I like chanting form the diaphragm gives a nice soothing vibration through the body.

When breathing down through your stomach slowly let it out while allowing your voice box to vibrate with the air.

Takes some practice but once you get it, you'll love it.

Sounds good to me. Thanks for the quick and helpful advice. However, I have another question with regards to chanting. How will I know if the chanting is working for me? More power and thanks again!

Intermediate Beginner

Personally I get all soft and warm like a gooey toffee, but it differs for some people, I had one person find it uplifting like they were floating.

Hmm ... interesting... cause I sort of feel the same way too. I gues it's working for me. This is really great. Thanks a lot!

Intermediate Beginner

The use of a mantra during meditation can be a very powerful tool.

How to Chant

There are no hard-and-fast rules for chanting. The most wonderful thing about mantra meditation is that one may chant anywhere -- at home, at work, driving in the car, or riding on the bus or subway. And one may chant at any time.
In order to chant one need not equip oneself with expensive props and paraphernalia, learn to stand on one's head, or perform other difficult postures or breathing exercises. The only equipment one needs is a tongue and ears. Everyone already has these. The tongue simply has to vibrate the words, and the ears must hear it. By this simple process alone, one can achieve all perfection.

There are two basic types of chanting. Personal meditation, where one chants alone on beads, is called japa. When one chants in responsive fashion with others, this is called kirtana. Kirtana is usually accompanied by musical instruments and clapping. Both forms of chanting are recommended and beneficial.

To perform the first type of meditation, one needs only a set of japa beads. To meditate with the beads, hold them in your right hand. Hold the first bead with your thumb and middle finger and chant the complete mantra. Then go to the next bead, holding it with the same two fingers, again chanting the entire mantra. Then go on to the next bead and then the next, continuing in this way until you have chanted on all 108 beads and have come to the main or krishna bead. You have now completed "one round" of chanting. Do not chant on the Krishna bead, but turn the beads around and chant on them in the opposite direction, one after another. Chanting on beads is especially helpful, for it engages the sense of touch in the meditative process and helps you concentrate even more on the sound of the mantra.
You may want to chant japa indoors, but you can chant just as comfortably walking along the beach or hiking in the mountains. Just bring your beads along with you. If you chant sitting down, you should assume a comfortable position (preferably not Iying down or slouching, for there's always the tendency to fall asleep). You can chant as loudly or as softly as you like, but it's important to pronounce the mantra clearly and loudly enough to hear yourself. The mind may have a tendency to wander off to other matters when you chant, for the mind is flickering and unsteady, always looking for something new and pleasurable to absorb itself in. If your mind wanders (to anything except God and things related to Him), gently bring it back to the transcendental sound vibration. It won't be difficult, because the mind is easily satisfied when absorbed in the divine sound of the mantra (unlike other meditationa practices, where one may be asked to fix his mind on "nothing" or "the void").

One may chant japa at any time, but the Vedic literatures note that certain hours of the day are most auspicious for performing spiritual activities. The early morning hours just before and after sunrise are generally a time of stillness and quietude, excellently suited to contemplative chanting. Many people find it especially helpful to set aside a certain amount of time at the same time each day for chanting. Start with one or two "rounds" a day, and gradually increase the number until you reach sixteen, the recommended minimum for serious chanters.

While japa is a form of meditation involving you, your beads, and the Supreme Lord, kirtana, on the other hand, is a form of group meditation, where one sings the mantra, sometimes accompanied by musical instruments.
One may hold a kirtana at home with family or friends, with one person leading the chanting and the others responding. Kirtana is more of a supercharged meditational process, where in addition to hearing oneself chant, one also benefits by hearing the chanting of others. Musical instruments are nice, but not necessary. One may sing the mantra to any melody and clap his hands. If you have children, they can sing along as well and make spiritual advancement. You can get the whole family together every evening for chanting.

The sounds of the material world are boring, hackneyed and monotonous, but chanting is an ever-increasingly refreshing experience. Make a test yourself. Try chanting some word or phrase for even five minutes. If you chant "Coca-Cola" over and over again, even for a few minutes, it becomes practically unbearable. There's no pleasure in it. But the sound of God's names is transcendental, and as one chants he wants to chant more and more.

I suspect that chanting was done during the Buddha’s lifetime. I sometimes imagine his disciples circumambulating the Buddha, chanting the three refuges, clapping their hands, stomping their feet, in a show of enthusiastic devotion and admiration.