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

i did it all for Love, but somehow that could not really explain to anyone why i would get up at 2 or 3 or 4 am to read and chant sacred scriptures in their original Indian languages for hours and hours every day. For years on end.

But i knew, without the slightest doubt, that it was rewiring my body and brain.

So i watered those ancient memories and prayer seeds in my deep body consciousness my entire life, awakening ancient Truth…

i listened to prayer music from the East (sacred mantra from India and Tibet, and Buddhist chant from around the world); and also to Native American flute - for the first half of my life.
In silently absorbing the sound, i was shown how these seemingly diverse people historically were ALL ONE (long migrating) string of pearls.

Then one day, i tumbled into Love with Gurmukhi, the sacred language of Punjabi Sikhs, and off i went into the Naad for 20 years.
So i learned the power of NAADA YOGA and chanting directly the squiggly characters on the page that contained the Sound Current itself…during my two precious decades of training with a renown Sikh ragini (female master sacred musician) who had perfected her art.
When the world closed in 2020, i renewed my adolescent vow to learn Sanskrit (as trauma therapy on myself for my teacher’s harsh and sudden dismissal and the loss of my spiritual path; and this time i’m completely on my own).
May i mention that’s NOT how yogic traditions are historically passed on?

But with no masters brave enough or willing to sit with their pupils any more for fear of (a bioengineered bioweapon posing as) a super-flu, i intrinsically understood that my assignment was to recall the knowledge of India seeded in my cellular memories of long ago - knowing that the Sound Current of Sanskrit would reveal it all.
(i wouldn’t recommend going it alone unless you have spiritual nerves of steel; it was born into me to develop such nerves…)

But,
in a mentally and materially obsessed world, Love is not enough.

People everywhere wish and pray for Love; yet believe themselves too educated and erudite to admit Love is the reason for it all.

So they demand “the science”.

And we can thank the ancient gods and goddesses for that science; for it was they who suctioned Grace to Earth through the holy sound. It was they who knew the physics and calculus of the planetary spins. It was they who attained super-consciousness through infinitely reverent commitment to THE ONE.

The bible says:
“In the beginning was the WORD
and the WORD was with God
and the WORD WAS GOD”

This is not a uniquely Christian view. The ancients of India prayed, meditated, and sang in order to merge into the NAAD - the resonant field of God purveyed on Earth as the sacred sound current of all Creation. The (not so) silent Eternal OM.

ANYONE WHO DOES THIS - MERGES WITH GOD THROUGH SINGING THEIR PRAYERS, ESPECIALLY IN SACRED COMMUNITY - KNOWS THIS TO BE TRUE.

“Wherever two or more are gathered in His Name, GOD IS”

Prayers are sung in every spiritual tradition on earth.…and that goes for Native American peoples and their ancient songs too. They have other names for God…like Great Spirit and World-Maker.
Yogis, too, know God is just too big and omnipotent for just one Name.

Who among us could refute the humble devotion and love-laden wisdom of this mindstream…in any culture???

In part one, we introduced the idea that chanting creates synaptogenesis throughout the brain; and therefore that daily chanting could even reverse the current epidemics of high stress, cognitive decline, and neuro-degenerative disease worldwide.

Synaptogenesis is the growth and spread of new circuits and connections in the brain - the expansion of neural circuitry - enabling compassionate relationships and better health and communication between body and mind.

Synaptogenesis happens naturally from weaving the prayers of our spiritual traditions through our brains, bones, and blood with sacred song. Synaptogenesis, in fact, awakens self-healing through the Holy Spirit.

Synaptogenesis shows up on brain scans as LIGHT.

Synaptogenesis happens with focused learning and repeating new skills, such as the intensive training of great musicians, athletes, and pundits and rinpoches from the east. Before we expand on Dr Sweta’s research findings around chanting and brain wave regulation, it’s worth mentioning that this type of brain research is not new, but evolving. The Dalai Lama initiated brain research in the 90’s with lamas who had mastered meditation by doing at minimum 10,000 hours. Then for comparison, he tested the brains of average lay people with minimum hours of meditation under their belts, to see what effect moderate meditation might have. Just as Dr Sweta is demonstrating now, there were structural differences.

Research shows significant increases in the size and thickness of certain regions of the brains of meditators and holy people with thousands of hours of practice;

and, that lay people can obtain significant changes with regular practice; and subsequently that intermittent practice yields some, yet minimal brain change.

Which parts of the brain grew?

Memory, creativity, cognition, compassion, relating to others, and emotional balance, just to name a few. In a world of sound bytes and constant interruptions, our health and relationships depend more and more on cultivating an integrated brain.

THE SANSKRIT EFFECT

Dr James Hartzell, who studied Sanskrit for many years and observed his own memory and language skills progressively soar, decided to research the brains of qualified Sanskrit scholars to see how the years of dedicated vedic chanting had shaped the physical structure and function of their brains.
“Numerous regions in the brains of the pundits were dramatically larger than those of the controls, with over 10% more gray matter across both cerebral hemispheres and substantial increases in cortical thickness…which consistently correlate with enhanced cognitive function…”
It has been discovered that the unique and highly sophisticated grammar patterns of Sanskrit light up memory and cognition areas of the brain; and therefore that chanting could be both preventive medicine and therapy for ADD/ADHD, altzheimers and degenerative cognitive decline.

