Today is “World Sound Healing Day,” I honor all those so moved to chant, tone or strike a bell to help create a positive shift in our planet. I honor the healers as they serve those ready to make transformative movement in their lives. I honor Mother Gaia, as she receives and transmutes the release of all old pain and memories, serving as the ultimate vessel for all healing and restoration.
As a sound practitioner, I work with individuals seeking calming from stress, illness and the management of pain. Sound is now being used in many therapeutic arenas from hospitals to addiction treatment centers. Gongs and Tibetan singing bowls provide an opportunity for the mental chatter to be silenced and bodily holdings to be released. As the bowls are played and the session deepens, I see the moment when the client gives silent permission for their body to drop deeper into the rhythmic waves of sound quickly creating a meditative state where deep relaxation ensues.
So, how does this all work? Well, sound is all around us - it is the drone of traffic from the city streets, a loud screeching wail from a siren or the echoes of church bells in the wind. It may lull us to sleep, rev up our reactions or provide an opportunity for a transformative experience. Sound influences our emotional states and physiology. Our bodies were designed to function in a state of homeostasis. Adverse experiences, stress, trauma and disease can change the integral functioning of our nervous systems and behavioral responses. This change shifts our unique state of balance. Sound therapy can help restore regulatory function aiding in the return to a more natural harmonious physiologic state. In his book, The Healing Power of Sound: Recovery from Life-Threatening Illness Using Sound, Voice and Music (Shambhala, 1999) Michael Gaynor, MD states “I believe that sound can play a role in virtually any medical disorder, since it redresses imbalances on every level of physiologic functioning.”
Sound therapy provides an opportunity for Alpha and Theta brainwave frequencies to be activated and optimized during a healing session. These waves facilitate deep levels of relaxation allowing the body to rejuvenate and optimize immune system functioning. The chakra system can be rebalanced as the vibrations of the bowls breaks up stagnant energy, retuning each energy center to its ideal vibratory rate. When singing bowls and gongs are played, they create a harmonic healing resonance. These unique energies flow into our body with the purpose of restoring balance and harmony. As the higher sound vibrations of the instruments entrain the lower vibratory rates within the body energy centers, organs can become balanced. The vibrations from the Tibetan Tones® Singing Bowls foster a deep sense of relaxation and well-being. The harmonics enhance the resting state and feelings of calmness and peace arise. We must remember, our bodies are a composite of over a trillion cells. These cells carry memories from conception, childhood and current life patterns. Memories from past generational family issues can be stored at the cellular level, as well as, the emotional level. The vibrations of the bowls affect every cell, offering the possibility for release and the cellular remembrance of optimum health.
At the end of a session my clients have reported feeling the vibrations travel across their skin, down their spinal column, and out their feet. Some have experienced better sleep and less chronic pain. Others have identified feeling an overall sense of wellness and peace as they go about their day. What I have learned is sound speaks to our body orchestrating a symphony of healing possibilities as it harnesses the power of creation, science and a little bit of magic.
Peace + Light,
Valerie