How do you feel when you chant? Do you notice physical. Mental or emotional shifts? I was curious about what causes these shifts so I looked at a few studies specifically focused on Sanskrit chanting out loud as opposed to silent repetition of a mantra. I wanted to see what physiological changes are being measured and how they might correlate to the person’s subjective experience. i.e. why do people enjoy chanting and feel uplifted by it?
All studies had small sample sizes and all concluded that the positive effects shown by chanting warrant further study. The studies had some key differences such as using novice chanters or experienced chanters, using one mantra or two, and measuring different effects with different methods.
An academic named James Hawzell noticed that the more he studied Sanskrit the more his memory improved and other people noticed it in him too. So he decided to conduct a study using a technique called Magnetic Resonance Imaging to study the brains of professional Vedic pandits in the Delhi region in comparison to a control group. These men had studied Sanskrit poetry and prose for many years and could recite many Sanskrit texts from memory. The study found that numerous regions of the brain in the pandits were dramatically larger than those of controls, with over 10 percent more grey matter across both cerebral hemispheres and substantial increases in cortical thickness. These increases consistently correlate with enhanced cognitive function. They also found that the pandits’ right hippocampus, which plays a role in short and long term memory, had more gray matter than controls in nearly 75 % of this brain structure. The pandits showed substantial thickening of the right temporal cortex regions associated with speech prosody (patterns of rhythm and sound) and voice identity. These results support the traditional notion that the oral study of Sanskrit improves both memory and thinking.
Dr. Baluja in Detroit tested himself by measuring his brain activity using MEG, a neuroimaging technique before and after chanting. He chanted four rounds of the Pancha tattvas mantra and then the maha mantra for 30 minutes. What he found was that his brain before chanting, when supposedly at rest, had a lot of activity going on and after chanting, had almost no cortical activity. After chanting, the cerebellum area had more fine tuning and balance automatically. This is significant because it is unusual to be able to calm one’s brain down voluntarily. Doctors currently use anti-seizure medication for people with anxiety and schizophrenia to obtain similar effects. This doctor has more studies underway including an anonymous survey if you want to take it.
In 2003 Dr. Wolf and Dr. Abell did an experiment to study the effects of the maha mantra on stress depression and the three gunas. They had an experimental group chanting the maha mantra, a placebo group chanting a madeup mantra and a third control group. They tested each person at multiple stages and found that stress, depression and tamas went down, sattva went up and rajas did not go down. They concluded that the maha mantra has potential in addressing problems related to stress and depression.
These two authors joined with 3 more people and published a study in 2018 on the effects of the maha mantra on heart rate variability. This study had a small group of people new to meditating chant the maha mantra 30 minutes a day, mindfully for 6 weeks in any position except lying down. The other group was given a fake Sanskrit mantra to chant for 30 minutes a day. The control group were switched to the maha mantra at the 4 week mark for the next two weeks. All participants completed an experience survey. The results showed all Heart Rate Variability markers were significantly changed in the experimental group and also in the control group after they switched to the maha mantra. The heart waves showed greater relaxation. The experience survey results showed remarkable differences between the two groups. Comparing their experience before entering the study to after the study the experimental group gave very high ratings to their feelings of being in the presence of a higher power, finding comfort in their spirituality, feeling deep inner peace or harmony, feeling of love of the higher power directly, my feeling of love for the higher power in others, my feeling of selfless caring for others and so on. The control group gave lower ratings on nearly all the feelings The researchers concluded that “This could be an affordable and convenient preventative measure for checking the world’s chronic disease epidemic.”
In summary, Sanskrit chanting is showing promise in the areas of short and long term memory, voice identity, prosody, the ability of the brain to calm itself down, as well as improved regulation of the autonomic nervous system.
Health effects of Sanskrit Chanting
