Chanting is more than a warm-up before yoga asana (exercise/yoga postures).  To understand the importance of chanting you must first know a little about the amazing properties of water.  Water is the most the unique known element in our universe.  The human body is about 60% water.  The effects that sound/vibrations have on water almost beggar belief.

Scientists have experimented with water by paying music to water and then flash freezing it and examining the patters formed by the water when it turns to ice.  The results are remarkable. When, for example, classical music is played, the results look like beautiful snowflakes and crystals that can be seen in the ice.  By comparison, when death metal music is played the results in the ice look like something you would imagine too see in Dante's circles of Hell!  The same applies when tears of joy and tears or sadness are captured, flash frozen and analysed.

Scientists have even used radio waves / vibrations to split water apart into oxygen and hydrogen and then use it as fuel; setting fire to sea water!

There is still much to learn about this unique element which is the key to life on earth.  One thing that seems clear, however, is that sounds / waves / vibrations clearly have a massive impact on water (and, by extension, the human body).

When chanting, you combine sound/ vibrations with breath and melodious rhythm which channels the flow of energy along the nadi (the channels through which prana flows) that run throughout the mind/body circuit.   This triggers the parasympathetic nervous system (the body’s ‘rest and digest’ response) and induces Alpha rhythm balancing the left and right hemispheres of the brain, leaving you feeling energised and relaxed.