ABOUT SOUND HEALING
A Timeless Gift
"Sound healing" is the rejuvenation, recuperation, and recovery of physical, emotional, and spiritual balance, that is achieved through frequencies and vibrations associated with sound. It is different than "music therapy" in that it is neurologically and spiritually oriented, rather than psychologically oriented. Sound therapy is based on the principles of resonance, entrainment, vibration, and intention. The field of sound healing is directly associated with vibrational medicine or vibrational healing. All matter is vibration, and is therefore influenced by other vibrations, including sound, light/color, and inaudible/invisible frequencies.
Sound is in everything we do, touch, or create. It is one of the many tools used in ancient times – and now, recent times, to achieve harmonious balance within ourselves and with all that Spirit and the Universe provide. It seems only natural that as we have ears and the ability to hear, there is a gateway to the subconscious understanding of the well-being intended for us.
Sound and vibration exist as extensions to the kinetic energy in all of us. For many, it is challenging to find silence and connect with find the harmonious sounds of Spirit. Others are constantly in tune with universal vibrations and the sounds of life. Sound Healing is the use of the energy of sound to maintain wellness in the human system – including the expansion of consciousness. Sound Healing is founded on the premise that all matter is vibrating at specific frequencies. Science has proven that sound - or vibration - has a strong impact upon substance and every living thing.
Nearly every religion or spiritual path credits sound for the creation of the world. For the Hindus, all was dark and quiet in the universe until the first movement in the universe created the sound “Aum.” The Bible states “…and God said, “Let there be light.” In the far East, many believe the world was created with the sound of the gong, or blowing of the conch shell. The tribes of Australia believe the world was created with the sound of the didgeridoo; while the ancient Egyptians believed that their god Thoth created the world with his voice alone.
The power of sound for healing has been observed and practiced since humans exsisted. From the beginning of time, sound has been used for the ceremonial gatherings and healing of ancient cultures. In the Bible, King Saul’s depression was cured upon hearing David playing the harp. Shamanic drumming and incantations have been used for centuries to provoke the awakening of the third eye and crown chakras; opening up the powerful spiritual capabilities inherent in all of us.
Many cultures recognize the importance of music and sound as a healing power. In the ancient civilizations of India, Asia, Africa, Europe, Australian original tribes and Native American Indians, the practice of using sound to heal and achieve balance from within has existed for many years. The Tibetans still use bells, chimes, bowls, and chanting as the foundation of their spiritual practice. In Bali, Indonesia, the echoing gamelans, gong and drum are used in ceremonies to uplift and send messages. The Australian original tribes and Native American shamans use vocal toning and repetitive sound vibration with instruments created from nature in a sacred ceremony to adjust any imbalance of the spirit, emotions or physical being.
Historically, the use of mantras for chanting dates back to Sanskrit and Hindu religions. This practice can be followed through every philosophical genre from the beginning of time. The ever popular Om, Ohm or Aum is an ancient vibration call used as a method of incantation. Mantras are in essence vibration conduits used to reach the divinity of God. They are sound elements that provide an avenue to the intention of our souls. Consider this: An Ohm in English translates into a measurable frequency of electricity that is conducted through sound.
Hindu philosophy attributes the syllable Om or Aum as the first vibrational key to Universal being. Before the utterance of that sound, all was quiet. It is the basis from which all sounds are rooted. The simplicity of the sound Om, Ohm or Aum is the initial point of the creative processes of sound. The Priests of ancient Egypt knew how to use vowel sounds to resonate their energy centers or chakras. There is a direct link between different parts of the body and specific sounds. Such a technique appears extremely old; yet healing through sound goes back even further—at least as far back as Atlantis where the power of sound was combined with the power of crystal.
