Guest guest Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 > The Healing Power of Sound > > by Simon Heather BSoc.Sc, MBAcC, MCOH > > The astonishing results of sound upon blood, water, cancer cells, > neurones and a range of conditions. > > > > About the Author > Simon Heather is a qualified acupuncturist, healer and bodyworker. He > has made an extensive study of sound healing. In 1996 he founded the UK > Sound Healers Association, a non-profit making organization dedicated to > promoting sound healing. He has taught sound healing workshops in > Australia, > Canada, South Africa, Zimbabwe, the UK and the USA. > He has written four books, and has recently completed a comprehensive > guide to sound healing entitled The Healing Power of Sound. At present he > is > running workshops for those who wish to reconnect with their true voice > and > to experience the healing power of sound, and training courses for healers > and therapists who wish to use sound as part of their healing practice. > > Further Information > Simon will be teaching in Canada during May. He can be contacted > through his e-mail address - simonheather - or visit his > website at http://homepage.virgin.net/simon.heather > For a sound healing information pack please send a C4 self-addressed > envelope and three 33p stamps to 8 Gringer Hill, Maidenhead, Berks, SL6 > 7LZ. > Simon's book can also be ordered from this address. > Fabien Maman will be presenting workshops in Europe at the end of > this > year. His website address is www.tama-do.com > The website for the UK Sound Healers Association offers a wide range > of Sound Healing Resources - www.uksoundhealers.fsnet.co.uk > The water book by Masaru Emoto can be orderd through Hado Publ BV, > Prinsenstraat 55, 2316 HK Leiden, The Netherlands. > The History of Sound Healing > Sound has been used as a healing force for thousands of years. > All ancient civilizations used sound for healing. Traditional cultures > still > surviving today understand the remarkable healing power that lies in > sound. > In the Bible we are told that David played his harp to lift King > Saul's depression. Egyptian papyri over 2,600 years old refer to > incantations as cures for infertility and rheumatic pain. > The ancient Greeks believed music had the power to heal body and > soul. They used the flute and the lyre for treating illnesses such as gout > and sciatica. It is reported that Alexander the Great's sanity was > restored > by music played on the lyre. There is an ancient Greek saying, 'Men have > song as a physician for pain.' > Pythagoras used special songs and incantations with particular > melodies and rhythms, to cure diseases of the body and mind.1 > > What is Sound Healing? > Sound healing is the therapeutic application of sound > frequencies > to the body/mind of a person with the intention of bringing them into a > state of harmony and health. The dictionary defines 'harmony' as > 'congruity > of parts to their whole or to one another'. 'Health' is defined as 'the > state of being bodily and mentally vigorous and free of disease'. > The French ear, nose and throat specialist Dr Alfred Tomatis has > devoted the last 50 years to understanding the ear and its function. He > believes that the ear is the most important of all our sense organs. The > ear > controls the body's sense of balance, rhythm and movement and is the > conductor of the entire nervous system. > Through the medulla, the auditory nerve connects with all the > muscles of the body. Hence, muscle tone, equilibrium, flexibility and > vision > are affected by sound. Through the vagus nerve, the inner ear connects > with > the larynx, heart, lungs, stomach, liver, bladder, kidneys, small > intestine > and large intestine. > Tomatis believes that high frequency sounds (3,000Hz and above) > activate the brain and affect cognitive functions such as thinking, > spatial > perception and memory. Listening to these sounds increases our > attentiveness > and concentration.2 > > Resonance > When an opera singer vibrates a glass with their voice, they > have > matched the resonant frequency of the glass. As the singer increases the > volume of their sound, the resonance becomes too great for the forces that > hold the glass together and it shatters. Modern medicine now uses sound > waves to break up kidney stones and gallstones. > Every organ, every bone, every cell in the body has its own > resonant frequency. Together they make up a composite frequency like the > instruments of an orchestra. When one organ in the body is out of tune it > will affect the whole body. Through sound healing it may be possible to > bring the diseased organ into harmony with the rest of the body, hence > avoiding the need for drugs or surgery. > The principle of entrainment states that powerful rhythmic > vibrations from one source will cause the less powerful vibrations of > another source to lock into the vibration of the first source. Nature > always > seeks the most efficient state; it takes less energy to pulse in > co-operation that in opposition. > > Scientific Research into Sound > In the 18th century Ernest Chladni, a German physicist, found > that when a violin bow was drawn vertically across the rim of a metal > plate > the sound waves produced created patterns in sand sprinkled on the plate. > Different musical tones would cause the sand particles to move into > geometric patterns. > In the 1960s Hans Jenny, a Swiss scientist, spent over ten years > conducting experiments to discover the effects of sound waves on materials > placed on metal plates vibrated with sound. Materials such as glycerine, > mercury, gel, powder and iron fillings were used. He photographed the > patterns created. > He found that low frequency sounds produced simple geometric > shapes in the materials. As the sound frequency was increased, these > simple > forms would break up and more complex patterns would appear. The sound > 'OH' > would produce a perfect circle. The sound 'OM' produced a pattern that > resembles the Shri Yantra; the ancient mandala for 'OM' used in India for > thousands of years. > Jenny came to the conclusion that sound creates form and that > the > entire human body had its own sound made up of all the sounds of its > cells, > tissues and organs.3 > > Fabien Maman > In 1974, Fabien Maman was working as a professional jazz > musician. He noticed that certain musical keys had an energizing effect on > both the musicians and the audience. > Fabien worked with the French physicist Joel Sternheimer. > Sternheimer had