SOUND HEALING
Healing with sound dates back as far as ancient Greece. Apollo was the god of music and medicine. Aesculapius cured mental disorders with songs. The philosophers Plato and Aristotle claimed that music affected the soul and the emotions. Hippocrates played music for his patients, too. In Ancient Egypt, music therapy was a staple in temples. In biblical times, instruments were used to vanquish evil spirits from human souls. Native American culture uses song and dance to heal the sick.
Music therapy, or sound healing, has medical basis in both neurology and psychology. Sound healing is the process in which a practitioner uses music — including the emotional, psychological, spiritual, physical, social, mental, and superficial — to improve the health of their patient. Sound healing therapy improves many facets of the patient’s life, including emotional and social development, cognitive and motor functioning, and psychological and psychiatric health.
Almost everything we experience in the universe is simply our perception of waves. When sound waves reach our ears, they are converted into electrical signals that travel up the auditory nerve into the auditory cortex, the part of the brain that processes sound. Once sound waves reach our brains, they trigger responses in our bodies. This process alters our emotions, releases hormones, and triggers certain impulses.
Although research on how music changes our brains is lacking, there is evidence to suggest that musicians have different brains than those who are not musically inclined. Research has shown that the brains of musicians are more symmetrical. And that the parts of the brain responsible for motor and cognitive functioning, coordination, and reasoning, are significantly larger.
In neurological studies, it has been proven that listening to music makes us more productive and creative. It can relieve stress and improves our moods. This is because listening to music floods our brains with dopamine. It also releases oxytocin, a natural painkiller, and hormone that allows us to bond with others. In fact, oxytocin is most commonly found in mothers during labor.
Music also helps language development and improves communication. It improves our memory too, warding off brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s. Music is powerful. It can change our brains, and so it changes our bodies. Since sounds come at different frequencies and we too emit our own waves, healing with sound happens by matching frequencies to those that are conducive to healing and relaxation.
A study in the 1970s proposed that when one tone is played to one ear, and a different tone is played to the other, the two hemispheres of the brain connect and create a third (internal) tone called a binaural beat. Binaural beats synchronize the brain, providing clarity, alertness, and greater concentration. It’s solid evidence that our brains and bodies respond to sound in both a cognitive and physical way.
Sounds and songs also elicit memories retrieval, and this can be used to help patients who are traumatized or depressed. There are a number of methods, instruments, and techniques for using sound therapy.
SINGING BOWL THERAPY
Dating back as far as the 12th century, singing bowls have been used throughout Asia for meditation, ritual, and ceremonial purposes. The sound produced by these metallic bowls is quite similar to a gong or a bell.
Used in sound healing therapy, singing bowls are believed to calm and repair the mind as well as reduce stress and anxiety, lower blood pressure, improve breathing and circulation, alleviate aches and pains, strengthen the immune system, and improve the mood of the patient.
Many proponents claim that the vibrations of a singing bowl can produce beneficial changes in the body by reducing stress, “harmonizing” the cells, and “balancing the body’s energy system.” Some also claim that Tibetan singing bowls can stimulate the immune system and produce beneficial changes in brain waves.
GONG BATH THERAPY
The gong alleviates physical, emotional, and spiritual pain. And the earliest record of the gong’s existence dates back to 4.000 B.C.. Gongs are an important instrument in sound healing. They’re used in meditation, yoga, and chakra balancing.
Everything in the whole universe is vibrating all the time – even things that appear still, and even the cells of our bodies. Sound healing works by using the frequencies of vibrations that heal. Gongs, for instance, vibrate at the same frequency, or ‘resonance’, as the body’s cells. This puts the body in the best state to heal itself. As we are made up of up to 80% water, our bodies are brilliant conductors of sound.
When you experience a gong bath, your brain waves change from a Beta (waking state) to Theta & Delta (deep meditation state). These brain frequencies bring out the resources – like intuition and clarity of mind – that we need to switch from depression to a more uplifted state. The vibrations of the singing bowls in a sound bath also affect your sympathetic nervous system, causing deep relaxation. At the same time, your brain, heart and respiratory rates all slow down, along with the pain reflex.
MANTRA SINGING
Let’s not forget that the voice is an instrument and that if you are using your voice in your meditations. Meditation has many health, neurological, and psychological benefits. Chanting as you meditate, or saying certain mantras or prayers, improves sleep, lowers blood pressure, improves our mood, breathing and circulation, calms the mind, and reduces stress.
A mantra is a sacred chant. It’s a word or phrase with spiritual power that’s spoken or sung repeatedly during meditation. Mantras come from an ancient tradition of uttering sacred words with a specific intention to help us shine a light on aspects of ourselves we wish to heal or to understand in a deeper way. Repeating a mantra can help us build a connection to our higher nature as well as calm our minds. Through the practice of singing mantras we experience the unity of being, and life takes on a deeper meaning. It’s in this space of deeper connection that anxiety can be healed.
We all go through phases of anxiousness. Our minds can sometimes be clouded with worries and fears and it can be hard to overcome them. That’s when singing mantras can be deeply healing for us. Through becoming aware of the sensations in our body when we vocalise them, singing mantras helps us calm our busy minds, bringing us back into alignment with ourselves and the present moment. In this way singing mantras provides a beautiful opportunity to develop mindfulness and also strengthens our connection to ourselves and the world around us.