Chanting and Toning is amazingly powerful and such fun to do - and yet at the same time can be deeply spiritually connecting you to the Divine as a form of worship!

Chanting harnesses five elemental powers according to Robert Gass:-

[1] BREATH - Chanting alters the way we breathe and with it, the full range of mind/body functioning that is linked to the breath.

[2] SONIC EFFECTS - The particular tonal and vibrational characteristics of chant have a direct impact on our body and energy.

[3] ENTRAINMENT - The repetitive nature of chant facilitates the entraining of our body and psyche to its rhythms and mood.

[4] ANCHORING - As memories become associated with different chants or melodies, they are released in a flood of feeling and energy whenever we sing or hear those same chants.

[5] INTENT - While chanting certainly affects us even without our conscious participation, chant has its greatest impact when we engage the power of our own desires and will.

Chanting can be a powerful form of meditation and many people combine chanting with chakra visualisation or breathwork to enhance their personal transformational practices, an example of this is the mystic Osho who taught meditation not as a practise but as a way of life, and has produced many tapes and CD's on chakra chant meditations.

Chanting can be very therapeutic as it absorbs the mind in a single activity, the chants are usually about positive things like peace and compassion, and this is what your mind focuses on. It diminishes stress and leads to better health by calming and harmonizing the body. The vibrations of chanting resonate in the body in a healthy way.

Chanting traditions include Inuit throat singing as well as the ancient cultures such as Mayan, Egyptian and Hindu. There is Islamic and Sufi chant, as well as Tibetan and Siberian chanting. The mystic Kabbalah of the Jewish faith chant, and the monks and nuns from the Christian faith are well known for Gregorian chants. The Australian Aborigines chant along with the didgeridoo, the African, Asian , Middle Eastern and Native American peoples all use different drums along with their chants.
My personal favourites are the Islamic spiritual chants and Sufi Qawwali…..in particular - NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN - , however, it is an acquired taste as my family don't quite share my appreciation for this music !! For me, it is deeply spiritual and the beat and rhythm appeal as it is similar to Middle Eastern belly dance music - Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan has popularised Qawwali music and brought it to the West, where it has been used on the dance floor, as backing for some top movies and he has reduced audiences to tears with his powerful and hypnotising rhythms that express the Sufi message of love and unity.

Chanting mantras works with the chakras in several ways. Firstly, it clears them of blockages so that they can function efficiently. Secondly, mantras working in specific chakras 'attract' energy usually from a dormant feminine power cell in the first chakra located at the base of the spine. This gives the chakras large amounts of energy to work with in restoring health, improving life conditions and circumstances, and eliminating karmic conditions that may have been hampering us in some way. Thirdly, mantras draw on the ambient energy that is ever present around us but not available to the chakras. Through mantras, we experience an actual gain in our available, usable energy as well as tap the hugely powerful energy of kundalini.

Chanting mantras is an especially effective way to activate
energy throughout our body and spirit.

* Mantras are energy-based sounds
* Mantras are chakra-based sounds
* Mantra combined with intention, increases physical and spiritual benefits.
* Mantra energizes prana - chi - ki - our basic form of life energy.

Mantra Yoga is mentioned in the 'Vedas'
which is the oldest of the world's scriptures.

You can chant aloud or repeat the mantra silently, with or without music.

Some well-known mantras or chants are:-

Buddhist…….Om Mani Padme Hum
Sikh……………..Eck Ong Kar Sat Nam Siri Wha Guru
Hindu…………….Om Namah Shivaya
Islam………………Allah Allah and Ya- Salaam
Judism……………..Shalom
Christian………….Holy, Holy and Annointed One
Sufism…………….Allah Hu and Hu-E-Haiy He-La

Chanting and Toning are used for healing purposes in Karuna Reiki and William Rand defines chanting as sounding the name of the symbol or the sound of a series of symbols with your Karuna empowered voice so as to enhance the overall qualities of Karuna Reiki while your hands are on or near the clients body, trusting that the energies will guide themselves to the areas where they are needed.

Toning is defined as sounding the name of the symbol with your Karuna Reiki empowered voice while your hands are a few inches to a few feet from the client , while beaming Karuna Reiki into a specific area in need of healing. The purpose is to direct the energy into the block or area in need of healing. He describes the chanting and toning of the symbols as 'Healing Sounds'.
When they first started teaching Karuna Reiki, chanting was not part of the programme, however they found themselves being guided to chant Karuna sounds in their healing sessions. They found that it greatly intensified the energy and there were often major changes taking place. They believed that when we chant or sing, our soul recognises the true essence of the words or tones through the vibrations resounding in our body. The cellular healing abilities of the Karuna Reiki energy are enhanced by chanting as each of our cells resonate, and their resonance is affected by sound and light.

Chanting allows our spirit to flow in and expend the mind. Chanting is simply another way of creating a pathway of energy flow to travel. Chanting during healing sessions is just as beneficial for the one who is chanting, as for the client who is receiving the healing energies of the Karuna symbols.

Personally, I have found this to be true and although we chant openly and freely in our workshops in order to 'feel or sense' the different vibrations - I tend to chant in my mind over my clients !!