What is sound healing?

Sound is the audible form of vibration that travels through air, water, glass, metal & everything there is.

Sound healing is where sound is used for the purpose of bringing balance & harmony to a person’s body & mind. We are applying sound for psychological well-being, mood enhancement & optimal physical health. Sound healing is not new, sound has been used for thousands of years by many cultures for the purpose of healing & to transform consciousness.

We can listen to the right sound or recorded music for the purpose of healing. We can use many different instruments such as gongs, singing bowls, crystal bowls, tuning forks, drums, didgeridoos & one of the most powerful instruments there is: the human voice.  One can sing over someone’s body with a loving intention to resonate transformational sound through the body. Chanting & overtone singing are very powerful methods.

How does sound healing work? 

Everything in the universe is vibrating energy, according to the law of physics, everything vibrates: the table you are sitting at, the food you eat, the rocks and everything in nature. We are also vibrating energy forms, vibrating at different frequencies. The Hindus have a saying, "Nada Brahma", which means, all is sound, or all of creation is sound. The human body consist of around 67% water which is an excellent conductor of sound.

Human beings are multitude of frequencies from the molecular level up to the bio-energetic field that surrounds the physical body. Every organ & cell in the body has its own resonant frequency. Emotional or physical stress can cause a frequency change & body parts, the cells begin to vibrate differently from they once did. Illness is an out of tune behaviour of the body.

 If there is an imbalance in the body a blockage where the energy is stuck, harmonious sound will stimulate the body cells to vibrate in sympathy & literally tune them up. This is the principle of entrainment that was observed by Christian Huygens scientist in 1665: The more powerful rhythmic vibrations from one source would cause the less powerful vibrations of another source to lock into of the first source and begin to pulsate at the same rate. If the a harmonious sound played next to a person who is out of balance, not well, their body will lock into the powerful healing sound. This principal of “sympathetic resonance” that sound healing is based on: one vibrating object makes another to match its rate of vibration, it causes it to vibrate in harmony with it.

 Biophysicist Gerald Oster showed that when a tone is played in one ear and a slightly different tone is played in the other ear, the difference causes the brain to create a third, internal tone, called a binaural beat. The theory is that this syncs the brain waves in both hemispheres.

When listening to slow tempo music it will slow our breathing & heartbeat as they will match the rhythm of the music. Certain music will calm our nervous system whereas other music can cause great distress. Repetitive drumming slows down our brain rhythms helping to experience trance like states. Shamanic journey drumming is drumming for the purpose of inducing a range of ecstatic trance states in order to connect with the spiritual dimension of reality. In this altered state healing occurs through tapping into higher wisdom & emotional pain release.

All actions we take have a conscious or unconscious intention behind them. In sound healing we surrender to the divine will, to become an instrument / a channel to bring a change to another’s life if that serves their higher good. We have to let go of ideas what the change should be or the idea of wanting to heal someone of something. The Universe has its divine order so we can not force healing when one is not ready to receive. It is necessary to state at the beginning that we wish to be a channel to bring changes for the person’s highest good. By surrendering to the highest good, we ourselves become that conduit for whatever the person needs most at that time, peace, healing, a change, or growth.

The more we are able to be a clear channel with pure intention, the greater our acts can manifest. The Sound Healing process opens and closes with a prayer acknowledging that we are working with Source. We are asking to be a clear channel, like St Francis say in his prayer: “Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.” Saying thanks and being grateful is also a powerful process for shifting energy; we are grateful to be an instrument & we are saying thanks for any healing that has already or not yet happened.

Singing any note will produce harmonics: there is the basic note (the fundamental), but added to that are lots of other little notes that related to the fundamental note through mathematical ratios, they all add up to a sound. Every note that we hear on an instrument is really a combination of several notes or “harmonics. When we use our voices for healing we try to bring in pure, soft vowels, we manipulate the tongue & mouth position to create a good resonating chamber, which emphasises the harmonics of a note. As we sound a fundamental note there are a series of lighter sounds above that note, which are created by harmonically related wavelengths. This is called the harmonic series; all the notes in the harmonic series are related to the fundamental note, and created by exact mathematical ratios.

When we listen to & or sing Gregorian chants, acappela that is rich in harmonics, it changes our brain pattern, we feel more at peace, an inner calm.

