Om meaning
Om, also written aum, is a syllable treated with deep reverence in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, where it is chanted at the start and end of prayers, readings and practice. In yoga philosophy it is described as the sound that expresses the whole of reality, and chanting it is a way to begin or end practice with attention.
The syllable
Om is a single syllable, but it is often described as three sounds and a silence. In Sanskrit, a and u blend into a long o, so om can also be written aum. Chanted slowly, it moves from an open “ah” through a rounded “oo” to a closed, humming “mm”, and then stops. That long hum is close kin to the sound bath that closes each lesson.
The written symbol, a curved character with a small crescent and dot above it, is one of the most recognisable signs in South Asia. You will see it on temple doors, in homes, at the head of letters and on book covers.
What the Om symbol means
The Om symbol, ॐ, is the syllable written in Devanagari, the script used for Sanskrit and Hindi. The crescent and dot above it are a real feature of the script, a mark called chandrabindu that shows the sound is nasal, the humming “m”. Other scripts write om in their own shapes, so the Tamil, Tibetan and Bengali forms all look different.
A widely repeated reading gives each part of the symbol a meaning drawn from the Mandukya Upanishad: the three curves stand for waking, dreaming and deep sleep, the dot for the fourth state beyond them, and the crescent for the veil that separates them. It is a later teaching device rather than something the Upanishad itself says about the written shape, but it is a helpful way to remember what the sound is said to contain.
Where it comes from
Om appears in the Vedas, the oldest Sanskrit texts, where it came to be chanted at the start and end of recitation. It is discussed at length in the Upanishads, the philosophical texts that follow them. The Mandukya Upanishad, one of the shortest, is devoted almost entirely to om. It reads the three sounds as three states of consciousness, waking, dreaming and deep sleep, and the silence after them as a fourth state beyond all three.
In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, om, called pranava, is the word that expresses Ishvara, and the text suggests repeating it while reflecting on its meaning. The Bhagavad Gita also gives om a central place.
Om is not only Hindu. It is chanted in Buddhist mantras, for example at the start of om mani padme hum, the Tibetan mantra of compassion, and it holds an important place in Jain practice. Sikhism’s opening phrase, Ik Onkar, is related. Each tradition understands it in its own way, and the syllable deserves the same respect in a yoga room that it receives in a temple.
How it shows up in a modern practice
In many yoga classes, om is chanted once or three times at the beginning and the end. The teacher leads and the room joins in. It gives a clear start and a clear finish, it brings everyone’s breath to the same pace for a moment, and the long hum of the “mm” is a simple way to settle.
Some classes skip it entirely, out of respect for students of other faiths or simply as a matter of style. Others chant longer mantras that begin with om. Both approaches are common.
How om can come up in a private lesson
A private lesson has no room of voices to join, so chanting is entirely your choice. If you would like to try it, om can be chanted together at the start or the end, or you can listen and join only when you feel ready. If you would rather not, the practice can begin and end with a few quiet breaths instead. If sound is what draws you, the sound bath at the end of the lesson is the place to start, and you can read about how I trained.