In this episode, join us as we delve into the ancient practice of mantras and mudras for meditation and wellness. We discuss the scientific evidence related to the benefits of these techniques, including how mantras can help calm the mind and break negative thought patterns, and how hand mudras can activate different energy centers in the body and affect our overall wellbeing.
We share our personal experiences with mantras and mudras, noting the immediate calming effects, and explore the connections between mantras, mudras, and other mind-body practices like breathwork, tapping, and Gregorian chants, which are all tied to ancient wisdom and are now being scientifically validated.
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Mantras are a single word, or phrase, that you repeat to yourself out loud, or silently. Not just on your yoga mat, but also while doing daily tasks like waiting in line at the grocery store, taking a walk, or preparing for work meetings.
Over two decades of research have found that mantras offer an impressive list of benefits: reducing depression, anxiety, distress, and posttraumatic stress symptoms; and fostering mindfulness, positive coping skills, and a sense of wellbeing. One of the ways that mantras create these positive effects is by replacing unhelpful mind chatter.
Most spiritual traditions have them, many in the form of chants such as in Christian, Buddhist, and various indigenous traditions. While affirmations, a secular type of mantra, can be used in the same way, researcher Doug Oman of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health has found that there is an added benefit to using mantras derived from spiritual traditions for people who are grounded in those particular religions.
Mudras are hand, finger, eye, or body positions used in yoga to channel the flow of prana, or life force energy or electromagnetic energy, to stimulate the body and mind.
REFERENCES:
Mantras
Minding the Brain Podcast, Doug Oman
Oman, D. (2024). What is a mantra? Guidance for practitioners, researchers, and editors. American Psychologist. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001368
Bormann, J. E., Kane, J. J., & Oman, D. (2020). Mantram repetition: A portable practice for being mindful. Mindfulness, 11(8), 2031–2033.
Green Tara
Vilhauer, J. (2019, June 29). Mantra: A Powerful Way to Improve Your Well-Being. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/living-forward/201906/mantra-powerful-way-improve-your-well-being
Mudras
Yoga 101: Mudras for Beginners
https://artoflivingretreatcenter.org/blog/yoga-101-mudras-for-beginners/
Effect of yoga mudras in improving the health of users: A precautionary measure practice in daily life for resisting the deadly COVID-19 disease https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9347266/
Classification of Electrophotonic Images of Yogic Practice of Mudra through Neural Networks
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29755225/
The Science Behind Yoga Mudras
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