At the present time, the Hopi American Indian prophecy is being fulfilled with the "Coming of the Rainbow People," through the keepers of the crystal bowls. This ancient wisdom centers on the power to heal and uplift the consciousness of the universe through pure crystal tone. The American psychic, Edgar Cayce, and Rudolf Steiner, German philosopher, educator and artistic genius both predicted, "Pure tones will be used for healing before the end of this century." Nostradamus foretold the healing of cancer through pure tone by 1998. The pure tones created by crystal bowl music enter as a fulfillment of this prophecy. The healing power of sound is finally being recognized and accepted in the Western world. Sound Healing has generated a strong growing base of committed practitioners and a following of believers who continue to spread the word of their interest and participation with phenomenal results. Healers from ancient times recognized the power of sound to affect the body.
Many more “advanced” civilizations are now rediscovering this wisdom, and learning how to apply it to our daily lives. We are all familiar with the first instrument, and that is the heartbeat we hear in the womb. Many ancient cultures relate this reverent sound through the drum. Drumming a simple pulsing rhythm, similar to your own heartbeat on the drum can bring clarity, grounding and focus. Can you recall times when you or someone you know was nervous and anxious, and sat tapping incessantly?
tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap…
This is simply a reflection of a nervous, anxious state of mind, which can ultimately lead to increased stress and many other health maladies.
Many Sound Healers integrate their musical talents with their practice to create transformational shifts in our internal rhythms. The benefit of incorporating drumming for healing is that you don’t need to be a musician, and you don’t need a drum. Your entire body is a drum! Unless you have a drum handy, in this moment, let your hand be the striker and your arm or thigh the drum head. Gently try this pattern:
tap Tap, (breathe in, breathe out), tap Tap (breathe in, breathe out),
tap Tap, (breathe in, breathe out), tap Tap (breathe in, breathe out).
(repeat pattern at least one time)
No matter where you are, this simple exercise is something you can do to ground and focus in the moment. Sound Healing can help reduce stress, help with pain management, promote healthy sleep patterns, and help you to just relax. More information follows on the use of the voice, instruments, harmonies, vibrations and frequencies to heal the mind, body and spirit through the phenomenal modalities offered in Sound Healing.
A Sound Decision for Your Health
From the time we begin in the womb, we become creatures that resonate with vibrational energies. Long before an infant can understand the language used to soothe them, they are comforted by the familiar sound of the voices that care for them. Sound mystically carries the knowledge of all that came before and all that will come. It is universal understanding on the deepest levels of the subconscious capable of harmonizing people around the world. The affects of sound is not something one has to believe in or practice or even notice, it exists solely in and of itself.
Humans vibrate at a frequency on average of 8 cycles per second. We can actually hear sounds vibrate between 20 – 20,000 cycles per second. Although that range seems broad, the magic of sound beyond those levels can be sensed by the skin and bone structures. The human body is a conduit for all levels of sounds. Sounds have been proven to create alterations in the autonomic, immune, endocrine and neuropeptide systems of the body. Every single atom, cell, gland, and organ not only puts off sound or vibration, but is also capable of absorbing it. The human species and the electromagnetic fields of the earth are connected through vibration and energy.
How many times have you been thinking of someone and the next thing you’d know, that person was at the door, calling you on the phone, or had sent a letter in the mail. Thought is carried by vibration. Sound is carried by vibration. Intentions are carried by vibration. As we create our realities we can choose to notice and join the vibrational sounds that stir our souls or ignore them at the outer level of consciousness. The healing and power that they hold is undeniable. Like everything else in the universe, our thoughts are measurable as energy by quantum physics, and they have a vibratory rate. Science has finally come to agree with the metaphysical teaching that energy and matter are the same thing, and everything is in a state of vibration, nothing is stationary. Everything is energy and all this energy is out there around us, surrounding us.
Even without understanding the physics of sound, it is easy to see what impact sound has in our lives. From a memorable song to a lullaby to a cuckoo clock that we grew up with, sounds are reminiscent of the experiences that have been created within. So how does sound heal? Prior to illness or disease becoming physical, it first has to be manifested at the emotional and spiritual levels. The wisdom of the ages has simplified the human body into regions in a grid form called meridians or chakras: Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Third Eye and Crown.
