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How Do Mantras Really Work?
According to Healing Mantras by Thomas Ashley-Farrand, mantras are simple chants or phrases, such as “om,” “ham,” “yam” or “ram,” that are designed to create soundwave energy that promotes healing, creativity and spiritual growth. Read on to discover the power of mantras, how they work and how certain mantras can be used to activate your body’s chakras.
Mantras free your mind
According to Ashley-Farrand, the word “mantra” comes from two Sanskrit words: “Manas,” which means mind, and “trai,” which means to “free from.” Therefore, mantra, in the literal sense, means “to free from the mind.” Mantras are powerful vibration tools that can free your mind. But how?
According to Phylameana lila Desy, who is certified in Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki and the Science of Intuition from the Holos Institutes of Health, the repetitive sounds of mantras bring about a change in consciousness. She adds that the power of mantras comes from the use of vibration to stimulate certain parts of the brain and change the brain’s chemical balance of the brain. The altered chemical makeup enables a more relaxed and extended state of consciousness to take over our minds.
Mantras can elevate our spirituality
Spending a few hours chanting mantras may not sound thrilling, but it can have a remarkable effect, according to Ed and Deb Shapiro, authors of Be the Change: How Meditation Can Transform You and the World. The Shapiros claim that mantras work on the brain in a particular way to elevate us to a spiritually altered state.
Mantras can heal
Mantras can also be powerful healing tools, according to the Shapiros and Ashley-Farrand. According to Ashley-Farrand, mantras energize prana, a form of life energy that can be transferred from individual to individual. Healers often use the transfer of prana to heal diseases or physical conditions. Ashley-Farrand gives the example of reciting a mantra while imagining an internal organ bathed in light. The power of the mantra can be concentrated on that organ to help heal it.
There are six chakras, or energy processing centers along the spine, with a seventh on top of the head, according to Ashley-Farrand in his book Chakra Mantras: Liberate Your Spiritual Genius Through Chanting. Each chakra has a mantra associated with it, and chanting that mantra activates that chakra point to increase energy flow and revitalize your life force. To perform chakra meditation, you chant mantras and visualize colors moving beneath your palm while placing your hand over each chakra site.
In addition to those seven chakras, there are also esoteric chakras that contain keys to our spiritual progress. Certain mantras can activate these esoteric chakras, according to Ashley-Farrand. These are often taught only to advanced students, but Ashley-Farrand discusses them in detail in Chakra Mantras.