Healing Mantras and the Science of Sound

Healing mantras have an ancient history. For thousands of years the rishis of India (Hindu sages) experimented with the effects of chanting. Mantras focused on the names of the gods and goddesses in the Hindu pantheon appear to be coded compilations of sound designed to create elevated states and to stimulate health and longevity.

Mantras are keys to connecting with and embodying the aspect of God’s consciousness exemplified by a particular deity. This can result in spiritual, emotional and even physical healing. This article covers several aspects of healing mantras: healing mantras and the science of sound; specific words and syllables and their effects; healing mantras from Ayurvedic medicine; nature and healing mantras; and chakras and healing mantras.

Creating a Healing Mantra

When vowels and consonants are put together in words and phrases and mantras, formulas can be created with distinct impacts on emotional, mental and physical states. For example, the sound “uhm” or “ahm” is purported to energize and purify the blood. The “uh” is said to help to cleanse the body of impurities and the “m” seals the body from incoming negative energies.

Likewise, the sound “aha” is stimulating for the hormonal system. This exclamation is often used in English when a sudden solution or insight is gained (aha!). The Sanskrit translation means something very similar: “indeed, it is true, certainly, surely, it is granted.”

When this sound is extended (a ha ha ha ha ha ha), the effect is similar to laughter therapy, which has been proven to relieve stress and depression. Indeed, laughing with friends is a powerful healing experience. We are thirty times more likely to laugh in a group context than when alone.

The Sanskrit word “namaha” combines the “aha” sound with two controlling consonants (n and m) and means “it is not about me; I submit to a higher power of control in my life.” This is sometimes translated as “I bow” or “I give honor.” The word “namaha” is utilized in many Eastern chants:

Om Namaha Sri—represents the process of letting go and giving of oneself

Om Namaha Shivaya—focuses on removing all that is not the divine within

Om Gam Ganapatiyei Namaha—removes obstacles and opens the door to success

Om Sri Kali Durgaya Namaha—provides protection and removes negativity within and without

Om Sri Ramaya Namaha—begets pure divine consciousness and truth

More Examples of Healing Sounds

Another example of a powerful syllable in sacred sound healing is the syllable “la.” Pronouncing this syllable involves the tongue and upper frontal part of the palate. This creates a conduction of energy to the brain. “La” is also a common syllable used for vocal exercises for singers.

In Sanskrit, “la” means “the act of giving or taking,” as in an exchange. In the Hindu tradition, Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth, fortune, health and prosperity. Prosperity is the process of giving or exchanging a service or product. Here is an example of a chant to Lakshmi:

Om Hrim Shrim Lakshmi Bhayo Namaha—this combines om (the sound of universal creation) with hrim (a fire bija or seed syllable), shrim (the Sanskrit bija or seed syllable incorporated in the name Lakshmi) and bhayo (bestow on us) with namaha, meaning honor.

Finally, another powerful healing mantra is the Siri Gaitri Mantra, sung in Gurmukhi, the liturgical language of the Sikh tradition. This mantra taps into the energies of the sun, moon, earth and the Infinite Spirit to bring deep healing. It can be chanted to heal the self or to send healing energy to anyone you wish:

Ra Ma Da Sa, Sa Say So Hung—the meaning of this chant is ra (sun), ma (moon), da (earth), sa (impersonal infinity), say (totality), so (personal sense of merger and identity) and hung (the infinite, vibrating and real).

Six Healing Mantras for the Heart

There are mantras that utilizes seed syllables specifically for the heart. Primary among these is the seed syllable YAM, which is the central seed or bija syllable for the heart. The formula for these mantras is to start with OM, then YAM, then a second seed syllable and then “Namah” which means “I agree, I bow or I accept.”

BIJA HEART MANTRAS

Om Yam Hrim Namah
Om Yam Shrim Namah
Om Yam Krim Namah

YAM: Seed syllable of the heart chakra. HRIM: The seed syllable “hrim” is a combination of “ha” for prana, space and light with “ra” for fire and light and “im” for energy & focus. SHRIM draws abundance, positive growth and development; “shri” or “sri” means splendor. SHRIM is the feeling aspect of the heart. KRIM is correlated to the basic electrical energy of all life.

HRIM MANTRA FOR THE HEART

Om Hrim Namah, Om Hrim Namah
Hrim,Om Hrim Namah

A mantra of fire honoring the energy of the heart. HRIM is associated with the sun and solar energy. “Namah” or “Namaha” means “I bow” or “I give honor.” Hrim” purifies the physical heart, the emotional heart and the spiritual heart.

SUPREME LIGHT MANTRA

OM HRIM Hamsah Sohum Svaha

OM: Primal sound of all creation. Hum of the universe. The first sound of God’s consciousness manifesting as form (Sri Yantra). HAMSAH & SOHAM: “Hamsa” and “soham” focus on the inhale and exhale, helping to create a vibration that connects you to your heart and is healing for the heart, lungs and spirit.

KYRIE ELEISON

Kyrie Kyrie Kyrie Eleison

A chant of mercy beginning in pagan traditions, later adopted into Jewish rituals and brought into the Christian tradition in the 5^th century. “Kyrie” is usually translated as “Lord.” The full translation is “Lord, have mercy.”

Healing Mantra for the Lungs

Mantras for the lungs often focus on the breath, creating a smooth inhale and exhale to strengthen the lungs and calm the mind. This simple hamsa mantra helps to create a vibration that connects to your lungs, heart and spirit.

