Sound Healing Therapy is a Modality or Practice that encompasses the use of a variety of Instruments which carry different sounds/notes, vibratory frequencies that heal by entangling your system to the harmonious vibrations. One’s body system easily opens up to sound healing because the human body naturally seeks harmony in the form of love, calm and many others alike. The human body, when it exists in its natural state of being, can experience deep healing in its truest form. Research shows that 90% of doctor visits are associated with stress. Stress is a symptom of disharmony in the body. In order to reduce stress, the human body needs an environment that is exposed to, or is in harmony. During sound healing, all the needed elements to create this environment is present and as such offers a channel for healing. It is no wonder, then that when in a state of good health, the expression is, “I am in sound health”.
Using a metaphor of an orchestra, your body experiences disharmony, just as an orchestra would sound mistuned if the second violin player loses their sheet music. It will first start with the violine playing out of tune, then continues with the entire string section in disharmony, and pretty soon the entire orchestra would be sounding off. This would be similar to a part of the body vibrating out of its natural harmony, its natural healthy resonance and its fundamental vibrations. When this happens, we see the body to be vibrating out of ease and out of harmony. We call it dis- ease. The basic idea of using sound as a healing modality is simply, what if we could restore through the string player who lost their sheet music? What if we could give them back the sheet music? What if we could somehow restore that part of our body that was vibrating out of ease or harmony?
In successfully executing sound healing session, it is all about the “set and the setting”. In sound healing, the environment has a crucial role to play. The set is firmly prepared when both the Therapist is fully present to hold a client in that space and the client is open minded, receptive and willing and ready to heal. The setting is what I am referring to as the environment. The environment has to feel and resemble an open and safe place that embodies a sense of calm healing energy.
Much like any other practice, sound therapy alone does not heal. It is a combination of the Sound, Vibration, Intention of both the therapist and that of the client that cumulatively creates the pathway for the client to heal from within.
Sound Healing therapy has a lot of benefits a few of them include:
• Deep Relaxation
• Helps clear energetic blockages
• Supports mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing
• Improves sleep
• Lowers blood pressure
• Relieves Muscle Tension
• Supports one’s deep connection to themselves
• Helps reduce anxiety
As many as the benefits of sound healing are, there are various forms of sound healing. Some of them include:
• Vocal Toning: the practice of making vowel sounds for an extended period of time for therapeutic or meditative purposes. Self-created sounds have been shown to increase our oxygen level, lymphatic circulation, melatonin, pain reliever hormones, nitric oxide which releases oxytocin, and decreases blood pressure. That’s why many cultures throughout history – from the ancient Egyptians and Greeks to indigenous tribes – have a form of vocal toning.
• Binaural Beats: Experienced via earphones, binaural beats can be used for a variety of purposes such as meditation, lowering stress levels and anxiety, increasing focus, relieving pain and aches, improving sleep, and overcoming depression. How does it work? If you listen to a tone of 200 Hz in your left ear and a tone of 205 Hz in your right ear, your brain will automatically perceive an illusory tone and produce a new frequency of 5 Hz (205 – 200 = 5 Hz). This third tone is called a binaural beat.
• Mbira: In Zimbabwe, the Mbira (Dzavadzimu- “Voice of the ancestors”) was and is still used today to initiate a healing ceremony. For as long as our ancestors had used their voices and instruments of sound for prayers and sacred rites, we as a global community have used sound to heal. Culturally the tools are different based on locations across the world and traditions of that time, however the underlying principle of the purpose/intention is the SAME.
Though there are no proven side effects, there are contra-indications on how to apply various techniques. For example, If a client has an implanted pacemaker, then a direct application of a singing bowl on the chest area should be avoided so as not to create a conflict between the vibration of the bowl and the pacemaker. To mitigate this, the sounds can be played around the client.
Sound therapy integrates various types of instruments such as: Tibetan Singing Bowls, Crystal Singing Bowls, Chimes, Tuning Forks, Drums, Harp, Monochord, Acoustic Guitar, Gongs, Flutes, Didgeridoo, Rain Sticks, Ocean Drums and so much more. I have been practicing sound healing for three years, and I have realized that sound healing can be effectively practiced at home. Just by listening to sounds of the ocean, nature, vocal toning, or even listening to recorded sound healing therapy via an online streaming platform such as YouTube. YouTube has many beautiful playlists at one’s disposal for a sound healing session. If you are one to have music instruments available at home, playing it for yourself, will allow you to reap benefits of the therapy.
“Newtonian Physics is what our conventional medicine is based on. Allopathic medicine has an emphasis on the mechanical/physical realm as opposed to the invisible. This is why at times the practices surrounding energy healing modalities like Sound Healing may be perceived as mythical. In 1925, the Quantum Theory was discovered, and this instills the fact that Quantum physics is a much bigger science of which Newtonian Physics is a smaller
compartment of”
– Dr. Bruce Lipton.
According to Dr. Bruce Lipton, “vibration is more efficient by 100% in carrying a signal through the body vs. a Chemical. We are composed of energy and Energy communicates with Energy and therefore moves faster.” This very notion is supported by the Quantum Theory and to connect the dots, this is one of the reasons that Sound Healing is effective.
While there are many types of sound healing, each one offers a host of benefits that can improve your wellbeing, energy levels, and performance at work. Just like anything else in life- there is not one path for everybody. Have you tried sound healing before? You could test it out and discover how much harmony you can restore to your body and your every-day routine, and work!
Written By:
Michelle Saudan
Transformational Life Coach, Dubai