The formula for self-mastery: DAILY STUDY AND PRACTICE.

BRAIN CHANGES FROM CHANTING

1) SYNAPTOGENESIS

*grows brain matter and etches new patterns of connectivity into the nervous system as a whole for more efficient nerve transmission.

Beneficial effects can be realized in as little as five minutes a day.

2) AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM REGULATION

*activates VAGUS NERVE; reduces sympathetic hyper-activation (fight, flight, freeze); induces parasympathetic healing response (calmly alert and engaged)
*optimizes brain waves
*accelerates learning, memory, and integration, with marked increases in density of hippocampus, cerebellum, and cerebral cortex.

3) BALANCED BRAIN WAVES

* BETA - 12-30 hz
alert state, located in the front of the brain - the cognitive zone.
We operate in Beta brain most of the time, “firing and wiring”. Beta is the active, busy, planning and perceiving brain that accomplishes most of our daily tasks.

The modern world traps us in high Beta. High Beta is like a speeding freight train that, if not managed, flies off the tracks - leading to high anxiety, chronic exhaustion, and immune suppression.

* ALPHA - 8-12 hz
relaxed, meditative state, located in the back brain; calm focused awareness.
Churches, temples, and mosques exude a pervasive Alpha wave that takes over when we enter, and entrains us with a sense of peace.

* THETA - 4-8 hz
deep relaxation, deep meditation, subconscious processing; back brain.
Children spend the first seven years of their lives in Theta brain, which makes them highly impressionable to everything they experience.
Theta brain is like a sponge absorbing everything - a wonderful boon for meditation, mantras, and prayer.

* DELTA - .5-4 hz
sleep states; never found when awake

* GAMMA - 30-100 hz
high brain excitation; higher cognitive states of memory, perception, and spiritual connection; coordination of all brain regions for better communication.
Gamma is a “super wave” that allows all parts of the brain to fire synchronously, exciting brain activity and connectivity beyond reason to spiritual dimensions.
Dr Sweta found that gamma is a divine wave that we must activate by effort, yet one listening through of the vedic prayer Sri Rudram put everyone in the study into gamma brain.

Modulating our brain waves regulates our nervous system and allows new patterns to emerge. Again, beneficial effects can be realized in as little as five minutes a day.

Changes in brain waves modulate our emotions. Chanting shifts brain waves away from beta to alpha, theta, and gamma - introspective, peaceful, connected, and inspired.

4) REDUCTION OF BRAIN’S DEFAULT MODE NETWORK (DMN)

The Default Mode Network is active when the brain is restfully alert and not focused on the outer world, as during daydreaming, creativity, or meditation. It is also involved in thinking about others, remembering the past, and planning future events. Overactivation of the DMN leads to anxiety, obsessive overthinking, and depression. In altzheimers, overactivation of the DMN leads to cognitive decline and memory struggles.

Chanting Sanskrit mantras lowers hyper-activation of the brain’s default mode network, enabling healthy introspection, efficient learning and memory, and enhanced emotional balance.

5) SUPER-EVOLUTION: FROM LOCAL MIND TO TOTAL MIND

Super-evolution is the full cultivation of our brain and our ultimate potential as embodied beings.

Dr Sweta defines super-evolution by three standards:
1) both brain hemispheres firing synchronously
2) good communication between brain hemispheres across corpus callosum
3) high gamma waves

Rx: Regular, daily chanting is much more effective longterm than intermittent bursts. Five minutes of chanting OM daily has astronomical effects on emotions and brain coherence.

Super-evolution is marked by Synaptogenesis, autonomic nervous system balance, brain wave modulation, and regulation of the brain’s default mode network. Sanskrit is a clear and proven path to this end.

Beyond REGENERATION is QUANTUM EVOLUTION***.

Dr Sweta’s study definitively shows that one listening all the way through of Sri Rudram induced Gamma waves in everyone there - professionals and lay people alike.

Imagine it: WHAT IF we can reach our full potential in this very lifetime through chanting, and heal trauma by unifying our brains and hearts along the way???
With the evolutionary neuroscience embedded in our ancient prayers, could super-consciousness and actual enlightenment be even closer than we suspect???
Let’s find out together, friends…

Here’s Sri Rudram - Dr Sweta’s chosen vedic text for her study on super-evolution in the human brain:
i listen to this version by Sanskrit scholar Sri Suresh - (chant starts at 3 min into video)

but if you only want gamma waves, here you go:

***Quantum Evolution (MY definition) : Built into our biology is the capacity for spontaneous mutation in the face of extreme survival threats. Biologists historically relate quantum evolution to those groups of animal species who survived extinction-level events by adapting through spontaneous evolution.
Wikipedia’s definition is boring and clinical and doesn’t remind us to have hope, but here it is nonetheless: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_evolution

I BELIEVE WE ARE WIRED WITH THE DIVINE GIFT OF QUANTUM EVOLUTION FOR PRECISELY THESE TIMES, AND THAT WE HAVE NO CHOICE EXCEPT QUANTUM EVOLUTION IF WE ARE TO SURVIVE AT ALL.

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