From the moment a mother begins singing to her unborn child, the effects of sound and music are an organic part of well-being on our physical, emotional and mental states going back to a time when man lived in caves. Not only is hearing the first sense we develop in utero, it is the last sense when we pass on in death. Sound is being used to heal today in medical facilities, yoga studios, resort and hotel spas and by professional practitioners around the world. As Edgar Cayve once said, "Sound is the physician of the future."
As we begin to find the earliest recorded research of sound, we discover that Pythagoras of Samos reported to have animals of the forest come out to listen while he played the dulcimer, a stringed instrument dating back to 600 B.C. He is noted for his experiments and research using string vibrations and harmonics. Other notables include Kepplers' "Music of the Spheres", Newlands "Law of Octaves" in Germany, German researchers who played music for the soldiers who were hospital patients in World War II and now in modern day research musicians like Stephen Halpern and Jonathan Goldman lead the way in music we can all enjoy as sound therapy or just listening for pleasure and relaxation.The effects of sound are apparent in our life every day. It can be energizing or sedating, uplifting or bring us to tears. Try to think of the last time you heard music that made you want to jump up and dance! Now we can certainly see how music increases our capacity to learn, be creative and truly to have better balance in our health and well-being both mentally and emotionally.Our greatest vitality indicator, the Voice, is the most powerful form of human expression we know and with each voice there follows a very complex tone that commands that body system through vibration and sound frequencies. This information relates back to the physical and emotional health and balance of the person whose voice it is. "Music is not mere entertainment, but a profound bond between all living things."Historically, researching and recording the sounds of different animals in their natural habitat has given scientists a music process identified as embedded in the deepest part of the brain that we share with all our animal ancestors. All humans and animals react to certain sounds whether it is a scream, a high pitched musical instrument or a Japanese ninja's battle cry. Think of some of your own reactions to different sounds where you live whether it is in a big city, the countryside or by the sea.Everything in the world is comprised of frequency; frequency and vibrations are what energy is made of and all energy is matter. In other words, we are all pure energy!On a medical level sound or music has also been used for thousands of years by ancient Greek philosophers who believed that sound could heal the body and soul and by Native Americans who use singing and chanting even to this day for healing ceremonies. On so many levels now many hospitals are incorporating music and sound into conventional treatment programs as a safe complementary treatment.Sound Therapy, or Cymatics, is the study of sound on physical matter. Sound can directly control blood and lymph fluids as well as the endocrine system and metabolism due to the waves it creates by use of low frequency.One of the oldest books in Chinese culture, the I Ching, Chinese Book of Wisdom states that "music has the power to ease tension within the heart and to lessen and loosen obscure emotions".Healing with sound is gaining in popularity as an effective holistic treatment with a positive effect on the subconscious mind; it can free the mind and emotions of negativity which is a direct cause of health problems.By stimulating the seven glandular systems, the seven notes in the musical scale each have their own vibration which then creates groupings of particles or our separate organs. When the notes are applied through sound therapy, the systems are strengthened and purified, pain is more easily controlled, relaxation and sleep are deeper and the immune system more balanced. The glands including the thymus, thyroid and hypothalamus are particularly stimulated which creates more vitality. It's been said that using the tones to balance the seven major chakras can be traced back to the Egyptian era.
Sound Therapy takes on many forms in how it can be used in our personal lives, our workplace, as a healing tool in the medical world or by going to have a Sound Therapy treatment in a spa or in a class. We find applications that have huge benefits geared to sleep, listening and learning, concentration, creating, acceleration, depression, anxiety, cysts, insomnia, hormonal problems and migraines.One of the greatest developments in Sound Therapy is for children. Dr Tomatis, a Paris ear, nose and throat specialist discovered that listening has vast effects in the development of learning and social abilities and has had great significance in the world of learning difficulties and ADHD. By listening to stories and music the ear is stimulated and more receptive to healing sounds on a higher frequency range, especially when in utero. It's been found to improve overall hearing, learning, reading, writing, communication, and concentration.Sound Healing uses tools including 'Singing Bowls', Tuning Forks, Therapeutic Gongs, Crystal Bowls, Chimes and Sound Tables. Healing with any of these tools lays focus on healing the major chakras as well as the aura. It brings about clarity, dissolves exhaustion and gives back vitality to these areas.Because the Chakras are energy vortexes, they distribute energy throughout the body. It dissolves blockages and allows the energy to flow more freely through the body. When the body is more balanced the brain is able to relax allowing for better response to sleep, pain and the stresses of everyday.� When cells and therefore vibrations change in these centers or in the organs then pathology occurs and that wonderless thing called disease occurs.
