help Heal The Body With Chanting.
How the Vibration of Sound Affects The Human Body and Mind.
This post gives four effective and easy beneficial chants for the purpose of giving healing and strength to the body. It is best to begin with a small amount of chanting, especially if you are not used to chanting. It is best to take only ONE exercise at a time, rather than experiment with all of them. Begin with just six repeats of the chant in the first round. Build up gradually to ten repeats if needed, and repeat the whole exercise three times in the day.
A Little History On Healing Chants and Sounds: The power of sound has been known and used for centuries now. Chanting is an age-old practice in India, and in Buddhist and Hindu traditions all over the world. The ‘OM’ chant is frequently used by Buddhists, and is also used in some Hindu traditions. Many Westerners who do not belong to any one religion, have incorporated the ‘OM’ chant into their daily meditative yoga practice.
Chanting ‘OM’ has a healing effect on the body as well as a calming influence on the brain. It soothes and invigorates the nervous system. No wonder that this sound has been part of religious practice for centuries, as it still is today, in many countries of the world.
Listening To Music, and the Singing Of Sound Can Be Beneficial For The Soul: The benefit of music to aid the soul in its progress, and to dispel negativity and evil, is well indicated in the Psalms of David, which are essentially Songs Of Praise. Psalm CL, the ‘Laudate Dominum’, exalts in Creation, and stresses the importance of sound and music in spiritual life: ‘O Praise God in his Holiness: Praise him in the firmanent of his power. 2. Praise him in his noble acts: Praise him according to his excellent greatness. 3. Praise him in the sound of the trumpet: Praise him upon the lute and harp. 4. Praise him in the cymbals, and dances: Praise him upon the strings and pipe. 5. Praise him upon the well-tuned cymbals: Praise him upon the loud cymbals. 6. Let every thing that hath breath: Praise the Lord.
One should avoid loud music, as it causes damage, not only to the ears, but to the nervous system generally. Loud and prolonged sound is harmful to the body and to matter. In the story of Joshua, from Christianity and Judaism, it is told that sound was used by Joshua at the ‘Battle of Jericho’ to break down the walls of Jericho. Joshua’s implementation of trumpets created a mighty sound which caused a vibration intense enough to cause the walls of Jericho to tumble. Joshua’s use of sound in breaking down of the walls of Jericho was essentially destructive, although Joshua’s winning the Battle of Jericho is taken to be a symbol of good winning over the power of evil.
Soothing Chants To Help Heal: Here are some nice, easy, gentle chants which you can practice to help strengthen the body and its nervous system. These are taken from a wee book I published about 25 years ago. The source of these sounds was from a booklet given out by a medical doctor who had discovered acupuncture and Indian yogic healing techniques.
Healing Chants and Sounds.
These healing chants are beneficial to specific organs of the body, as well as having a helpful spiritual effect.
ENG Chant To Help The Eyes: If you press your thumbs on the inside corner of the eyes and chant this sound, frontal headaches and congested sinuses will be relieved. This same exercise affects the eyes favourably. Do the exercise from six to ten times in one round. Drink a glass of water afterward for the treatment of the eyes. If there is eye trouble, you could repeat the exercise three times a day, doing six to ten chants in the one round.
OM Chant For The Nervous System: This has a favourable effect on the nervous system. It is good to chant this sound while sitting in the yogic lotus position, or while sitting crtoss-legged on the floor. If you cannot do this, then sit up straight in a chair. It is important to keep the back very straight whilst doing the OM chant. “OM” vibrates down the spine, distributing energy to the nerves along the spine. It helps release blockages of energy in the body, reduces tension, and dispels negative energies and impulses. “OM” increases the body’s ‘chi’, or ‘prana’, or life force. It is a very strengthening chant.
ONG Chant For The Ears: This sound affects the ears quite profoundly, and should be done by anyone with ear trouble: Just press the thumbs behind the ears on the vagus nerve, and chant ‘ONG’ as you exhale. Do this up to ten times. Then drink a glass of water afterward. Another good exercise for the ears is to throw the head back, tensing the jaw as you do so. Stretch the lips wide and jut out the lower teeth. Release, then do again, six times in the one round. This helps inner ear problems. For best results with ear trouble, the exercise should be practiced three times a day, with six repeats each time.
VAU Chant To Help The Liver: This is an excellent sound to for the liver, for stomach ailments, nervous tension and thyroid enlargements. Take a deep breath with the fingers pressed into the solar plexus. As you exhale, chant a long ‘VAU’. Do half a dozen times, and take a glass of water afterwards. Apparently, the VAU vibration was one of the original old Hebrew letters that formed the name of God.
Increase The Life Force First: The efficacy of any of these chants is improved if the exercise for increasing prana, the life-force, is done beforehand. See my post on this subject which I put up about a year ago. There are several good breathing techniques, combined with some simple acupressure, which can greatly enhance the vital force of the body.
Singing Enhances The Life Force: The sound of one’s own voice is very therapeutic for one’s own body, as well as for the people around you, so long as the singing is done sweetly. Singing vibrates directly through the body and is very energizing. Singing sweetly, especially with songs of praise and thanksgiving, helps to bring good into the being. Such singing helps to dispel negative thoughts and emotions, and to bring calm to the nervous system. Singing praises, ‘counting your blessings’, and singing any other music which exalts creation, is a very uplifting practice for mind, body and soul.