The Transformative Power of Breath with Mantras
Dear Friend
“In a time of destruction, create something: a poem, a parade, a community, a school, a vow, a moral principle; one peaceful moment,” says Maxine Hong Kingston, professor emeritus (Berkley, CA).[1] Creativity and resilience are essential in difficult times. However, most of us when challenged almost automatically respond with anxiety. So, can we really create that one peaceful moment within ourselves? And if so, how?
All spiritual traditions, ancient and modern, stress the importance of meditation and contemplation to achieve inner peace, with one thing in common, a strong emphasis on the power of controlled breathing. Not only does controlled breathing create that ‘one peaceful moment’ but it also assists in attaining and maintaining this state of consciousness. From the Vedic and Buddhist roots of the techniques of Pranayama, known as the yoga of breathing, through the powerful statement of Job in his time of destruction: “The Ruach El has made me. The breath of [Shaddai] gives me life,”[2] to the modern practices of contemplative mindfulness and the techniques of teachers like Wim Hof and Joe Dispenza, breath is seen as a power for both personal and spiritual transformation.
There are at least 7 breathwork techniques[3] incorporating slow, mindful and deep breathing used in modern psychology to help alleviate stress or anxiety. Our mothers’ technique of counting to ten on the inhale in emotionally charged situations also has long helped us not to be overwhelmed by our emotions. It is common in stressful or emotionally triggering human experiences to breathe quickly and shallowly, which activates our amygdala[4], and heightens our anxiety, alertness, energy, anger or even fear. By observing our breath and slowing our breathing, we activate our parasympathetic system, which calms us, and we can return to centre with greater control of our responses[5]. Thich Nhat Hanh, encapsulated this by saying: “Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor”.[6]
While the effects of controlled breath on body, emotion and mind have long been established, the neurological mechanisms remained a mystery to neuroscientists. A recent study led by Fudan University (Shanghai, China), mapped a brain circuit that may show how the rhythm of breathing through the nose influences anxiety[7]. Xinsong Guo et al found a neural highway linking the nose to the brain’s emotional network, beginning with olfactory sensory neurons in the nasal cavity and ending with mitral cells in the brain’s olfactory center. A specific type of neuron called parvalbumin-positive interneurons (PV⁺), located in the perirhinal cortex, links to the amygdala, the brain’s fear and anxiety hub. They found that “slow, low-frequency stimulation eased anxiety and boosted high-gamma brain waves in the perirhinal cortex, while faster stimulation had the opposite effect, increasing anxiety”.[8]
A further study by Christina Zelano et al[9] showed that nasal breathing generates phase-locked oscillations in the local field potential activity of the piriform cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus of humans. Interestingly, when considering the passage from the olfactory neurons and the many meditation techniques, both ancient and modern that incorporate nasal breathing, the study further noted that breathing through the mouth does not induce the same pattern of synchronization and is correlated with sleep disturbances and attention deficit hyperactive disorder.
In 2016, two studies, one[10] by A. Price and R. Eccles and another[11] by Roni Kahana-Zweig et al, also suggested that asymmetry in nasal airflow – in which most of the flow occurs through one of the nasal passages – may be associated with asymmetry in the brain that underlies the organization of several cognitive systems, such as emotion, communication and spatial processing.
Further research is clearly necessary to understand the links between neuroscience and what the spiritual traditions have taught about controlled breathing, but it is clear that breath, the animating force of life, plays an important role in our psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being, especially when connected to the chanting of sacred mantras.
Genesis 2:7 tells us that the Breath of Life is given to us by YHWH Elohim.[12] The Nishmat (Breath) was breathed into man by the Divine to animate the clay of the body, and is closely associated with our Soul-Spirit unity, called Neshamah that works within the higher Light. To make this connection we highly recommend in addition to breath work, meditation using Divine Names and Vibrations that has also been shown to alter our breathing rhythms because each has its own unique utterance impacting our breath. In fact, there is serious research, as seen in the Annals of Neurosciences, a peer-reviewed journal, in an article called “Autonomic and Respiratory Modulations Induced by Different Styles of Mantra Chanting”[13] where, in a trial of 40 young adult males, the effects of mantra chanting in four categories: loud chanting, lip movement chanting, silent chanting and no chanting were studied. The results showed that while the young men attained and remained in a state of physical relaxation, loud chanting and chanting with lip movement showed greater focus of attention together with a heightened activation of the sympathetic nervous system, suggesting that while the body remained calm, the chanting styles “induced a physiological state that primed the body for improved alertness and mental clarity, probably optimizing cognitive performance.”[14] In a 2024 paper Association Between Cognitive Function and the Autonomic Nervous System by Photoplethysmography[15] published in the journal Bioengineering, Korean scientists, Jaewook Jin et al show that the sympathetic nervous system, beyond its function in the “fight, flight, freeze” reaction to stress, also plays a supportive role in mental focus and cognition. This brings some clarity to why chanting mantras, vocally or silently, relaxes the body but enhances cognitive processes.
We would add that chanting when using Divine Names from the East or the West also creates a higher connection to Divine Realms. We read about this in the Glossary of The Book of Knowledge: The Keys of Enoch® which tells us:
Mantra 1Sacred syllables: a contracted form of the Dhāraṇīs (Sanskrit: syllables as prayers) for mental and spiritual expansion. The mantra gives the energy of the divinity and his attributes. (See Key 111). 2A set of sound patterns and thought-forms which can code consciousness into the consciousness of Light. 3The mantras are holy energy forms of meditation which are used to charge the body with the powers and rapture of the Divine Mind. The greater the thought-form, the greater the mantra in opening the mind for the real disclosure of knowledge.[16]
Key 407 also tells us that singing (mantras) and Breath linked to our DNA are part of the seven “receptor functions” that are part of our Divine design for the receiving of higher levels of information, confirming that we are primarily vibratory beings able to use the power of sound with breath to change our reality.[17]
We believe that we have a higher Purpose on earth and, while personal peace is vital in our daily interactions, a connection through our spiritual bodies to the Divine Presence is required to fulfil this mission of being a conduit of the Divine Life force to all of our fellow beings. As we connect with the Higher Spirit, we pray and call upon:
Eirene en Pneumati Hagio
(Greek) Peace in the Holy Spirit
to send Peace and Love throughout the Universe in great compassion for all those who make the chemical sacrifice of their breath in every moment of their sojourn on Earth.
With Love and Blessings,
[1] Kingston, Maxine Hong (2003). The fifth book of peace. A Borzoi book. New York, NY: Knopf. ISBN 978-0-679-44075-8
[2] The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group. Job 33:4
[3] https://www.simplypsychology.com/articles/breath-meditation-techniques-guide
[4] https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/24894-amygdala
[5] https://www.simplypsychology.com/articles/breath-meditation-techniques-guide
[6] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/119040-feelings-come-and-go-like-clouds-in-a-windy-sky
[7] https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-newly-brain-circuit-clues-nasal.html
[8] Ibid
[9] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27927961/
[10] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27477330/
[11] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27711189/
[12] The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group
[13] Kadambini A. et al. June 20, 2025. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12181178/
[14] Ibid
[15] https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/11/11/1099
[16] Hurtak, J J. 1973/1996. The Book of Knowledge: The Keys of Enoch®. The Academy For Future Science.
[17] Hurtak, J J. 1973/2022. The Ten Light Picture Superscripts: The Keys of Enoch® and Metatron: The Seventh Light Picture Superscript. The Academy For Future Science. p115-123
