Chanting OM during Yoga

Chanting OM during Yoga

Om is actually pronounced as AUM, and is a sacred chant that most people enjoy at both the opening and ending of their yoga practice or class.  A yoga session will typically begin with chanting "AUM" three times, and will end with chanting "AUM" one time.   I personally enjoy chanting Om because it is a ceremony inside of yoga that prepares me for the class, and helps me to feel unified with my fellow students.   Some students do feel that chanting "AUM" is a weird religious ritual that could possibly be at odds with their belief system or their spiritual path.  If you feel uncomfortable chanting "AUM" or Om in yoga class, it is totally okay to refrain from chanting and to sit quietly until the chant is over.  

AUM is a mystical or sacred syllable.  Some describe it as the "essential sound of the universe", the "voice of God", or "the voice of creation."  Some teachers have told me that AUM is the sum of all sounds in the universe.  The sound Om, when chanted, vibrates at the frequency of 432 Hz, which is the same vibrational frequency found throughout everything in nature and in ourselves.  

One theory suggests that there are four parts to chanting AUM, and that those four parts represent the cycle that everything must pass through during life.  "Ah" represents birth, "oooo" represents life, "mmm" represents death, and the fourth part is the silence after the chant which represents oneness or resolution.  

Physically, chanting AUM can help you to strengthen your diaphragm (the muscle that makes you breath) thus helping you to learn to control your breath.  It also has a calming and meditative effect on the body thus lowering blood pressure.  It is also good for clearing nasal congestion via the vibrations the chant produces, thus helping to ward off infection.  

Energetically, chanting AUM emanates sound from the stomach, heart, and throat thus bathing those chakra (energetic centers of the body) with positive energy.  The "M" consonant vibrates and stimulates the pineal gland thus opening up your center of intuition.  The pineal gland will also release melatonin thus relaxing our bodies.  

Om is one of the ways to bring you back to the deeper reason of why we practice yoga, which is to connect body, mind, and soul!!

Please click here for an informative video on how to chant AUM or Om. Although it is a video to help instruct children, I've found it quite useful.