Why chanting is so beneficial to your personal spiritual practice
One of the key elements to remember when chanting is that the sound needs to come from your lower abdomen. In Japanese, this area is called the hara or tanden. When the sound comes from the hara, you perform deep breathing (Okinagaho in Shintoism). Deep breathing is important if you want to heal yourself. It helps you to ground yourself, releases tension in your abdomen, creates a strong physical vehicle in which you can embody the universe, and it enables the vibration of the sound to travel through your whole body, not just your throat.
By focusing on a sound the mind stills. Normally, the mind is going all over the place as we think about the past and the future, and what we are doing in the present moment. By focusing on just one sound you stop following your thoughts as they race through time. Instead, you still the mind; letting go of clinging to the past, present, and future. This, in turn, creates a tremendous opening within you for healing to take place.
True Word Power, or Kototama in Japanese, is when you begin to tap deeply into sound itself. When this occurs you begin to realize that it is not just you chanting, but the whole universe that is chanting.
How to Chant
To chant primordial sounds, know that the sound comes from your hara/tanden. Bring your breath in deep as you breathe in and as you breathe out open your vocal chords allowing the chant to flow along the breath. Don’t worry about the length of the chant – each person is individual with this. However, you will notice with time that your capacity to chant each sound becomes longer and with more connection will improve.
In the beginning you can copy the chant but over time it will become more organic. Each time you chant the sound it needs to be fresh.
There are 3 very important elements to chanting: placing your mind, body, and speech in the right place. The mind needs to be concentrated on what you are chanting, not thinking about other things while you chant. Your body needs to stand, sit or lay in an open way so that the sound can flow through it like a hollow reed, if the reed is all crooked or bent, the sound will not flow with ease. Your speech needs to be clear and open, without judgment. Chanting is not singing! And you will notice that sometimes your tone or rhythm changes, this is perfectly natural.
What listener’s say
I’ve been listening for a few days to Frans Stiene’s new CD, “Primordial Sounds for Healing,” a combination of chants used in Reiki practice at Level II and III and other traditional chants. Each track is a separate practice, and he keeps them powerfully simple; the only sounds are his chanting and a bell chime to indicate the transition between the chant and the rich silence that follows each chant. On a few of the tracks, he layers his own voice as though chanting with himself in a group of many Franses. Most of the tracks are his own straightforward single voice. I have been studying with Frans for a number of years now, and I make it a point to get together with him in person at least two times a year to be supported by his energetic presence fully. I was curious to see if that presence would be carried at least a little in a recording. Amazingly, listening to the CD is like having Frans chanting in the same room with me. It offers a jolt of healing, and the energetic signature of each different chant helps me connect with that specific energetic quality quite quickly, just by listening. The CD can be used several different ways to facilitate healing and/or deepening of our spiritual practice, whatever it might be. I have had it on quietly in the background as I work on my laptop or write, providing a subtle unconscious support. I have also used it as a meditation tool, settling down in a quiet space and putting my attention on the chanting directly, as well as looking inward to what arises. Sometimes I put one track on repeat and really infuse myself with that one specific energetic quality. And other times, I put the whole CD on shuffle and wait to see which quality will carry me along next. It is also possible to chant along with the tracks and, in doing so, chant with Frans. Chanting is not singing. This is not music to lose yourself in for the beauty of it. But these sounds can sweep you away nonetheless. Who knows what might awaken within each time we listen? Anyone can benefit from these healing sounds; the CD is not just for Reiki or energy practitioners. The energy of the first chant in particular, called Grounding, would be deeply beneficial to just about anyone by creating a solid foundation for what life throws our way. Highly recommended. – Alice Risemberg, Reiki Teacher, Reiki Pulse http://reikipulse.com/
