the neuroscience of chanting, nervous system regulation, and human evolution, part one

India’s music and languages are, ultimately, profound brain sciences with the capacity to regulate emotions, reorganize neural circuits, expand cognition, and accelerate our evolution towards excellence. 

This is no accident. Ancient sages, rishis, and rishikas devoted their lives to cultivating enlightenment at the neurological level.

How could they not, when the the human nervous system is the physiological vessel for the the chakra system?

Our spiritual ancestors in the east resolutely sought their highest human potential, markedly advanced human consciousness, produced measurable light, and kept an infinitude of psycho-spiritual practices alive.
Still, not many people alive today realize that Indian music and language are, ultimately, potent and pragmatic spiritual and medical tools.

Indian-born neuroscientist Dr Sweta Adatia, a self-proclaimed former skeptic who grew up atheist, decided to investigate changes the brain’s structure and function from chanting.

This she has done at her own facility, Limitless Brain Lab in Dubai; and with pundits in India’s temples. She chose Sanskrit and the Vedas for her research, and enrolled both advanced pundits and lay people alike. Her modern scanning equipment is top notch; and her skepticism about the true power of India’s spiritual practices, long erased. According to Dr Sweta, “Vedic mantras are gold keys that form and direct our reality energetically”.

It turns out that music and chanting - and in particular prayers from Yajurveda, a distinguished Sanskrit text:

*balance the two hemispheres
*regulate the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic-parasympathetic)
*optimize brain waves
*accelerate learning, memory, and integration

(10 mins) 

We know there is a global assault on the brain and nervous system of all forms of Life now. We breathe polluted air, eat chemicalized foods, take too many drugs, and for the most part sit alone at our computers far too many hours each day. We’ve watched the so-called education system sell out to globalists and the demented woke-machine. IQ levels are dropping consistently, while neurodegenerative diseases like altzheimers and autism are soaring.

We all see, or fear, cognitive demise everywhere around us, and in our own selves. 

Reversing this scourge is as simple as listening to one Sanskrit prayer or chanting OM for five minutes a day!

Although i’ve listened to sacred music from India and Tibet since the ’70’s, i first learned about Naada Yoga and began chanting 25 years ago.
Yoga has never been “just a hobby” for me; but rather, a vital and impassioned immersion into a mystical world of possibility that simultaneously enabled me to touch the Infinite, navigate agonizing disability, and observe the development of my own brain.

Naada Yoga came to me after thirty years of practicing asana on the mat and teaching structural yoga publicly and privately. Naada Yoga grabbed my heart and shook my sinews, suctioned me into its resonant fold, and fast became the most compelling (and challenging) next step on my yoga path. 

“Naada Yoga” means “union through sound”.

The practice of Naada Yoga uses the outer sound of mantras, raag music, and sacred texts to still the noisy, worried, chattering mind of what-if’s and oh-no’s - and threads its presence immediately and palpably through our tissues and cells. In this way, Naada Yoga enhances interoception (internal sensing; feeling what’s going on inside our own body and mind) and creates a deeply connected and integrated sense of calm.

INTEROCEPTION

Says this youtube: “Interoception is an important indicator of self-awareness and wellbeing…interoception is the experience of the embodied self.”

While interoception is disrupted by high anxiety and shut down by PTSD, Naada Yoga - chanting and even just listening to prayer and sacred sound - amplifies interoception and unifies the brain.
The vagus nerve is activated, inducing parasympathetic balance, which turns down sympathetic nervous system activity, transmuting the biochemistry of stress.

This is autonomic nervous system regulation, on the spot, in real time - balancing fight-flight-freeze efficiently for yourself.

The patterns formed by chanting can both structure and restructure the brain. Dr Sweta cites these statistics from pregnancy and early childhood to depict the unimaginable potential of chanting in the household:
*In the last trimester, a quarter million brain cells form every second.
*When children are 3-5 years old, their brains make 7500 new connections per second
Says Dr Sweta, “Children are passive osmotic learners, and their memories are amazing. Even years later, subconscious programs (samskaras) come up and the meaning of the mantra” will arise to meet the moment. Her own story is remarkable. Her family was not religious and did not go to temples; they were atheist. Her mother, however, worked at a lab where the Gayatri mantra was played non-stop in the background. When Dr Sweta was born, she did not speak for three years, causing her parents immense worry and distress. No doctor or specialist could figure it out. Then suddenly one day, this little three year old blurted out the Gayatri mantra with perfect intonation, to her family’s utter shock. A pivotal imprint in her consciousness spontaneously arose, like god’s finger clearly etching her life path into her cells. 

Thank you, Dr Sweta Adatia, for devoting your brilliance and passion to the evolution of human consciousness, exposing the power of the Vedas, and demonstrating how easily any one of us can optimize our nervous system and unify our brain. 
Part Two forthcoming! Meanwhile, feast on the links below…

 (1:09)

Prana stories youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@pranastories 

LISTEN to this world healing chant by Gaiea Sanskrit for either 7 or 11 minutes and feel what happens. Then do it every day.

 Thank you for showing up today. Blessed weekend to you!