I've been trying to diagnose a phenomenon that I noticed in myself for a few months. I don't know what to call it, but I'll go with "Involuntary Chants." That might not be a fitting name, but I'll describe it using two instances. 

The Muslim Prayer

In Nigeria, religion is never subtle; it is often loud and directly in your face. This is the case for both Islam and Christianity. I grew up in an apartment that had a mosque across the street. This meant I heard the "Adhan," the Islamic "call to prayer," several times daily. They happened around the same time every day. A male voice chants an Arabic prose, saying words like "Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem" in a slightly melodic tone. It's been a while since I've been in that environment, but I realized that my mind has learned to map the time of day to these words. The Maghrib prayer is performed at sunset and calls usually start around 7 p.m. These days, when I walk back home from work, I notice that I sometimes begin to recite the chants unconsciously. The mere sight of the sunset or the mood of the evening as I walk back home might trigger the urge to vocalize this chant.

The Catholic Prayer

When I was in boarding school, the Catholic students usually performed their Vespers (Catholic evening prayer) around the same corridor I also loved relaxing in. This meant that I naturally heard all their prayers and watched as they performed their delicate rituals. I talked about my relaxation in the previous sentence. This was a way to destress after a long day of being up and about. Also, it was right after the evening prep (reading session in boarding school). The vespers included a lot of Latin chants, but they also had a full recitation of the "Hail Mary" or "Ave Maria." Over time, I learned that I internalized this prayer because of my urge to recite it in tense situations. Although I can't deny the calm after the recitation, I wonder why my brain associates this chant with these anxious situations. 

These two instances explain the phenomenon I'm trying to describe and diagnose. I would like to know if other people share a similar experience.

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