Yesterday, I played a bit of a few of your chants for Indigo, my daughter of 7 years old. She was quite interested to hear the beginning of a few of them–I read her the titles and she chose–Letting Go first, then Inner Happiness, then Immovable. When i played the Immovable one, she wanted to hear the whole thing, she closed her eyes (she was on my lap) and i could feel her heart energy getting very big. Afterwards, she said, “Oh i like this one best! I feel the energy through my whole body!” Then she asked me to teach her a chant so i taught her CKR and she sat on my lap and we chanted it together for a bit. After about 10 minutes, she said, “Oh i LOVE chanting mommy, it feels so good in my body! It tingles!” It was so cute:) Then later that night, she wanted to chant herself to sleep, it was so darling. As she was chanting at bedtime, I suddenly realized–the CKR chant was the one you taught me after my first class with you, and I practiced it every time I nursed her from the time she was 3 months old 🙂 She already knows that chant doesn’t she;) Anyway, Indigo and I give Primordial Sounds for Healing our best mommy/daughter thumbs up! 🙂 –Kathleen Prasad International Reiki Teacher, cofounder of SARA author of Animal Reiki and Reiki for Dogs http://shelteranimalreikiassociation.org http://animalreikisource.com/
I was so excited when I heard that Frans was going to make a CD on which he would be chanting. I am very pleased to say that the CD does not disappoint, it is lovely to just sit and listen to the chanting. I know I will use this CD within my practice. As a teacher I will use it with my students so that we can really know that we are pronounce the chants in the proper way, thus deepening the experience. It will also be nice that when I teach the chants I won’t be the only person chanting!!! Thank you Frans once again for making the teachings of Reiki more accessible. – Helen Galpin Reiki Teacher and co-founder of the British School of Meditation http://www.reikiinspirations.co.uk/ http://www.teaching-meditation.co.uk/
Bronwen and Frans Stiene are the co-founders of the International House of Reiki and co-authors of The Reiki Sourcebook, The Japanese Art of Reiki, Your Reiki Treatment, The A-Z of Reiki Pocketbook and the Reiki Techniques Card Deck. Bronwen and Frans teach in the USA, Europe and Australia. Visit the Courses page to find a course near you.
Thank you Max in Cincinnati for your recording skills and our fun time recording it.
Thank you Bronwen for your computer skills and your support in this CD.
Thank you all our students for asking me again and again 🙂 for a CD with me chanting on it, it motivated me to create it.
Can’t wait to listen to the whole thing. Congratulations on its release!
By the way, this is a really good and clear article on chanting. Thank you for that, as well. The metaphor of the hollow reed for the universe to chant through is super-helpful. Good metaphor for all practices, too!
Ack! Bronwen, Frans, please help! I’ve been SO looking forward to this CD, I can’t begin to tell you. But now I see that it’s a download. I can’t do downloads on my ancient laptop—-it no longer even has sound, and I’m such a Luddite I only use it for writing, e-mail, and information searches. Sob!!! Is there any hope that you could burn a CD for me and mail it to the States? I don’t care if it doesn’t have a case, and, while I realize that the mailing costs would be steep, I’d be happy to pay them to have this CD. Please let me know! Gassho, Elly
Elly, Bronwen, and Frans, I can probably burn a CD and mail from here if that’s helpful? No need to respond back to me if you have it all sorted out already; just let me know if you do need anything.
Bless you, Alice! If Frans and Bronwen agree, please send me the details at [email protected] and I’ll send you a check or whatever form of payment you wish and you can forward it to the IHReiki organization. Gassho!!!!
I am loving these chants! So wonderful to have my teacher, Frans, right here with me as I either just open myself up to receive or chant along with him. This is a great support to my meditation. Can hardly wait to use these with my students in class and Reiki Shares too…and maybe even during treatments! Thank you Frans, for providing us with this great tool to help us dissolve anger, worry, fear…and our egos!
I have been looking forward to this CD for a while now. I am so excited to now have it on multiple devices so I can listen to it at will wherever I am. I played song 1 “Grounding” for my 3 children after telling them to get comfy and set their intent to receive whatever it is that they may need. Within 30 seconds of the chanting my oldest said he felt tingling and bubbles and pointed to his Hara. His brothers immediately agreed they could feel the energy and all 3 had happy smiles on their faces. It was great to share the experience with them. Before I did this I played samples for my self since I was so excited to hear all of the chants. When I did this I had the same experience as my son. I immediately felt a connection to Frans and the energy emanating from the sound of the chanting. It was simply beautiful. I was later able to really listen and immerse myself into the chanting and listened to the whole CD. With each chant, I could feel the energy shift or take on a different “feeling”. Listening to the whole CD through takes you on a journey going deeper and deeper with each new chant. It was also wonderful to hear the first 4 chants which I am accustomed to chanting, though with the CD it is different because it’s like you are being supported by Frans. I knew that this CD would be amazing and beneficial to my practice. It would be beneficial to anyone who listens to it. I also ended up playing snippets for my husband when he came home from work. I can see myself using this again and again. I agree with Alice (Reiki Pulse) the instructions for chanting and how to use this CD are great! Thank you so much Frans for putting this together.
