Sound Therapy and its life-changing benefits

Given that everything, including ourselves, has a vibrational frequency, it stands to reason that sound frequencies influence how we feel. That is why certain songs and styles of music typically elicit unique feelings in us. It is also a factor in sound healing, an ancient therapeutic therapy that employs tonal frequencies to put the body into a state of vibrational balance and harmony.

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Sound healing treatment is currently one of the most popular wellness fads. For thousands of years, people have used it to rebalance the body’s vibration, promote mental health and emotional well-being, and even fight off negative spirits (chanting). 

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While contemporary medicine may be more beneficial than chanting circles or music therapy for many diseases and conditions, research has demonstrated that these healing traditions are not the voodoo that some may have us think.

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In reality, there is a lot of research to back up the healing benefits of sound waves. And these go well beyond a catchy tune that makes you feel happy.

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History

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For thousands of years, numerous civilizations have used sound as a therapeutic aid. Whether through the employment of mantras in India, Icaros (medicine songs) of diverse Indigenous peoples in Central and South America, or Pythagoras’ use of interval and frequency, all these strategies have the same goal: to bring us from a state of imbalance to one of balance.

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Sound healing practices to enhance healing and well-being have existed for as long as humanity has kept records. Still, some of the oldest documented documentation of sound healing therapy is possibly from indigenous Australians (40,000 years ago), who employed ancient didgeridoos in healing ceremonies.

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The ancient Egyptians used sound therapy with pyramids built to generate sound chambers. However, sound and music therapy is significantly more diverse than this. Various tools like Tibetan bowls, shamanic drums, vocal chanting, and many more forms of sound healing are found in every culture globally and throughout history.

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What is Sound Therapy?

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Sound therapy treatment is both passive and active. The passive part is that by simply lying down and slowing your breath, you can get more relaxed. You are preparing yourself to become a sound receiver by doing so. You participate in this state of silence by being more sensitive to and aware of each sound that enters. In the same way that a mantra helps you arrive at the quiet point of meditation, sound helps establish the road to this calm state.

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Sessions vary greatly depending on the practitioner and the purpose. Many people start with easy breathing techniques to help quiet their minds and redirect their emphasis to listening. Participants in sessions such as sound baths and vibrational treatment sit or lay down comfortably, often wearing an eye mask or blanket. Bowls are frequently put on the body and around the head.

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Other more active experiences may include yoga or tai chi. Sound therapists are more likely to alter their treatment in one-on-one sessions based on feedback (both verbal and nonverbal), focusing the sound on regions of the body that need more help relaxing. Each session might range from 20 minutes to two hours or longer.

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Sound baths and sound therapy are about fostering intention and receptiveness in the listener, not about one specific sound or collection of sounds. Tibetan bowls, crystal bowls, gongs, tuning forks, chimes, and voice are all popular sound therapy instruments. Sounds, such as white noise, ambient music, or guided instructions, can also be pre-recorded. The appropriate tool, tone, and frequency depend on the purpose of the session.

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How does Sound Therapy feel?

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If we can adjust our perspective, we may alter how we relate to the problem that might be keeping us from reaching our perfect balance. Sound not only serves to induce calm, but it also can go past regions of obstruction. Though the ultimate objective of sound therapy is balance and repair, we have observed emotional release of all types, including tears, euphoria, laughter, and even rage.

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The vibrations probably massage every cell in the body. Unlike typical massage, which only works on the body’s surface layer, this therapy works far deep into your skin, muscle, tissue, and organs.

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Localized pain and suffering occur in the physical body. We can increase the production of Nitric Oxide(a free radical molecule), which is known to positively enhance pain transmission and regulation, by using tuning forks, particularly osteopathic tuning forks (which vibrate at lower frequencies). Specific frequencies induce a physiological reaction, while music influences our auditory system, allowing us to change our connection to pain.

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Our energy body is our ‘subtle body.’ It is the location of our life force energy, also known as Qi, Chi, or prana. Meridian points are utilized in Chinese medicine to identify regions where energy flow to our physical and subtle bodies is limited. The body is known to have hundreds of these meridian lines, traced imaginarily throughout the body, similar to how we have mapped out the earth’s latitude and longitude. This helps practitioners in identifying specific healing points while using different sound therapy instruments.

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Benefits of Sound Healing

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Significant research supports sound therapy for treating physical and psychological pain. A study by the University of California researchers discovered that meditation accompanied by Tibetan bowls significantly reduced tension and aggression, particularly among persons new to this type of practice. Another study concentrating on fibromyalgia patients showed that low-frequency sound therapy dramatically improved the time participants could sit and stand without discomfort.

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Sound and music healing treatment have grown in popularity recently, and it’s a health and wellness trend to watch. Sound and music have been discovered as excellent healers for a variety of mental, emotional, and even physical disorders while being proven a helpful treatment for various conditions such as:

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-Depression

-Anxiety problems

-PTSD

-Dementia

-Disorders on the autism spectrum

-People who have learning disabilities

-Those suffering from behavioral and psychological illnesses

-Sleep problems

-Pains and aches

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Some of the most often mentioned advantages of music therapy and sound healing are:

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-Stress reduction

-Fewer mood swings

-Reduce your blood pressure

-Reduced cholesterol levels

-Improved pain management

-The risk of stroke and coronary artery disease is reduced.

-Sleeping better

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How is the environment a factor?

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It is critical to evaluate the type of sounds we absorb from our surroundings. Anyone living in a big city understands how annoying the sound of heavy traffic with vehicles honking can be. Loud noises can increase our stress levels, produce nervous system imbalances, reduce our immunity, and, in critical situations, cause hearing loss.

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When stressed, our entire relationship with sound changes, and everyday sounds can become magnified and contribute to the stress feedback cycle, amplifying it even further. We can improve our listening skills and become more aware of the sounds we hear by using sound therapy techniques.

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Sound therapy at home

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If you don’t want to go to an expert to reap the advantages of sound healing therapy, you’ll be relieved to know that it’s one of the simplest methods to mimic at home.

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The benefits of employing sound to help your body and mind relax cannot be understated. Whether you add calm music, play a guided meditation track while enjoying a spa day at home, or add music therapy to your bedtime routine to help you drift off, sound healing will be beneficial.

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Conclusion

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There is no way to know which type of sound therapy is best for you unless you try a few. Overall, the therapy is a holistic approach to wellness that uses sound frequencies to promote relaxation, reduce stress and anxiety, and improve overall health and well-being. It is a non-invasive and natural approach to healing that can be used alone or in combination with other therapies to support the body’s natural healing processes. Your emotional condition and a lifetime of events and memories will all play a role in the session. So during a sound bath, all you have to do is show up and listen.

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