Each chakra is described as a location, element, emotional manifestation, number, color and note. The state of each chakra reflects the state of our well-being. Sound healing works by reaching the meridian and chakra systems and unblocking stifled energy. Life experiences can lead to an imbalance in our chakra and meridian system. When these systems are not in balance, the effects on the body can be chaotic - they can be felt emotionally or physically. Sound can facilitate the opening and clearing of the alignment of the base 7 chakras: Traditional and non-traditional instruments can be used to unblock, unlock, recharge, and heal the chakras. Since each chakra is designed to react positively to certain frequencies, tones or octaves can be used in our re-tuning.
The human body is made up of 70% water;
this makes it a very good conductor of sound.
Sound can also be used to balance the chakras so that mind body and spirit are in a perfect alignment. Perfect alignment and the allowance of energy flow to all parts of the physical body allows the spiritual or etheric self to always stay connected to the source that sustains us. Yoga, chiropractic care, Reiki, acupuncture, acupressure and hundreds of other metaphysical healing techniques revolve around this same energy. Oftentimes, meditation and alternative methods of healing can be inhibited by the sounds of ones own mind. By using instruments, bowls, forks, gongs, drums or any other vibrational source of sound, the mind can achieve a quiet and stillness that may not be easily achieved otherwise. It aids in the divine focus and steers us towards the knowing of our divine purpose.
Sound Healing Comes of Age
Recent scientific research has identified specific sound frequencies, which relate to different parts of the body. Therapeutic application of the appropriate sound frequencies can help disorders in those parts of the body. If a part of our body is out of balance we can retune it like tuning a piano. If a piano is out of tune, do we drug the offending key or rip out the offending piano wire? Of course not, but this is precisely traditional Western medicine’s approach to treated the ails and ills of the human body. Austrian Philosopher, Rudolph Steiner said, “There will come a time when a diseased condition will not be described as it is today by physicians and psychologists, but it will be spoken of in musical terms, as one would speak of a piano that was out of tune.”
Western medicine is only recently discovering the benefits of using sound as a healing modality. Sound has been used for decades as a discovery process for physicians. The ultrasound and MRI technique is now considered essential to Western medical professionals. Physicians are now recognizing the ability of sound healing to aid in lowering blood pressure, relieve anxiety, modify heart rate, improve immune responses and affect our well being. Dr. Mitchell Gaynor, Oncologist recounted in The Healing Power of Sound, his observation of cancer cells reaction to various acoustic instruments, including the guitar and xylophone. Renown Sound Healer and musician, Fabian Maman was amazed at how quickly the diseased cells became disorganized when he sang musical scales into them. "It appeared that the cancer cells were not able to support a progressive accumulation of vibratory frequencies," Maman reported. "As soon as I introduced the third frequency in the series, the cells began to destabilize. The human voice carries something in its vibration that makes it more powerful than any musical instrument - consciousness."
Even in times when obvious illness is not present, sound can be used to heighten the opening of the chakras. In combinations or alone - and with the use of different instrumental tools - the body, mind and spirit can be transported through levels of the physical realms. Many people experience adrenaline rush or endorphin release after attending shamanic drumming circles. Envision tribal dances with the fire and the sounds and the chanting and imagine the abundant source of energy being created. The mesmerizing effects of sound are restorative and healing at all physical, mental and emotional levels.
Fortunately, the field of Sound Healing continues to grow and develop. An expanding roster of medical professionals and sound healing shamans and practitioners offer a wide variety of modalities, services, techniques and methodologies. The following is an example of the specialized fields covered under the umbrella of Sound Healing. Each system offers and provides a range of restorative benefits for individuals, and many times, can also be available for group sessions:
How Have You Experienced Sound Healing?
