What is Sound Therapy, and why do I care?
Different types of sound therapy:
The more I learn, the more I find there is to learn.
There are so many types of sound therapy. Some resonate with me and some don’t. Some focus on particular frequencies and chakras, some on music that make us happy, ancient instruments, and some just on the effect vibration and sound has on us in a general way.
I’m going to touch on a few that I love and that I have found great success with both in myself and with clients!
Gong Resonance Therapy
Often in the form of or called; a Gong Bath, a Gong Wash, Gong Meditation, or a Sound Bath if other instruments are used in conjunction with the gong.
I’ve attended many Sound Baths. Some have been amazing experiences. I’ve felt like I was floating, seen amazing colors, have retrieved forgotten memories, and had many inspirational ideas. Others have sounded like noise or someone beating on a gong until my ears bled. So buyer beware.
For the most, part the experiences are in a group setting where you can lie down on a mat and relax into the sound of the gong. The compression wave from a larger gong can travel over 30 feet before it begins to dissipate, so the wave will go straight through you down to your bones.
When I play for others I usually play a set of “songs” that relate to different elements such as wind, water, earth, fire, and ether. It can feel loud at times because of the compression waves and how full the sound is, but I keep the sounds at a safe decibel range for the human ear. As much healing happens in the silence between the sound as happens during the sound of the instruments. The person playing and the instruments do not heal you but facilitates a safe and relaxed space for you to heal yourself.
Sound Massage
Peter Hess Sound Massage, Singing Bowl Massage, and Singing Bowl Therapy
There are many myths out there about singing bowls and the way they have been used in the past. The short end of it is, the traditional bowl that is identified as a Tibetan Singing Bowl is not from Tibet. Second was originally used to eat food out of. It was in the 70s and 80s that this style of bowl was used for sound therapy. There was a bowl called the rin gong that was used in Japan in temples. What we think of being the traditional metal bowls are made in Nepal or India and are still made in the traditional way these metal bowls have been made for centuries. Crystal bowls are actually a result of the power industry and were originally made to fit over conductors.
Sound therapy using these bowls is a new technique but still highly effective. The bowls are essentially bronze made from 80% copper and 20 % tin the same mixture used for bells and some gongs.
Peter Hess Sound Massage:
Sound massage is based on ancient knowledge concerning the effect of sound that was applied in Indian healing therapy as long as more than 5000 years ago. According to Eastern ideas, man was created out of sound, therefor he is sound. If a human being is "in tune" with himself and his environment, then he is able to arrange her/his life freely and creatively. Since the early 1980s, the German engineering graduate (FH) in Physical Technology Peter Hess, born 1941, has been studying radiesthesia intensively. He did a series of investigations on places of force in Wales and Nepal. Since 1984 he has been looking more and more into the effect that sound has on people. Based on his manifold experience with sound, particularly in Nepal and Tibet, he started to work with singing bowls in that year. Investigations and experiments on the effect of traditional music on the human mind and body form the basis for sound massage. In the course of many years of practice, Peter Hess has adapted this knowledge to people in Western cultures. The result of this work is the Peter Hess-Sound Massage.
The most important effects of Sound Massage:
Fast achievement of deep relaxation, since the sounds appeal to a person’s original trust.
Gentle massage and harmonization of each individual body cell through sound.
Relief of tensions and blockages in the body.
The client experiences the body to be pleasantly light and vibrating freely.
Reinforcement of self-healing forces.
Positive influence on self-confidence, creativity and productive energy.
Attainment of renewed joie de vivre.
Letting go of old patterns - a new order can evolve.
Other therapies using the singing bowl are: using it around the body (essentially using the bowls to practice energy work), guided meditation using singing bowl, and crystal bowl meditation and music.
Most of these modalities seem to work well but lack research backing them. The sound massage technique out of Germany has years of research backing it.
Tuning Forks
John Beaulieu N.D., Ph.D., owner of BIOSONICS, is one of the foremost philosophers and major innovators in the area of sound healing therapies.
