The enchanting, mystical sound of OM, is a sound I’m sure that most are familiar with. OM is represented with the symbol above.
Often people who are new to meditation, imagine a person meditating, by sitting cross- legged on the floor uttering the word OM…. but what does OM actually mean?
And what impact does OM have on the brain?
OM-THE MEANING
OM is an ancient Sanskrit sound. Sanskrit is an ancient Indo-Aryan language, with its origins dating back at least 4000 years. Sanskrit is the language of most Hindu religious texts, including some Buddhist and texts of Jainism.
OM is often called the sound of the Universe. The first sound generated by the Universe. It’s said that all other sounds came from OM.
In Hinduism, OM is one of the most important sounds. It’s the beginning of many mantras and chants.
OM refers to the Atman and Brahman in Hinduism.
Atman quite simply is a person’s soul.
Brahman is the ultimate reality. It’s the universe, and everything in the universe is made from Brahman. It’s a formless, gender less source, that Hinduism says is in each of us, humans and all other living things. It’s the Universal Supreme Soul. Our Atman is part of Brahman.
A beautiful analogy suggests that Brahman is like the ocean, and everyone else is a droplet of the ocean, “separate for a time” but eventually we all return to the ocean, to Brahman.
MEDITATING WITH OM
Using OM to meditate can bring many benefits. As with other meditation tools, meditating on OM can decrease your levels of stress, make you feel less anxious and decrease depression. *
Meditating by repeating a word that has a positive meaning to you, can trigger the bodies natural relaxation response which lowers blood pressure. The relaxation response, a technique created by Dr Hebert Benson, will be examined in another post.
The neuroscientist Dr Andrew Newberg says in his book, “How God Changes your Brain” that meditating causes “anti-stress hormones and neurochemicals to be released throughout the body.” He says that meditating causes “pleasure-enhancing and depression-decreasing neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin” to also be released.
Using OM to meditate not only brings you physical health benefits, but on a spiritual level connects you to the Universe, to Brahman, to the ultimate reality.
WHY MEDITATE ON OM?
The neuroscientist, Dr Andrew Newberg in his book “How Enlightenment Changes your Brain” discusses the positive impact of using the OM meditation on the brain.
Dr Newberg says that meditating on OM is one of the easiest ways “to prime the brain for Enlightenment.”
In his book he also refers to research that suggests that the chanting of OM has been proven to help in treating depression and epilepsy.
The research also showed that when participants replaced the sound OM, with the ssss sound, the sss didn’t affect the brain like OM did.
The mmmm sound of OM when said out loud, also causes vibration sensations in the face and mouth, which makes it an even more powerful meditation.
Research has showed that “the longer people repeated the sound of OM, the less activity occurred in their frontal lobe, the anterior cingulate cortex, the thalamus and the emotional centres in the limbic system”
CHANT OM OUTLOUD OR SILENTLY
Take a few deep breaths to help you get into a relaxed state. There isn’t just one way to meditate on OM, so I will list a couple of methods.
IN SILENCE
You can repeat the word OM silently in your mind. Concentrating solely on the word, ignoring all other thoughts. I would recommend meditating like this for at least 10-15 minutes, as it can take up to ten minutes for the mind to quieten down
If you find that your mind wanders from OM, there is no need to worry. Every time you notice your mind wandering, simply bring it back to OM. With regular practice you will find that it will become easier to concentrate on just the word.
CHANT OUTLOUD
The following method is how Dr Newberg* has described on how you can meditate using OM.
- Sit upright on a chair and close your eyes. He suggests taking 60 seconds to yawn first (In another post I will discuss the benefits of yawning!) Then stretch and feel as relaxed as possible.
- Take a deep slow breath through your mouth, then as you exhale do so slowly and make the sound oooooohhhmmmmmmm. The aim is to draw the sound out as long as it’s comfortable for you.
- The mmmm sound will “vibrate on your lips”
- When the sound fades away, start again by taking a deep breath and repeat saying OM.
- As in the method of silently chanting OM, just disregard any other thoughts and concentrate all your attention on OM.
- There isn’t a set rule for how long you should meditate for, but aim to meditate on OM out loud for at least ten minutes.
In the book “How God changes your Brain” it says if you meditate between 20 minutes to an hour daily, it “would enhance your physical and emotional health.”
When you finish meditating notice how your body feels, and don’t be surprised if you receive inspirational insights!
If you aren’t sure how the OM chant sounds, there are many videos online. This is an example.
MEDITATE IN WHATEVER POSITION YOU WANT
I often feel that people are put off meditating, as they believe they have to undertake all sorts of rituals before they start.
To meditate with OM there is no need to sit cross-legged on the floor, unless that is something you want to do!
Simply choose somewhere comfortable where you won’t be disturbed and where you will be able to concentrate on the sound. You could sit on your favourite chair or you could in fact lie down and meditate.
Some would say not to lie down, because you may fall asleep!
However if you can keep awake, from the perspective of neuroscience, you will get as much benefit lying down meditating as you would sitting on a chair.
Meditating is an amazing tool to utilize, to tap into the creativity that’s inside all of us. It helps you connect to the source that is within us and around us always.
Using OM is a powerful meditation that could lead you to enlightenment.
Footnotes
How Enlightenment Changes your Brain– Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Walmand
How God Changes your Brain– Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Walmand
Enhance your life 