Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Science of Om by Jackie Elliott


I remember when I first came to yoga I was very skeptical yet intrigued by the practice of Om-ing.

On one hand it immediately reminded me of when my sister and I as kids would try to match pitch by making the sounds ah, ooh or mm. We would be entranced by the sounds wavering off one another and had our intent focus trying to perfectly match the sounds with even breath.

On the other hand it annoyed me going to class and not understand what om-ing was all about. I didn't feel comfortable participating in something I didn't understand.

So for those of you who may be in the same boat of intrigue and wonder here is a scientific description of what Om is/does.

OM is made up of three Sanskrit letters, aa, au and ma which, when combined together, make the sound Aum or Om.

Einstein's famous equation E=mc2 saying (M)matter is a expression of (E)energy, noting every atom and molecule throughout the universe is formed out of energy vibration. States of energy vibration are on a microcosmic and macrocosmic level. So establishing that everything in the universe has a literal frequency or vibration lets talk about what the vibration of om is and does-

A article recently written my Sam Saunders states this " The sound Om, when chanted, vibrates at the frequency of 432 Hz, which is the same vibrational frequency found throughout everything in nature.

As such AUM is the basic sound of the universe; so by chanting it we are symbolically and physically tuning in to that sound and acknowledging our connection to all other living beings, nature and the universe."

Here is a quote from a scientific study of time frequency analysis graphs on the effects of chanting OM-"We have concluded that OM chanting affords steadiness in the mind scientifically. This provides calm and peace too to the stressed mind. The mental stress of a person gets reduced while the mind reaches steadiness. As a final point, we have confirmed scientifically the accomplishments of OM chanting in reducing the stress from the human mind." 

So there you have it- simply put science says OM is a uniting sound or vibration often used in chanting to acknowledge unity in turn calming and bringing balance to the body and mind. 

Namaste!

Jackie Elliott | Certified Yoga Teacher, ERYT-500