Love, Hugs and Blessings,
Candice
I am glad to hear that you find this Cd healing and empowering.
If we have the right state of mind this CD can create a wonderful healing space in which we can deepen our own personal practice and healing. The only limitations is our own mind.
Just finished listening to all the chants. My 13 year old who has autism and is non verbal loves music. She was listening to her own music in next room and when I played the chants in room adjacent ( with all the noises in background) that immediately caught her attention she came to see playing. I was paying attention to which ones she is especially drawn to, The one that brought smile to her face was “Grounding” then when it changed to “immovable” that changed her body language, suddenly she was I know feeling it as I saw her bit restless and moving fast. Then when “love” came that made her calmer , and before she sat down. I will try it again as part of her routine. We listen chants and meditations with her for 10-15 minutes before she goes to bed. Thank you Frans so much for making this especially for folks like us who don’t have access to these beautiful , energetic vibrations. Thanks for making them available so we can try to get benefited.
“Finally!” :0) Great CD! I echo what has been posted previously. One doesn’t just hear the chant, it can truly be felt. You have amazing talent, Frans.
I also love the ‘formlessness’ space after each track. Perfect!
Hi Paul,
Thank you. The formless space is important, it is like tapping a signing bowl and we still hear the resonance afterwards, we have the same, we just need to be quiet (formless) to hear/feel it.
Love those comments on the formless space! I had noticed long silence at the end of some tracks, but I didn’t connect it to sitting in the space created by the chanting. Duh!
Thanks Frans for this great suggestion about helping them ground . I know everyone at home including myself can use it…looking forward to more learning 🙂
Seema, my oldest son as well as myself have Aspergers, he will be 12 this month. I find he connects at a deeper level than his brothers to any practices he sees me do or when he participates in them too. I would love to connect with you more.
Fran’s I am very happy you added in silence for a time of formless practice. My favorite part of practice is the pause, complete letting go and just being in that space. Learning to take that wih me more and more.
Upon further looking at the cover, I really love it and what it represents. Thank you so much again for puttin this together!
Blessings, Candice
Hello Candice…nice to meet you . I would love to connect and share on a know sonal level my email is [email protected]. My daughter is the reason I started went to learn reiki in 2005, subsequently completed in 2008. I know what you mean on your son connecting at a deeper level :). For the longest time I was unable to connnect with my daughter on a energetic level with Reiki although everyone else said they felt good . It made me very discouraged and apart from my friends and family I didn’t really practiced as I felt I am not doing it “right” until one day I realized that I was not taking her “permission”, I think being a mom was hard for me anyways to make story short I started taking her permission on a subcounscious level and things changed 🙂 and so is my journey. Yes , I would also say she is extreamly intuitive and can tell what others actually mean even though they donot say that to her !. I am excited to play these chants for her and see if she follow ( she has just started to say some words).
Aloha Frans & Bronwen,
Congrats on the CD release! We played some of the tracks tonight at the first ever IHReiki Shinpiden Graduates Reiki Share on Maui, Hawaii! We chanted along to “Grounding” then sat quietly and listened to “Love”. I felt like I was back in the Lodge at the Sequoia Retreat Center listening to Frans in person! We all really liked sitting in the formless space after the chime at the end. We are all excited to explore more ways to use the CD for meditation and growth in our personal practices!
Much mahalo (thanks/appreciation/gratitude), Allison
What a beautiful comment, Frans! That one should be on your Facebook page as well! (And when you do release the chanting CD in actual as opposed to virtual form, it should be on the cover.)
WOW Frans, I just love Primordial Sounds for Healing CD. It is like I have a room full of people here chanting with me. And when I got to the last 4 Chants… something amazing began… Such an inner peace and calm. I love the last chants and would like to know more about the chants if you have information on them. The last one is so powerful. Just love to chant with you and really help support my practice. Just a great thing for you to have done. Just LOVE IT. Really Appreciate you and your work. Love and HUGS. LInda
Hi Linda,
Glad you like it.
There is the Heart Sutra which is all about form is emptiness and emptiness is form.
The last chant is practiced a lot in many esoteric traditions in Japan, especially by practitioners who go into the mountains, walking, standing underneath waterfalls etc. There is a lot of fire in the chant which help you to burn away all the rubbish, plus the fire helps us to move into the deeper layers of our spiritual being.
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Comments 31
Thank you Max in Cincinnati for your recording skills and our fun time recording it.
