Mantra chanting, a meditative practice, influences brainwave activity. In 11 experienced practitioners (aged 37 ± 6 years, with 3 to 8 years of experience), EEG data collected during three minutes of “OM” mantra chanting showed significant increases in Alpha (10%), Gamma (13%), Beta (23%), and Delta (16%) power compared to before chanting. These changes suggest a deeper state of relaxation and focus during the practice, indicating that mantra chanting impacts cognitive processes and brainwave activity in experienced individuals.
Simplified Kundalini Yoga (SKY) meditation can influence specific brain wave states, including meditation state, low alpha, high gamma, and mid gamma bands, as measured by an EEG device. In a study of 86 technical college students aged 18–19, both a yoga group and a sports group showed significant differences within sessions in EEG meditation state and low alpha state. The sports group showed a significant difference at the end of the session, while the yoga group showed it at the beginning. Between groups, there were baseline differences in high gamma and within-session differences in mid gamma. No significant differences were found for other variables. The authors suggest both meditation and sports can promote positive health in technical educational institutes.
Bhramari pranayama, a yogic technique involving a self-vocalized humming sound that mimics a female bumblebee, can be broken down into sub-components: pranayama (breath control), the sound-producing phase, and Shanmukhi practice. Its overt, measurable features—such as fundamental frequency, resonant vibrations, and articulation—offer a unique opportunity to study how meditation is caused. Concepts like efference copy, corollary discharge, and sense of agency are observable in electrophysiological investigations. The framework explains how breath and self-vocalized acoustics produce synchrony among multisensory systems, leading to a meditative state, and suggests therapeutic benefits from self-evoked resonant vibrations, sensory entrainment, and gamma waves.