Hymns & Mantras

Chanting is among the oldest continuous practices in India, and some of what it does is straightforwardly physiological.

The mechanism

Chanting forces a long, slow exhale. Slow exhalation activates the parasympathetic nervous system - heart rate falls, the sense of alarm reduces. This is the same mechanism underneath pranayama and underneath the breathing exercises a clinical psychologist teaches for panic. Sustained chanting also settles breathing into a slow, regular rhythm, which is associated with improved heart rate variability.

Add repetition, which occupies the wandering mind, and group chanting, which synchronises breathing across a room and produces a strong sense of belonging. None of this requires any particular belief to happen.

The Om practice

Sit comfortably, back straight. Draw a full breath. On the out-breath chant Om slowly, letting the sound carry to the very end of the breath - around nine seconds. Breathe in, repeat. A minute is a complete session. First thing in the morning, before the phone, is where it fits best.

The tradition arrived at the slow exhale a very long time before anyone described the vagus nerve. Both accounts point at the same thing.

What it is not

Specific mantras are sometimes marketed as curing named diseases or altering cellular structure. There is no evidence for that. The genuine benefits - calm, focus, community, a settled breath - are worth having on their own terms.