Editing Mantra Chanting as an intervention for stress management (section)

= '''Mantra chanting and stress management''' =
The stress response in humans has evolved over centuries to serve the purpose of maintaining homeostasis in conditions of real or perceived stress (Russell & Lightman, 2019). Sympathetic nervous system activates in response to stress, leading to an increase in cortisol levels. Chronic stress or long-term exposure to stress, if left unresolved may develop into psychological disorders. Mantra chanting may act as an intervention for stress reduction and self-management of stress symptoms. Various research studies have assessed the impact of mantra meditation on stress levels. Sharma and Singh (2014) studied the impact of mantra chanting on academic stress in adolescents. Academic stress, as mentioned in the study, refers to any subjective psychological distress including perceived academic performance, worry, dissatisfaction with grades and other related distress. The stress was assessed using the Educational Stress Scale for Adolescents (ESSA) (Sun et al., 2011). OM mantra and Gayatri mantra were selected as the intervention stimuli. The results showed significant reduction of stress in five domains measured (pressure from the society, workload, worry about grade, self-expectation stress and despondency). Another study by Bajappanavar and Upadhye (2021) confirmed the impact of Om chanting on examination stress in medical students, as assessed on the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen et al, 1983). Similar significant results in stress reduction were measured in college students when om chanting was practiced for 30 days (Bhatt & Gupta, 2013). Mantra chanting also influences the type of stress coping mechanism utilised. Individuals who chant mantra utilise approach-coping strategies to deal with stress in comparison to individuals who do not chant mantra and use avoidance-coping strategies (Agarwal & Agarwal, 2013). Apart from academic stress, working professionals also often display the symptoms of burnout and stressful episodes. A study on nursing professionals assessed the levels of serum cortisol and salivary amylase levels to predict the stress levels (W.J et al., 2021). Cortisol and salivary amylase levels are considered as salivary stress biomarkers. Levels of cortisol represents the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity and alpha-amylase indicate the levels of sympathetic activity (Tammayan et al., 2021). In the research study, chanting of Mahamantra ''(“Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare; Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare”)'' for 20 minutes for 45 days resulted in reduction of serum cortisol and salivary amylase levels among the nursing professionals (W.J et al., 2021). Another study by Sekar and colleagues (2019) found similar results for the Mahamantra chanting on women nursing professionals. The results showed a significant increase in parasympathetic tone (LF/HF ratio), shortened Auditory Reaction Time (ART) and Visual Reaction Time (VRT) and a significant reduction in serum cortisol levels. Chanting of Om mantra also significantly reduced anxiety level in bus drivers in a duration 4 weeks (Rankhambe & Pande, 2021).