Thank you Bronwen for your computer skills and your support in this CD.
Thank you all our students for asking me again and again 🙂 for a CD with me chanting on it, it motivated me to create it.
Can’t wait to listen to the whole thing. Congratulations on its release!
By the way, this is a really good and clear article on chanting. Thank you for that, as well. The metaphor of the hollow reed for the universe to chant through is super-helpful. Good metaphor for all practices, too!
Happy listening and chanting to everyone!
Alice
Ack! Bronwen, Frans, please help! I’ve been SO looking forward to this CD, I can’t begin to tell you. But now I see that it’s a download. I can’t do downloads on my ancient laptop—-it no longer even has sound, and I’m such a Luddite I only use it for writing, e-mail, and information searches. Sob!!! Is there any hope that you could burn a CD for me and mail it to the States? I don’t care if it doesn’t have a case, and, while I realize that the mailing costs would be steep, I’d be happy to pay them to have this CD. Please let me know! Gassho, Elly
Elly, Bronwen, and Frans, I can probably burn a CD and mail from here if that’s helpful? No need to respond back to me if you have it all sorted out already; just let me know if you do need anything.
Warmly,
Alice
Bless you, Alice! If Frans and Bronwen agree, please send me the details at [email protected] and I’ll send you a check or whatever form of payment you wish and you can forward it to the IHReiki organization. Gassho!!!!
Hi All,
Some of you have been asking for a physical copy, the physical CD will be out in a month or two.
Better not burn CD’s for others.. 🙂
Love
Frans
Wonderful! Thanks, Frans!
Congratulations Frans on its release I hope to have it soon as well. Thanks for sharing the sample clips. Love the article about chanting !
I am loving these chants! So wonderful to have my teacher, Frans, right here with me as I either just open myself up to receive or chant along with him. This is a great support to my meditation. Can hardly wait to use these with my students in class and Reiki Shares too…and maybe even during treatments! Thank you Frans, for providing us with this great tool to help us dissolve anger, worry, fear…and our egos!
I have been looking forward to this CD for a while now. I am so excited to now have it on multiple devices so I can listen to it at will wherever I am. I played song 1 “Grounding” for my 3 children after telling them to get comfy and set their intent to receive whatever it is that they may need. Within 30 seconds of the chanting my oldest said he felt tingling and bubbles and pointed to his Hara. His brothers immediately agreed they could feel the energy and all 3 had happy smiles on their faces. It was great to share the experience with them. Before I did this I played samples for my self since I was so excited to hear all of the chants. When I did this I had the same experience as my son. I immediately felt a connection to Frans and the energy emanating from the sound of the chanting. It was simply beautiful. I was later able to really listen and immerse myself into the chanting and listened to the whole CD. With each chant, I could feel the energy shift or take on a different “feeling”. Listening to the whole CD through takes you on a journey going deeper and deeper with each new chant. It was also wonderful to hear the first 4 chants which I am accustomed to chanting, though with the CD it is different because it’s like you are being supported by Frans. I knew that this CD would be amazing and beneficial to my practice. It would be beneficial to anyone who listens to it. I also ended up playing snippets for my husband when he came home from work. I can see myself using this again and again. I agree with Alice (Reiki Pulse) the instructions for chanting and how to use this CD are great! Thank you so much Frans for putting this together.
Love, Hugs and Blessings,
Candice
This is great Frans!! Thanks for doing it. Like Joyce said, it’s like having you right in the room. Wicked cool!
Hi Candice, Kelly and the rest,
I am glad to hear that you find this Cd healing and empowering.
If we have the right state of mind this CD can create a wonderful healing space in which we can deepen our own personal practice and healing. The only limitations is our own mind.
Great!!!
Please, can I have the lyrics of the songs?
(the transliteration of each sound)
Thank you very much,
Giuseppe
Italy
Just finished listening to all the chants. My 13 year old who has autism and is non verbal loves music. She was listening to her own music in next room and when I played the chants in room adjacent ( with all the noises in background) that immediately caught her attention she came to see playing. I was paying attention to which ones she is especially drawn to, The one that brought smile to her face was “Grounding” then when it changed to “immovable” that changed her body language, suddenly she was I know feeling it as I saw her bit restless and moving fast. Then when “love” came that made her calmer , and before she sat down. I will try it again as part of her routine. We listen chants and meditations with her for 10-15 minutes before she goes to bed. Thank you Frans so much for making this especially for folks like us who don’t have access to these beautiful , energetic vibrations. Thanks for making them available so we can try to get benefited.
