Sound Healing

What is Sound Healing?

Sound is our universal language, it is also the oldest forms of healing, dating back thousands of years since the dawn of human civilization.

Modern science has confirmed what ancient wisdom traditions have known for millenniums, that sound has the power to heal and to transform.

Sound therapy comes in the form of vibration frequencies, pure tones or as music, and can positively impact a large array of physiological and psychological states: lowering blood pressure, slowing heartbeat and breath rate, reducing stress hormones, boosting immune response, slowing brainwaves to increase creativity and relaxation, increasing endorphin production, improving memory and learning, relieving both acute and chronic pain.

The Science of Sound Healing

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 chemicals that affect both our bodies and our moods, and triggers certain impulses (for example, singing and dancing).

Research has shown that the brains of musicians are more symmetrical and that the parts of the brain that are responsible for motor and cognitive functioning, coordination, reasoning, as well as the processing of information, are significantly larger. The two hemispheres of the brain have better communication thanks to an enlarged corpus callous, as well.

In neurological studies, it has been proven that listening to music makes us more productive and creative; it can relieve stress and, depending on the sort of music, can improve our moods. This is because listening to music floods our brains with dopamine — the happy chemical. It also releases oxytocin, a natural painkiller and hormone that allows us to bond with and trust people.

Music also helps language development and improves communication.

It has been shown to increase our IQs ever so slightly, so it’s safe to say that music makes us smarter. 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.

How Sound Can Heal You?

A 2006 study done by the Journal of Advanced Nursing supplied evidence that those who listen to music feel less pain and are generally happier and less inclined to stress and anxiety than those who don’t. Music is therefore not only a tranquilizer of sorts that soothes our emotions, but it also a painkiller.

Since sounds come at different frequencies and we too emit our own waves, healing with sound happens by matching frequencies of different sounds to those that are necessary and conducive to healing and relaxation in the patient.

A study in the 1970 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 bin-aural beat. This is said to synchronize the brain, providing clarity, calmness, and faster communication between the mind and the body. It is also evidence that our brains and bodies indeed respond to sound in such a way that we create our own intrinsic music to adapt to it.

Therefore, if you are in pain, let’s say you have a headache, a sound can be played to you that will interfere with your brain waves to cancel out the ones that say you are in pain.

Or, if it is your mood, perhaps you are grumpy, playing a relaxing music might lift your spirits and make you forget that you are aggravated. Sounds and songs also create memories in us, and this can be used to help people who are traumatized or depressed.

What problems can be treated by sound healing?

Healing with sound can improve or cure many ailments including, but not limited to:

  • Psychological and behavioral disorders including autism, depression, learning disabilities, and developmental troubles
  • Anxiety disorder
  • Stress
  • PTSD
  • Pain
  • Mood swings, or negative emotions, such as sadness, aggravation, anger, self-pity, and heartbreak.

It can also bring about:

  • Clarity and balance
  • Relaxation
  • Improved memory and concentration
  • Improved sleep (both in quality and quantity)
  • A stronger immune system
  • Improved creativity
  • Heightened awareness, both of the self and the environment
Disclaimer

No service or product is intended to treat any disease or illness, psychological or mental health condition. Persons with an ailment or physical complaint are to see their physician first for treatment, and make use of sound healing as an adjunct to medical treatment.