Why Sound?
Vibrations that travel through the air, or another medium, can be heard when they reach a person or an animal’s ear. This is the common dictionary meaning of the word ‘sound’. But as we know, sound is energy vibrations that we capture with our ears and that which we can also feel and sense with our entire bodies. As recent studies have shown, sound affects everything and everyone around us. Discoveries in fields such as quantum mechanics and cymatics explain that sound travels through everything and as a response everything is affected by that sound. Throughout mankind’s history, the notion of sound vibration appears to be central in all creation beliefs, with various religions stating that the first particle of creation emitted sound.
Within Hindu mythology, the sound of “Om” or “Aum” is the sound of creation of all things. In the Bible, the scripture states, “in the beginning was the word”, for the Qur’an “kun fayakun” meaning “be, and it is”. For the ancient Bon Tibetan tradition, the primordial sound was the letter A – a symbol of a pure sound. Considering this centrality of sound in various creation beliefs, sound therapy works on the principle that to help us stay in good shape and well balanced, we should keep our individual sound frequencies throughout our body in harmony as much as possible. If we play or engage with sound for 10 or 20 minutes daily we will improve our wellbeing drastically. Try this for yourself and experiment – play with your voice embrace a drum, to blow into a flute or a didgeridoo, even listen your breath and you’ll be in touch with primordial sound.
What type of Sound?
To realign with that vibrational energy, I specifically use these instruments:
- Himalayan Bowls
- Voice
- Crystal Quartz Bowls
- Gongs
- Different Percussive Tools
Himalayan Bowls
We don’t know exactly where this instruments coming from as it been part of the ancient Bon tradition in the Himalaya well before Buddhism. Used during Shamanic rituals and prayer, this instrument is very magical and is made usually with 7 different metals. The frequencies and the harmonics that can produce are therefore always subtle and different and in many cases they can resonate differently between person to person. I play them with different techniques to get different sounds – either with a wooden wand by rubbing circularly around the edge of the bowl (with this technique we can get a “droney” sound that can induce a state of relaxation and bring our brain waves very close to the Alpha-Theta border which is the state of creative relaxation), or with a light felt mallet (with this we can make a gentle prolonged sound that can open the right space to receive the sound). The other technique is with a bow to produce a higher sound and can extrapolate the many harmonics of the bowl. I have several bowls in my collection that can be used for many situations in accordance with the needs of the person that receives the sound.
Crystal Quartz Bowls
Crystal Quartz Bowls were originally made in California, they were used to grow quartz wafer for the production of microchips. Some impurities were found into the bowls and sometimes dismissed for that purpose. It was subsequently discovered that they could produce a beautiful sound. They are now specifically produced for sound therapists, with a makeup of 90% of quartz sand. I have a full set of chakra sound bowls that can be used in different occasions in accordance to the needs of the person receiving the treatment, or the energetic field we want to create. The sound can be described as “spacey”.
Voice
The human voice is a very powerful tool on its own, either when you receive it or when you produce it. It can resonate within us at different levels and when is used consciously with the right intention it can transform energy in “miracles”. The two techniques I use are toning and overtoning. The first is a classic way of using particular vowels related to the chakras in a sustained and prolonged style, and the second is a magical technique used by certain ancient populations to produce ecstasy or “contact with the spirits”. Technically this has to do with the production of harmonics using the human cavity inside the mouth and the throat, the sound produced is like two different sounds together. It is good to entrain brain waves.
Gongs
Alongside the drum, the gong is one of the most ancient instruments in the world. Its peculiar character is made up of a complex and harmonic sound, with each gong having it’s own particular sound. For this reason, different gongs are used for specific therapeutic needs. I have several gong that I use according to the needs of the client – one is very old and hearty, another is connected with the earth frequency and is used to ground and to harmonize the body, and another one is more complex and is called “zodiac” because it condense the planetary sounds, It connects us with higher dimensions and open space for relaxation and changing of energy flows in our body.
Percussion Tools
Percussion tools are used at the end of a one-to-one session or at the end of a Sound Bath as they help the grounding process in helping the client to come back to the room and back on our feet after a session.
When Sound Therapy can help
Therapeutic sound has many potentials to resonate with energy systems on all levels of being – physically, mentally and spiritually. It can transform negativity to positivity and can promote a state of wellbeing and stimulation of dormant energies. In sound therapy, the client or the participant becomes the total focus of the session. What the therapist can do is facilitate the intention that has been made at the beginning of the session. The sound works itself to change and transform all the blocked and heavy energies brought into the room. Sound can help to dissolve heavy and stacked energies in the body, also can be very beneficial to those who suffer from:
- chronic pain
- stress
- self esteem challenges
- life transitions
- anxiety
- depression
- limiting beliefs
- conflict
- spiritual stagnation
In most cases, sound can induce deep relaxation and can transform dimensions of perceived time and space. It is simply one of the most engaging and deeply satisfying processes you can experience.
