When the world feels too loud, the ancient remedy is simple: sing. Chanting, whether kirtan in the East or Taizé in the West, steadies the breath, opens the heart, and reminds us of our shared humanity.
The Universal Medicine of Sound
Chanting softens the edges of the mind. The repetition, the vibration, the shared breath: it calms the nervous system and lifts the spirit. For some, it is prayer; for others, it is sound medicine.
Two Traditions, One Current
At Loyola Jesuit Centre in Guelph, I have joined Taizé weekends where candlelight and simple refrains create a river of peace. I have also sung in kirtan circles, alive with drumbeats and harmoniums, where call-and-response carries the heart into ecstatic joy.
Outwardly different; one contemplative, the other exuberant; both dissolve thought and open the same inner stillness.
Why It Heals
• Vibration & Resonance: Sound waves harmonize the body and calm the nervous system.
• Emotional Release: Repetition helps grief, longing, and joy flow into transformation.
• Shift of Mind-State: Rhythm draws the mind from worry into presence.
• Community Energy: Singing together weaves a field stronger than any single voice.
Modern research confirms what ancient traditions knew: chanting lowers stress hormones, synchronizes heart and breath, and releases the neurochemistry of joy and connection.
Beyond Belief
Kirtan and Taizé arise from different theologies, yet both reveal the same alchemy: sound, repetition, devotion. For some, chant is a call to God. For others, it is meditation or sound therapy. The labels don’t matter; the effect is universal.
Coming Home Through Song
In the glow of Advent candles or the pulse of a kirtan drum, I have felt the same current beneath it all: belonging, release, quiet joy. Whether in Latin or Sanskrit, whispered or sung with great exuberance, these chants remind us that we are more than our worries, more than our separate selves.
Haiku
Repeat sacred names
Voices weaving light through dark
Hearts sing themselves free