Did You Know You Can Tune Your Body?
Like adjusting a piano, your body can be tuned to achieve optimal physical balance. Tapping two BioSonic tuning forks will instantaneously alter your body’s biochemistry and bring your nervous system, muscle tone and organs into harmonic balance. In seconds, your body enters a deep state of relaxation. Feeling centered, your mind will be at peace…
Experience states of deep relaxation in seconds, reduce stress instantaneously, increase blood flow, enhance immune response, fully integrate body & mind, and transcend to higher levels of consciousness.
Who uses Tuning forks?
Biosonics’ precision-tested tuning forks are easy to learn, simple to use and the healing benefits are miraculous.
Everyday people and practitioners in the Healing Arts are using tuning forks to positively alter the body’s biochemistry. Sound enhances the healing effects of all energy therapy practices.
Polarity therapy
Reiki
Massage
Sports rehabilitation
Yoga
Hypnosis
Psychotherapy
Meditation
And anyone interested in alternative healing modalities and pain management.
You can use tuning forks and sound to experience deep levels of healing by bringing your body back to its fundamental pulse and by connecting you to your Authentic Life Rhythm.
Why are so many people using our Tuning Forks?
Improves mental clarity and brain functioning
Increases your level of physical energy and mental concentration
Relieves stress by drawing your body into a centered space
Develops and refines your sonic abilities
Enhances massage, acupressure, dreamwork and meditation
Brings your nervous system into balance
Integrates left and right brain thought patterns
Specially tuned to sacred proportions, you sit inside the space bringing two different sounds together making them one—and you feel unified, at peace, re-igniting the passion and power deep inside you. When you tap the tuning forks, you awaken the life energy of your cells and start them puffing, creating a centered, happy feeling inside.
Rooted In Sound Tip: Experience a wide range of sound therapies. But don’t have unrealistic expectations. The only person that can heal you is you! These techniques just help facilitate, give us space and permission to do it in a safe environment.
Sound tables, binaural beats, sound chambers, ASMR, and music are also used in some practices to help one to relax and resonate with the sounds being played. One of the most powerful forms of sound healing is also done with the voice. Chakra Toning, chanting, singing/humming, all help the body relax and resonate harmoniously.
Nada Yoga
Nada yoga, meaning "union through sound," is a yoga of sound. It is an ancient Indian system and science of inner transformation through sound and tone. Nada yoga is based on the premise that the entire cosmos and everything in it (including humans) consist of sound vibrations, or nadas.
Nada yoga uses sound vibrations and resonances to treat various spiritual and psychological conditions. It also helps increase one's awareness of the chakras and energizes them.
In Nada yoga, there are two types of sound: internal, or anahata, and external, or ahata. According to Nada yoga, with a focused mind and controlled breath, concentration on external sounds allows the mind to become so quiet that the practitioner can listen to their own anahata sound. The anahata, which is also known as the heart chakra, is considered responsible for the reception of this internal music, but not in the way of a normal sensory organ.
Nada yoga is described in the "Hatha Yoga Pradipika" as one of the most powerful and fruitful meditation techniques to calm the mind. Using music and sounds to connect to a higher state of consciousness is a very common practice in Hindu spiritual traditions, where many of the deities are musicians: Krishna plays the flute, Saraswati plays the veena, and Ganesha created the tabla drums.
The practice of Nada yoga can start with listening to external sounds. Calming, beautiful and preferably instrumental music should be chosen. The practitioner should sit quietly and focus all their attention on the chosen music. Once the practitioner becomes aware of their inner sounds, their full concentration should be centered on those sounds. As the meditation becomes more and more about listening to the inner sounds, the external music can be gradually turned down.
One's internal sounds can often be perceived as bells, flutes or an electric hum. Some of these sounds are actually the sounds of the body, such as the blood flowing or the energy of the nerves. An individual's anahata sounds connect directly with the sound of the energy center of the body.