In this paper, instability mechanisms in a low Mach number reacting flow are investigated. Here, the emphasis is on the growth or decay of acoustic oscillations which arise from the acoustic-hydrodynamic interaction in a low Mach number reacting flow. Motivated by the studies in magnetohydrodynamics and atmospheric flows, we propose to investigate the acoustic-hydrodynamic coupling as a system of wave-mean flow interaction. For example, a comparison with the heat fluctuation modified hydrodynamics associated with magnetohydrodynamics is useful in understanding this coupling. The wavelike acoustic disturbance is introduced here as a compressibility correction to the mean flow. Accounting for the multiple scales introduced by the weak compressibility, we derive a set of equations governing wave-mean flow interaction in a reacting low Mach number flow. Sources such as volume expansion (which, in atmospheric flows arises due to the density variation with altitude) occur in reacting flows due to the heat release rate. This heat release rate, when coupled with the acoustic field, often leads to self-sustained thermo-acoustic oscillations. In the study of such oscillations, we discover a relation between the acoustic pressure and second order thermal fluctuations. Further, using this relation, we discover the nonlinear coupling mechanism that would lead to self-sustained oscillations in a reacting low Mach number flow. This mechanism, represented by a coupled convection reaction diffusion system, is presented here for the first time. In addition to the acoustic pressure and temperature fields, we also discover the role of acoustic velocity field in the acoustic-hydrodynamic interaction through a convective and lift-up mechanism. © 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.