Praṇavam – Chanting Practice Experience Scale

Abstract

Traditionally, Yoga has always been associated with the practice of Āsana-s, Prāṇāyāma and Dhyāna, giving minimal importance to the healing power of chanting when incorporated as an additional component of Yoga. Chanting which is beyond the sounds produced by the vocal organs, is capable of bringing about the best possible human expression and experience. The aim of the present study was to construct a tool to assess the positive psychological and physiological experiences associated with chanting, based on the various thematic contents that emerged from the qualitative individual interviews conducted on certain selected chanting trainers and practitioners. The self-report scale thus constructed, comprised of statements encompassing both positive and negative items to be rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from Very true of me to Not true of me, with higher self-rated scores indicating greater positive experiences linked with chanting practice. The scale was found to be psychometrically very sound with high reliability. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) identified 6 latent factors which included 5 positive effect factors and 1 negative effect factor, namely Cognitive Alertness, Physical Wellbeing, Mental Quietude, Confident Expressiveness, Spiritual Awareness and Unpleasant Experiences. This 35-item short scale is amenable to be utilized both as a screening and an outcome tool, either independently or in conjunction with other objective measures and parameters, thereby yielding more robust findings.