Chanting meditation begins with something beautifully simple: placing your attention on the act of chanting itself. The chant becomes the anchor, the way the breath is in other forms of meditation. You focus on the sound, the rhythm, the movement of the mantra through your mind or your voice. And when your attention wanders — as it always will — you gently return to the chant. This is why chanting is such a powerful bridge into everyday mindfulness. If you can focus on a mantra, you can focus on washing dishes, folding laundry, walking, breathing, living. The object changes, but the practice remains the same.
You can chant a mantra, sing it or recite it quietly, and best of all, you can recite it silently in your head at any time, and it stops your thoughts taking over and running wild. The Tibetans say that mantra is that which protects the mind. So if your mind is on a loop, try a mantra.
The Emotional Power of Sound
Chanting also works on a deeper level: it moves your energy. Emotions are “energy in motion,” and sound vibrations travel through the same subtle channels in the body. That’s why singing — especially when no one is listening — feels so good. Happy songs lift us; sad songs soften us; sacred sounds open us. When you’re too upset to sit quietly, a mantra can soothe the turbulence. The vibration steadies the breath, calms the nervous system, and gives the mind something steady to hold.
Different mantras have different effects. Some people like affirmation mantras such as I am well or I am loved, which can be helpful for anxiety. Others, like me, find English affirmations too easy for the mind to argue with. Traditional Sanskrit mantras bypass that mental chatter because their meaning is symbolic, layered, and felt rather than analysed. Latin phrases can work the same way — Memento Vivere (remember to live) or Memento Mori (remember death) — reminders of what matters.
The mantra in my latest video artwork is joyful and uplifting. More on it below the video, but it’s a great chant to have on hand for brightening up gloomy days. The full song is here: https://tahlianewland.bandcamp.com/track/just-a-breath-away
Sing it. Sway to it. Let it settle into your body.
Om Ah Hung: a Mantra of Creation
One of the simplest and most profound mantras is Om Ah Hung.
- Om is the vast, open, unformed source — the sound of the universe itself. Chanting it aligns you with spaciousness and calms the nervous system.
- Ah is the spark of joy and creativity emerging from that spaciousness — the brilliance of awareness expressing itself.
- Hung is manifestation — the world of form, the here and now, the place where inspiration becomes reality.
Chanting these three syllables is like invoking the entire process of creation: spaciousness, inspiration, and embodiment. It’s the essence of magic, expressed through sound.
Om Maha Vajra Hung: Mantra of Great Awareness
The mantra in the song is Om Maha Vajra Hung. The om and the hung mean the same as above and the ah is in the words Maha and Vajra, so it encompasses all the meaning above along with Maha Vajra which means great awareness. Hence the mantra Om Maha Vajra Hung is for invoking our own great awareness as well as calling to the goddess of great awareness, who is a manifestation, in the collective unconscious, of the great awareness of the universe.
The mantra meaning essentially is: “Awaken great awareness” or “Oh Goddess of great awareness, come to me.”
It’s an excellent mantra for the modern age as it calls on the development of great awareness in all beings — and man, do we need that! In addition to that, all the chants that fit Om Mani Peme Hung — the mantra of compassion — also fit this mantra.
How to Use Mantra
You can chant aloud or silently. You can chant slowly, letting each syllable ring like a bell, or quickly, like a bubbling stream. You can use a mala to count repetitions, not for the numbers but for the grounding rhythm of the fingers — a soothing, regulating action much like stimming for autistic nervous systems.
Or you can sing along with the song on the video.
How to begin
Take a breath.
Chant Om as you exhale.
Let the sound fade into silence.
Feel the vibration settle through your body.
Then chant Maha emphasising the ah sound at the end.
then Vajra in the same way,
then Hung,
then all words to together.
Om Maha Vajra Hung
Let your mind open.
Let the sound carry you.
Let the mantra do the work.
Even one chant is beneficial.
Want a Guided Practice and More Information?
If you’d like to explore chanting meditation more deeply you’ll find a full guided practice in my book How to Meditate Easily, Effectively & Deeply — along with other meditations and little-known meditation instructions. The guide will help you experience the grounding, uplifting, and transformative power of mantra for yourself.
