About Sound for Healing
|
Sound is everything that moves or vibrates, though much of it is not audible to our ear. As long as it is vibrating, it is making some kind of sound. All your body’s cells, organs and glands, even the individual molecules are vibrating and making some form of sound. There are scientists right now defining the kind of sound that emits from healthy vs. diseased cells, and using that as a way to bring about healing with sound. Our own Earth, as well as other planets, stars and galaxies emit sound too. In 2012 NASA released a recording made of the Earth's 'song'---radio waves emitted from our Earth translated into acoustic frequencies, called the 'Chorus' emissions, it's beautiful!
|
Sound can be used in all forms for healing: all musical instruments, tuning forks, quartz crystal bowls, and our voice, just to name a few. Music is widely used for our ‘healing’ or inspiration---we can quickly shift gears emotionally when we listen to a piece of music we like or dislike, and sometimes are brought instantly to an entirely new way of feeling or seeing with music that is especially deep for us. Knowing how powerful music and sound can be, we can add this to the many tools we have for self-care, and offer ourselves, or others, some form of sound healing when needed. Our western science is finally catching up to the many spiritual traditions that have used sound for thousands of years to clear and revitalize our subtle energy and physical bodies for greater health and expanded awareness.
Probably the most powerful form of sound we have is our own voice. Feeling free to speak, sing, and make sound can itself be a big step for a lot of people! What comes up for you when you consider singing out loud? What about making a harsh sound you think someone else may not like? Sound offered for healing is not always 'pretty' or lyrical, it can be guttural, raucous, or dissonant, but when guided by healing intention is just what is needed. Learning to offer sound with your own voice---privately at first, or with the encouragement of a trusted other---can be a truly liberating experience that ripples through your other choices of self- expression. When we offer our voice with the intention to heal, to uplift, or to commune with our own (or someone or something else's) Essence, we bring the multi-dimensional expression of ourselves through the sound that follows. Many spiritual traditions understand and have developed specific vowel sounds or mantras for this purpose. The subtle bodies surrounding our physical bodies are especially activated and cleared by vocal toning (e.g., the mantra Om). I encourage you to explore the power of your own voice!
Recommended Reading:
The Healing Power of Sound from Life-Threatening Illness Using Sound, Voice and Music by Mitchell L. Gaynor, MD. Shambhala Books, 2002.
Tibetan Sound Healing: Seven Guided Practices to Clear Obstacles, Cultivate Positive Qualities, and Uncover Your Inherent Wisdom.
by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Sounds True, 2011
AUM The Melody of Love by Joseph Bharat Cornell, Crystal Clarity Publishers, 2013.
Shifting Frequencies: Sounds for Vibratory Activation by Jonathan Goldman
The Power of Sound: How to be Healthy and Productive Using Music and Sound. By Joshua Leeds, Healing Arts Press, 2010.
Mandala of the Enlightened Feminine: Awaken the Wisdom of the Five Dakinis. By Lama Tsultrim Allione, Sounds True, 2003.
Cymatics By Hans Jenny Macromedia, 2001.
The Mystical Chakra Mantras by Harrison Graves, MD. Novus Energia, Inc. 2017
On the Earth's 'song' recorded from space by NASA: https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/28sep_earthsong
On the role of music in facilitating memory in dementia patients: https://musicandmemory.org/
Probably the most powerful form of sound we have is our own voice. Feeling free to speak, sing, and make sound can itself be a big step for a lot of people! What comes up for you when you consider singing out loud? What about making a harsh sound you think someone else may not like? Sound offered for healing is not always 'pretty' or lyrical, it can be guttural, raucous, or dissonant, but when guided by healing intention is just what is needed. Learning to offer sound with your own voice---privately at first, or with the encouragement of a trusted other---can be a truly liberating experience that ripples through your other choices of self- expression. When we offer our voice with the intention to heal, to uplift, or to commune with our own (or someone or something else's) Essence, we bring the multi-dimensional expression of ourselves through the sound that follows. Many spiritual traditions understand and have developed specific vowel sounds or mantras for this purpose. The subtle bodies surrounding our physical bodies are especially activated and cleared by vocal toning (e.g., the mantra Om). I encourage you to explore the power of your own voice!
Recommended Reading:
The Healing Power of Sound from Life-Threatening Illness Using Sound, Voice and Music by Mitchell L. Gaynor, MD. Shambhala Books, 2002.
Tibetan Sound Healing: Seven Guided Practices to Clear Obstacles, Cultivate Positive Qualities, and Uncover Your Inherent Wisdom.
by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Sounds True, 2011
AUM The Melody of Love by Joseph Bharat Cornell, Crystal Clarity Publishers, 2013.
Shifting Frequencies: Sounds for Vibratory Activation by Jonathan Goldman
The Power of Sound: How to be Healthy and Productive Using Music and Sound. By Joshua Leeds, Healing Arts Press, 2010.
Mandala of the Enlightened Feminine: Awaken the Wisdom of the Five Dakinis. By Lama Tsultrim Allione, Sounds True, 2003.
Cymatics By Hans Jenny Macromedia, 2001.
The Mystical Chakra Mantras by Harrison Graves, MD. Novus Energia, Inc. 2017
On the Earth's 'song' recorded from space by NASA: https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/28sep_earthsong
On the role of music in facilitating memory in dementia patients: https://musicandmemory.org/
|
Here is a slide presentation I presented for a workshop on Sound at the Annual Meeting for the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education in Amherst, MA. (October 5-7. 2018):
|
|