One way to experience Sound is through Kinesthetics which affects the neurological and soft tissue systems. As I mentioned before all tissue and cells vibrate at different frequencies. With the pure sustained tones they are finding that cancerous cells are disrupted and cannot maintain their structure on a nuclear level. This finding by Fabien Maman, a French composer and bio-energeticist explored and documented these findings. When this happens your own nervous system initiates and tonifies its own internal healing capabilities.Some of the Benefits of a Sound Healing Session
Another great break in treating depression with Sound Therapy finds that it proves helpful in alleviating the symptoms. By activating neurons in the brain's cortex, music can cause increased activity in certain parts of the brain which helps to strengthen neural pathways. This helps the brain to increase its dopamine and serotonin levels which elevate the mood states and increase feelings of happiness, energy and motivation.
So while some are still convinced that allopathic medicine is the "cure all", we are seeing marked increases in the use of complimentary therapies to detect and treat imbalances manifested in the physical body.� If we start to believe in Sound Therapy, we might realize there is another effective treatment for relaxation of the body and a way to better calm the mind, thereby moving from waking the Beta state into the more meditative and peaceful Alpha and Theta states.
One Sound Therapy treatment is the Gandharva at the Chopra Center for Well-Being in Carlsbad, California. This is a combination of massage, marma therapy (an ayurvedic energy balancing modality) and sound therapy with quartz crystal bowls. The massage relaxes the body and works out the kinks. The marma therapy clears energetic channels. And the sound vibrations from the crystal bowl put you into a very deep, quiet, still space. Treatments of this type are highly recommended when you need good body work in addition to an energetic rebalancing.
I've created Sound Healing while giving Ai-Chi water classes using a Tibetan bowl and my Gong. While the guest is floating in the water (with the assistance of water noodles) I place the struck bowl over the heart area. The sound travels through the Heart Chakra, but also through the water which then vibrates all around the body. I would do the same by putting the bowl over the Third Eye Chakra and the Crown Chakra. This with the use of Aromatherapy would put the guest into a 'before I was born' feeling in the water. When all the guests were in this state of vibration it created a collective healing that was pretty profound.
Teaching Yoga classes with the Gong and creating Gong meditations are also favorites of mine. The Gong is usually played at the end of the class, but can be done within the class to release emotions or as a meditation facilitator. The tones are the loudest you will ever experience. I once shut down an electric guitar that had interrupted my sleep... Look for a Kundalini Yoga studio if you'd like to experience a Gong meditation.
Another Sound Therapy treatment is now available at the Auriga Spa at Capella-Pedregal Los Cabos . I've just returned from training others on this treatment I created for Sylvia Sepielli's great new project in Mexico. Extremely ground breaking and tapping into my passion for music, this treatment is going to transform not only the guests at the resort, but the spa professionals facilitating it. While training the diverse treatment, every therapist experienced something physical, emotional or mental in the days during the training. I saw the power of Sound Healing, and like Reiki, I think as the sound travels through the therapist during touch, it also will heal them as healers with each therapy they give. The Therapy combines the use of T-Chimes with Acupressure, forearm massage and the therapists own unique techniques along with the Aromatherapy of Osea Skincare Products and the Spas own Indigenous herbal oil.Whatever Sound Healing preference you choose, there are also videos and music CD's you can purchase to enjoy sound therapy in your own home. They can help you center, get a good night sleep, meditate or just plain feel good. I welcome hearing about your Sound Healing experiences and if you too feel it is the medicine of the future. Be inspired