When we sing or play 2 different notes we create a musical interval & each interval has a different effect on our mood, emotions & body. Each interval produces a mathematical ratio that can also be found in nature, from the structure of an atom to the orbits of the planets. Looking at the human body the distance between one’s extended to the top of the sacrum relative to the top of the sacrum to the top of the head is 3:2 the same ratio as the interval of a fifth. (C&G) These musical ratios exist throughout the body. Architects used these ratios when they were building cathedrals & ancient sacred buildings. When one single note is played repeatedly or when we chant mantras on one note it quietens the mind whereas the interval between Notes C-D creates tension. The third interval C-E can produce feelings of lightness, strength & joy but C-E flat is used in country music for sadness. The fourth interval between notes C-F has a startling effect like awakening from a dream & it stimulates the left & right brain. The fifth interval notes C-G is extremely relaxing for the body, expands the consciousness “a gateway to heaven”. The sixth interval C-A is very light & used in lullabies. The seventh interval C-B creates an extreme but healthy tension as it provokes a growth in consciousness.

We start the healing or any music with silence & we finish with silence. When the client is lying down & ready there is some time for quietness, just up to a  minute  for the client to settle down to relax into the space & for us to connect to heart to heart & to prepare to be a clear channel & to focus on our intention. James D Angelo writes on silence in his book “The Healing Power of The Human Voice”: “It has been said that the canvas on which music is created is silence; that it emerges from silence & dissolves back to silence. This second silence is far greater than the first because, by the end the music has built up its great archetypal form within the space and in its wholeness it remains suspended for the audience to continue to live in its presence. In some ways this final experience after the music in its aural form concludes is greater than that which preceded it. That is why it is wrong from a spiritual point of view to applaud music. The irregular noise of clapping hands disperses completely the fine energy form that the music has established & which the audience can actually feed upon.” This will be also true for after creating the healing vibrations, the second silence will be far more greater & becomes a form of meditation & letting the sound to finish their work at an energetic level. This is a space for direct experience what the sound has achieved, this is the time to integrate the healing, to go deeper inside in this sacred silence. The mind quietens & the body’s natural healing mechanism is activated. This is also the space to connect with our inner wisdom & to listen to our body. Our body knows exactly why we have an imbalance & the how to heal it, we just never stop to listen. In this space the client has the opportunity to communicate with their body, they may see a picture or have a thought of a solution or memory of a past event they have to let go off.

Sanskrit bija mantras used for sound healing: According to the Vedic tradition, each chakra has a particular sound; these sounds are called the “Bija Mantras”. There are 7 specific Bija Mantras that vibrationally align our energy centres (chakras) through sound energy.

These “Bija Mantras” are used as tools for the expansion and widening of one’s mind by utilizing the power of sound vibrations. “Mantra” is a Sanskrit word made up of two syllables: “man” (mind) and “tra” (liberate). In its most literal translation the word “Mantra” means “to liberate one’s mind”. In Sanskrit a “seed” is called “Bija.” The word “Mantra” when translated by virtue of its practical use relates to a sound that can “create transformation.” 

There are different ways of using these mantras, all could be sand on the same note or starting on the most comfortable lowest note for the base chakra & then use the scale upwards, but there is no right sound for each chakra, intention & to sing the notes that are most comfortable for the healer is the most important.

LAM: the base chakra, connecting to Earth

VAM: Sacral Chakra connecting to water

RAM: Solar Plexus connecting to fire

YAM: Heart Chakra connecting to air

HAM: Throat Chakra

AUM: The Third Eye Chakra

AUM: The Crown Chakra

Almost all ancient cultures believe that sound AUM is the creative force that brought the Universe into being.

What makes sound healing such an effective therapy?

If you just think about how a nice melody, calm music makes you feel & can take off your mind from stress opposed to clanking, screechy noise that violates your energy leaving you feeling being disturbed we can understand that sound can cause damage as well as can heal. Sonic and ultrasonic weapons (USW) are weapons of various types that use sound to injure, incapacitate, or kill an opponent. We are very receptive to receive sounds in a positive way as long as it is given with a loving intention.

According to ancient Indian texts as well as the latest works in quantum physics, the whole universe was created through cosmic sound energy which was then followed by heat and light energy and eventually life forms. So sound vibrations are intimately connected to our “prana” or “life energy”.

To demonstrate what a vibrational sound does to water I place water in a singing bowl & then I strike the bowl, a beautiful pattern a mandala will appear. Sound healing is a very effective way to heal & rejuvenate ourselves as every cell in our body is mainly composed of water which makes them excellent sound resonators & just by seeing how the sound created the mandala in the water you can see how it will do the same in your body, reorganising, balancing, restructuring rebuilding us, creating little mandalas in our body if you like.

