Sound Healing for Self Healing
Have you noticed how music affects the ambiance around us? What happens when you turn on your favorite song? Do you feel a shift in your entire being? Does your mood change? Music is just one example of how sound can be healing— you’d be amazed at how many more there are…
Frequency is sound. Vibrations are sound. The humans can only hear a certain spectrum, but other animals, like dolphins and dogs, are able to hear beyond our acoustic range. Animals and humans communicate via vibrations. Ever notice how someone’s voice alone can be soothing?
If we look back to the time when we inhabited our mothers’ wombs, our mothers’ voices created vibrations that nurtured our development within these fluid filled chambers.
Sound is healing— this is not a novel concept.
Drumming, musical instruments, singing bowls, and gongs have been around since the early days of mankind. Sound that filled the spaces of ceremonies and celebrations provided therapy for all those in attendance. Chanting has been known by many cultures to be therapeutic.
Sound is energy. Music and lyrics are also energy. Think about how affected you become by rock music compared to rap music compared to classical music. One of the most interesting studies done by Dr. Emoto was the affect of music on the crystallization of water. Heavy metal music created less aesthetically pleasing crystallization, while classical music resulted in symmetrical, bright crystals. These results may make us think twice about our musical selection.
In the middle of writing this blog I decided to play some Sanskrit music, which I learned is a healing language during my yoga training. Sanskrit has withstood the test of time. Regardless if a study exists “proving” the subjective benefits I feel, as a doctor, I wouldn’t advise my patients to stop doing something that made them feel good because scientists have yet to study it in detail. If a therapy has been around for quite some time with no obvious side effects and has resulted in healing for a group of people (as seen with some nutritional supplements from foreign lands), I am willing to give it a try and recommend it where I see fit.
Music therapy has been widely studied in the literature and has shown promising results for anxiety and pain reduction, recovery from brain injury, and creating a healing environment.
Recently a friend gifted me a love tuner (lovetuner.com), a whistle that emits 528Hz. This “love” frequency is the same frequency as green light— the heart of a rainbow and also the color of the heart chakra (one of the energy centers in the body according to yogic texts). There has been much hype around this frequency and its healing abilities. Although scientific articles have yet to be published, anecdotal reports say it may be able to repair DNA, clean waters, and more. I use it when I work with clients and it’s been interesting to hear the range of experiences from seeing colors to tactile sensations in the body to simply feeling at peace.
Western Medicine has been using frequency to heal as well
— in the form of shock wave therapy. Studies have shown that it affects us down to the cellular level by turning on gene expression that promotes wound healing. Wave therapy has been highly successful in the medical treatment for the treatment of tendonitis, fasciitis, skin repair, stress fractures, and more.
Sound bathing
is the latest craze in the healing community. I must say the first time laying on the ground, allowing gongs, bells, and singing bowls to flood my senses, was truly a profound experience. Every time vibrations from any one of these instruments wash over me, even in small doses, every single one of my hairs stand on end. From gongs to singing bowls there is definitely a physiologic effect happening, not to mention the peace and calm I feel afterwards.
I did manage to find one study in the medical literature looking at the physiologic effects of singing bowls. Interestingly, they cause a significant decrease in blood pressure and heart rate. These are measureable signs of decreased stress.
Experimentation and studies around the benefits of sound and vibrations will continue and I truly believe it will become a more widely used form of alternative therapy, as well as a modality to enhance our being.