“Finally!” :0) Great CD! I echo what has been posted previously. One doesn’t just hear the chant, it can truly be felt. You have amazing talent, Frans.
I also love the ‘formlessness’ space after each track. Perfect!
Hi Paul,
Thank you. The formless space is important, it is like tapping a signing bowl and we still hear the resonance afterwards, we have the same, we just need to be quiet (formless) to hear/feel it.
Love those comments on the formless space! I had noticed long silence at the end of some tracks, but I didn’t connect it to sitting in the space created by the chanting. Duh!
Warm wishes for everyone,
Alice
Hi Seema and Candice,
Thank you for sharing your experiences with the chants and your kids.
I find it very interesting that the grounding track has such a good effect on them, for me many kids need more grounding in our modern day of age.
Love
Frans
Thanks Frans for this great suggestion about helping them ground . I know everyone at home including myself can use it…looking forward to more learning 🙂
Seema, my oldest son as well as myself have Aspergers, he will be 12 this month. I find he connects at a deeper level than his brothers to any practices he sees me do or when he participates in them too. I would love to connect with you more.
Fran’s I am very happy you added in silence for a time of formless practice. My favorite part of practice is the pause, complete letting go and just being in that space. Learning to take that wih me more and more.
Upon further looking at the cover, I really love it and what it represents. Thank you so much again for puttin this together!
Blessings, Candice
Hello Candice…nice to meet you . I would love to connect and share on a know sonal level my email is [email protected]. My daughter is the reason I started went to learn reiki in 2005, subsequently completed in 2008. I know what you mean on your son connecting at a deeper level :). For the longest time I was unable to connnect with my daughter on a energetic level with Reiki although everyone else said they felt good . It made me very discouraged and apart from my friends and family I didn’t really practiced as I felt I am not doing it “right” until one day I realized that I was not taking her “permission”, I think being a mom was hard for me anyways to make story short I started taking her permission on a subcounscious level and things changed 🙂 and so is my journey. Yes , I would also say she is extreamly intuitive and can tell what others actually mean even though they donot say that to her !. I am excited to play these chants for her and see if she follow ( she has just started to say some words).
BTW Candice happy birthday to your son…many blessings….
Aloha Frans & Bronwen,
Congrats on the CD release! We played some of the tracks tonight at the first ever IHReiki Shinpiden Graduates Reiki Share on Maui, Hawaii! We chanted along to “Grounding” then sat quietly and listened to “Love”. I felt like I was back in the Lodge at the Sequoia Retreat Center listening to Frans in person! We all really liked sitting in the formless space after the chime at the end. We are all excited to explore more ways to use the CD for meditation and growth in our personal practices!
Much mahalo (thanks/appreciation/gratitude), Allison
Hi Allison,
The CD is a great tool for in groups, listen, chant, and sit in the formless space.
Enjoy!
I didn’t think the chants could get any better till an owl joined in this evening. He hung around for chants 4, 5 and 6. It was too cool!!
Hi Kelly,
How wonderful.
When we chant from the non-dual state of mind the whole universe is chanting. 🙂
What a beautiful comment, Frans! That one should be on your Facebook page as well! (And when you do release the chanting CD in actual as opposed to virtual form, it should be on the cover.)
Please, can I have the lyrics of the songs?
(the transliteration of each sound)
Thank you very much,
Giuseppe
Italy
Hi Elly,
Glad you like the comment.
Hi Giuseppe,
At the moment I only teach these mantras in classes so that we can practice together.
WOW Frans, I just love Primordial Sounds for Healing CD. It is like I have a room full of people here chanting with me. And when I got to the last 4 Chants… something amazing began… Such an inner peace and calm. I love the last chants and would like to know more about the chants if you have information on them. The last one is so powerful. Just love to chant with you and really help support my practice. Just a great thing for you to have done. Just LOVE IT. Really Appreciate you and your work. Love and HUGS. LInda
Hi Linda,
Glad you like it.
There is the Heart Sutra which is all about form is emptiness and emptiness is form.
The last chant is practiced a lot in many esoteric traditions in Japan, especially by practitioners who go into the mountains, walking, standing underneath waterfalls etc. There is a lot of fire in the chant which help you to burn away all the rubbish, plus the fire helps us to move into the deeper layers of our spiritual being.