We are vibrational energy, sound is too, we are sound. This experience of being sound has been reported back many times from clients after the treatment. “The sound was everywhere, I could feel the vibrations through my body, I felt the sound then I became sound myself. I was totally lost in sound, I was one with the Universe”

I have first experienced a natural high from sound when I first did a heart sound meditation back in 2004 on my Drama, Dance & Voice Therapy course & also when I attended an overtone singing weekend workshop in London quite a few years back. Now I have learned that is because harmonics directly resonate areas inside the brain that releases endorphins. I have also learnt on my laughter yoga leader & teacher course that it has been proved when certain amount of endorphins being released into the body it will also start a healing process in the body. I don’t know what is the exact amount but apparently you can release enough endorphins for this healing process to start just by laughing for 15 minutes. Even if you just laugh for 30 seconds you can start to feel the benefits straight away, you will feel how it elevates your mood even if it is a fake laugher as the sound is associated with happiness therefore the body will release endorphins as well the sound gives you an inner massage. Another great tool we used on the laughter yoga apart from breathing & laughing,  is humming. I always tell my clients when they go home & feeling down to give themselves an inner sound massage by humming for 5-10 minutes, it is free & it works wonders. I like giving them a little exercise to take home, tapping on the thymus or different points on the body while saying some positive affirmations: “Every day in every way I am better & better” “I love an accept myself”

Anything can happen in a sound healing session; the client could see vibrant colours, could go on an emotional journey, shake, cough, cry or burst out laughing, brig back past life memories. Some would come back revitalised & feeling energetic, but most would feel tired straight after & they would need the night to rest & fully integrate the sound. Nearly everyone even those with insomnia reported back that they would sleep very well that night & wake up happier & more energetic than usual. One of the feedbacks from Penny was: “Thank you so much for the healing last night Anetta. I really feel that it had an impact on me. Recently I have been feeling a bit anxious and sad and not able to relax fully but last night and this morning I have been laughing and giggling and feeling much more my silly relaxed self. Thank you. The sound vibration seems to have retuned me! Thank you for your loving intention and your time and care.”

What also makes sound healing effective that you don’t have to believe in it, it just simply works. When I just show the tools before a session or if someone visits & asks what is all that stuff as soon as I sound the C & G tuning forks together or a singing bowl & I wave them around the head nearly everyone gives out a sound like they were taken to heaven. They take up a more relaxed posture & they don’t want it to stop. This heavenly sound that is vibrated through the instruments is an instant calm for the chatty mind. The low frequencies slow the brain down & we are able to relax straight away. When used together the C&G tuning forks create the 2:3 ratio. According to ancient Chinese philosophy this ratio balances Yin and Yang, Earth and Heaven. Listening to the C&G tuning forks creates a feeling of deep relaxation “a gateway to heaven”.

Listening to intervals, my personal experience: it felt like I went on a journey of all emotions from feeling discorded, depressed, sad, lost to heavenly, at piece, a victorious leader, felt connected to the Universe – I felt like I was taken apart & put back together again, restructured, reengineered for the better. The journey didn’t feel easy but at the end felt it was much needed healing has taken place & now I am wiser for it.  I didn’t think this would happen as with the first go I mostly just felt irritated after the second  interval so I wasn’t sure why we had to listen to it if it makes us feel discorded & felt nothing else & fell asleep in the end. Only when I started to read about it-I found out that this is what the second one supposed to do, listening to it sitting up & writing up the experience straight away really helped. Listening to the intervals obviously has worked on me because now I have a lot more energy than before. I was drained & I didn’t want to do the exercise. Now I feel excited & inspired.

The intervals are healing as some of the unpleasant combinations will bring up unsolved problems to the surface which can be resolved by the following intervals.

The intervals seemed to represent all there is. I am sound. The world is sound, everything is sound & musical intervals, in the musical intervals there is everything that is in the world. It brings up so many strong emotions & takes you on an unexpected healing journey.

I have also worked with my gong & when an intention was set to feel more part of a group, it has really worked his way by first brining some issues up to the surface, so bad that I could not even felt I was part of my family (my partner & daughter) I couldn’t even walk into the room. It was very painful, it felt like this would never heal just wanted to cry but I gonged on it again in the end & after 10 minutes I started to laugh & giggle & not even understand what the problem was anymore. Another time a few years back I was really angry every day I worked myself up to a real frenzy about the clock change, how we lose an hour of light because they stupidly change the clock, if anything, they should change it the other way around! I let myself to be really upset & I fallen into depression. I knew I should use the gongs but I guess I enjoyed my misery on some level. In the end after 5 days it got so bad that I couldn’t bear it anymore, so I started to gong on this clock change issue. After 20 minutes I felt into a deep relaxing space where I myself disappeared than I could hardly remember why this was an issue, I again started to giggle & I now not at all affected by the changing the clocks issue anymore. I laugh now when I remember how upset I was. It truly feels like sound could heal most pain & imbalance and I am not sure why I don’t use it for more issues. I guess I will when it feels right.

Sound healing is effective because everything is sound, sound is everything the Universe is sound. It is a drug free treatment that can take you as far as you willing to go.

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