I started learning Asana from books and videos on Youtube few years ago. After learning and mastering a set of Asana I started performing Pranayama but started chanting only after I went to Yoga School(SVYASA). There in Yoga school I learned starting and ending Dhyana mantra. I started using these mantras in my practice once in a while just to follow the tradition.
Today I will write about Omkara from my experience of performing MSRT(Mind sound resonance techniques), chanting of Mantras and just simple chanting of OM.
If we look carefully at OM, it is combination of A, U, M sound produced by mind. Chanting of these sound separately is called A-kara, U-kara and M-kara respectively. A-kara is produced with mouth wide open, U-kara is produced mouth half open and M-kara is produced mouth fully closed. So OM encompasses the entire range of sound human vocal cord can produce. With little bit of practice one can resonate lower parts of body with A-Kara, mid part of body with U-kara, upper parts of body with M-kara and one can feel resonance in entire body with Omkara. It is possible to feel all 4 phenomenon with little bit of practice by adjusting pitch of voice. With little bit of practice one can resonate all parts and entire body with mental sound(Ahata) as well, where no vocal cord is used.
One can also experience silence following the Omkara chanting. This must be the reason behind reciting of Omkara before and after every dhyana mantra. Omkara is a mystic sound that has many reference in various upnisads; it symbolizes the creation, existence and destruction of the universe and the associated gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh. Gita says that one who leaves this body with chanting of Omkara he reaches the supreme.
After I understood the effect of Omkara(OM or AUM) on mind, I started using Omkara regularly not only in Yoga practice but also any time when I want to energize my body and bring my mind to a peaceful state of silence.
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