Chanting conjures up different things to different people. This is because there are so many different chanting traditions, including Aborigine, African, Christian, Goddess, Hindu, Native American and Sufi. In fact forms of chanting can be found in most countries of the world, emanating from different traditions or religions and more often than not of a spiritual nature.
Some chants are very peaceful; some very lively; and some accompanied by simple movements. All of them are repetitive in nature, which means they are fairly easy to learn and result in the mind being absorbed in a single activity. They therefore have a meditative quality, taking the mind away from day to day worries and leading to a calming and harmonising effect on the body.
I was introduced to chanting whilst assisting on a programme being run by a charity called ‘New Approaches to Cancer’, the aim of which is to enable greater integration of complementary therapies with orthodox medicine.
I did not know what to expect, but was refreshed and uplifted by the experience. There were noticeable changes in the expressions on peoples’ faces from worried brows at the beginning of the evening to joyful and radiant looks by the end. Spirits had been lifted and for some people it seemed to be a releasing experience, allowing their minds to focus away from their illness. Having noticed the same effect on participants of subsequent chanting sessions I became increasingly aware of the potential chanting has for healing; the chants have an ability to reach deep within us and find a place of peace and stillness.
In the light of these experiences a group of us came together for a chanting session at the Centre for Natural Health in Wickford, Essex some five years ago and I have facilitated monthly chanting sessions there ever since. I now lead similar groups in three other locations. My aim is to enable the groups themselves to create a healing and pleasurable experience and I encourage them not to worry about getting the notes just right. It is not necessary to be a singer to join in with a chant. On occasions when I have led chanting sessions as part of weekend retreats, some people have simply sat in to listen and absorb themselves in the sounds.
The intent with which chants are led and sung is to my mind important and, be they from Taize or North America, I take the view that the healing sessions I run do not require people to know what the chants mean. The intention is to create sounds, which result in vibrations resonating in the body in a healing way, recognising that every organ in the body resonates at a certain frequency.
In essence, I see chanting as a way of discovering spirit in sound; of tuning up our bodies on all levels as the sound vibrations resonate within and around us; and as a form of meditation.
John Cass