The “ham” is the sound of the in breath and the “sa” is the sound of the outbreath. “Hamsa” or “hansa” is also a term of honor, literally meaning “swan.” For example, the name “paramahansa” means the “highest swan.” This is the name given to Paramahansa Yoganada, author of the famous book Autobiography of a Yogi.

Hamsa Hamsa
Hamsa Hamsa Hamsa

Healing Mantra for Digestion

This mantra specifically brings fire (agni) to purify the liver of anger or trauma held in the physical body. We need chemical fire to digest our food as well as spiritual fire to digest our thoughts and experiences. Learn more about the fire element in Feng Shui and the Five Elements. Watch a video and read stories about the power of primordial fire in Agni Deva: Hindu God of Fire.

Om Agni Devaya Namaha

Mantra for the Throat and Thyroid

Ham is the seed syllable for the throat chakra. This chant honors and strengthens the energy of positive personal power and finding your own voice. Shiva is associated with the breath which passes through the throat to connect us to life. “Hamsa” and “soham” are words associated with the in breath and out breath to help focus and regulate the breath and emotions.

Hamsa Shiva Soham
Shiva Shiva Namaha Shiva Soham

Healing Mantras from Ayurvedic Medicine

There are specific chants in the Indian Ayurvedic system for all aspects of the subtle energy body that is surrounding and interpenetrating the physical body. The holistic science of Ayurvedic healing was developed in India over 3,000 years ago. According to Ayurvedic teachings, the subtle energy body can be harmonized to the physical body to create a flow of energy, also known as shakti, that assists and supports physical health.

Understanding Shakti Energy

Shakti is the unformed, feminine energy that pervades the universe. This energy is also known as chi or prana. This is the energy behind all manifestations. In the Chinese system, the shakti would be the yin energy and the masculine energy would be the yang energy. The masculine energy is Shiva in the Hindu tradition. The masculine energy creates a container into which the shakti energy or goddess energy can be poured. The individual determines the form that the energy will take. You can pour that energy into creating artwork, a business, a relationship or a child.

Mantra Purusha: The Body of Sound

The energy body around the physical body is known as the Mantra Purusha or the body of sound. The Mantra Purusha correlates all of the vowels, consonants, semi-vowels and sibilants in the Sanskrit language to regions of the body. There are sixteen vowels, twenty-five consonants and nine semi-vowels and sibilants. Many of the vowels and corresponding syllables have both long and short vowel forms. The sounds and mantras correspond to zones known as the marmas that are similar to but larger than acupuncture points.

A great introductory handbook for this topic is Mantra Yoga and Primal Sound by Dr. David Frawley (Pandit Vamadeva Shasti). Dr. Frawley includes an appendix with mantras for each area of the body. Each mantra follows a pattern: the word “om” followed by the seed syllable for a specific part of the body, followed by the word “namah” and completed by the name of the bodily location.

For example, a possible mantra for the head is “Om Am Namah Sirasi,” which translates something like: “O Universe, I give reverence to my head!” Likewise, the mantra “Om Im Namah Vama Netre” means “O Universe, I give reverence to my left eye!” See illustration.

Other Vedic chants focus on the energy of the chakras. For example, each of the seed syllables for the chakras can be used to create mantras. These syllables reflect the essence of each chakra and help to clear and strengthen the associated energy.

Healing Mantras & Nature

The mastery of mantras can also connect you to your environment as another form of healing. There are many indigenous traditions of singing to the wind, the rain and the earth. You can begin to work with natural elements and the weather. Personally I believe that all of life has some level of consciousness and sentience.

Watch over 100 videos on Kathleen Karlsen’s YouTube channel!

Story of the Pink Waterfall

I had a remarkable experience a few years ago chanting in nature. Most people do not realize that there are megaliths here in Montana. Megaliths are large stones structures of various types akin to the more famous Stonehenge in Britain. A number of these megaliths are located about a ninety minute drive from my home in Bozeman.

My husband Andrew and I took a day-long tour of some of the megaliths with Julie Ryder, an avid researcher and expert on the topic. When our group had finished a fascinating day exploring the megaliths with Julie, I was standing near a unique structure called the Pink Vault.

The Pink Vault consists of two large pink granite boulders surrounded by a wall of black granite boulders. I found the structure to be particularly fascinating and attractive. Julie saw me from across a little valley and called over to me to sing a mantra.

I started a mantra to Lalita, a Hindu goddess. My husband knew the song and began chanting with me. After a few minutes we rejoined the group. Julie had filmed us chanting and thought she had turned off the camera.

Discovering the Accidental Video

The next morning she discovered that the camera had actually been on for a few minutes after we had been chanting near the Pink Vault. She had captured an image of a waterfall of pink light cascading down in that spot.

I don’t know if waterfall was related to me personally as much as to the mantra itself. In other words, for me this experience was a sign that the chanting was having an energetic impact in unseen dimensions.

I find the memory of that pink waterfall to be comforting on days when I may not feel that my chants are making a difference for me or in the world at large. I have no real explanation for the pink waterfall, but something certainly seemed to be happening!

Author Kathleen Karlsen

Kathleen Karlsen is a musician, artist, writer and speaker. She is the author of two books (Flower Symbols and Vocal Medicine) and over 200 articles. Kathleen, her husband Andrew and their five children live in Bozeman, Montana. More about Kathleen Karlsen.

HEALING MANTRAS ARTICLE SUMMARY

This article covers the origin and uses of sacred sound healing. Ancient mantras have been constructed with healing in mind. They are created to stimulate the various systems in the body to provide a strong and healthy foundation for mediation and other spiritual practices. Topics included in this article are the science, history and examples of healing mantras.

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