discovered that elementary particles vibrate at > frequencies > in accordance with musical laws. They found that body tissue, organs and > acupuncture meridians each have a musical note. > A few years later, Fabien met Hélène Grimal, a senior researcher > at the National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris. They devoted a > year-and-a-half to study the effects of sound on normal and malignant > cells. > Using drums, gongs, flutes, guitar, bass and a xylophone, they > investigated > the effects of sound on healthy blood cells, haemoglobin, and the 'Hela' > cancer cell from the uterus. > They found that even at 30-40 decibels the sound always produced > noticeable changes in the cells. As the sounds progressed up the musical > scale there would be an 'explosion' of the cancer cells at a certain > frequency as the sound travelled outward from the centre of the cell to > its > outer membrane. The experiment yielded the most dramatic results when the > human voice was used. > Fabien says, 'Near the end of the scale, usually around the > seventh interval, the cancer cells exploded. It appears that the cancer > cells were not able to support a progressive accumulation of > frequencies.'4 > 'The healthy cells appeared supple and able to freely receive, absorb and > return the energy. In contrast, the cancer cells appeared inflexible and > immutable in their structure.'5 > > > > Hela cancer cells being broken up by the musical scale played on a > xylophone6 > > In experimental sessions on actual cancer patients, the music > produced > equally astonishing results. Female volunteers with breast cancer were > taught to tone the whole scale, using a violin to keep a base note for 21 > minutes at a time. They spent 31/2 hours a day doing this for a month. One > woman's tumour disappeared completely.7 > Fabien Maman took healthy blood cells and played a xylophone to > them. He photographed the changes in the electromagnetic fields around the > cells using Kirlian photography. Subjected to a chromatic scale of > frequencies, the slight difference of a half tone would produce a > completely > different shape and colour in the energy field of the cell. He found that > the note 'C' made them longer, 'D' produced a variety of colours, 'E' made > them spherical and 'A' (440Hz) changed the colour of their energy field > from > red to pink. > In his next experiment, Fabien took a sample of blood from a > person's finger. He then asked the person to sing the seven notes of the > major scale to their own blood cell. With each note, the cell's energy > field > changed its shape and colour. When the person sang an 'F' to their own > blood > cells, the cells resonated perfectly with the voice, producing a balanced, > round shape and vibrant colours of magenta and turquoise. > He says, 'The cells are completely bathed in light and alive > with > full resonance, clear evidence that this 'F' is the fundamental sound of > the > singer. Fundamental sound can be very helpful for the physical body > through > its harmonising and regenerating effect at the cellular level.'8 > > > > Blood cells responding to the sound of a person's voice9 > > From his experiments, Fabien concluded that, 'In the human voice > there is an added element which cannot be found in any other instrument. > The > human voice carries its own spiritual resonance. This difference, evident > from the photographs, is what makes the voice the most powerful healing > instrument - particularly when the person needing the healing produced the > sounds with his or her own voice.'10 > Jim Oliver says that the body responds to sounds that we cannot > hear. He says, 'We put the selected sounds exclusively into a pair of > headphones and put them on a client's ankles. They responded to the sound > even though their ears could not hear the sound. Once you vibrate a part > of > the body the blood cells carry this resonance to the whole body very > quickly.'11 > > Masaru Emoto > A Japanese scientist, Masaru Emoto, wanted to find a way of > scientifically evaluating water quality. He decided to freeze samples of > water taken from different sources to compare their crystalline structure. > When pure water crystallizes it forms a pure crystal; would contaminated > water also form a pure crystal? > Water was placed in petri dishes in a freezer for two hours, > then > placed under a microscope and photographed at a magnification of 200-500 > times. Although the crystals that formed were all unique, the crystals > from > water of the same source were all similar in shape. Over a four-year > period > his team took 10,000 photographs. > Tap water from Japanese cities generally would not form complete > crystals. Tap water from London formed no crystals at all. Spring water > generally produced the most beautiful crystals, as did water from holy > places such as Lourdes. > Masaru Emoto's next experiment was playing music to water. He > placed distilled water in between two speakers and played one piece of > music > fully at normal volume. Then he froze the water. > Classical music produced beautiful crystals of slightly > different > colours. Healing music, a Tibetan mantra and folk music also produced > beautiful crystals. Heavy metal music produced a pattern that looked like > a > crystal that had exploded into a thousand pieces. Japanese pop music > produced ugly square-shaped crystals rather then the normal hexagonal > ones.12 > Since our body is made up of 70% water, Masaru Emoto's work > demonstrates that we are constantly being influenced by the sounds around > us > and by the information stored in the water we consume. > > > > Water crystals formed when distilled water was frozen after being > played Bach's 'Air on a G String' > > > > Water crystals produced when distilled water was frozen after being > played heavy metal music13 > > Music as Medicine > Don Campbell, in his book The Mozart Effect, shows how music, > particularly Mozart's, has all kinds of beneficial effects for human > health. > Scientists suggest that listening to Mozart helps us to improve our powers > of concentration and enhances our ability to make intuitive leaps, by > organizing the firing pattern of neurones in the cerebral cortex.14 > The foetus prefers Mozart and Vivaldi to other composers. When > pregnant mothers listened to Mozart and Vivaldi, the babies' heart rates > invariably steadied and kicking declined. Rock music 'drove most foetuses > to > distraction' and they 'kicked violently' when it was played to their > pregnant mothers.15 > Slower tempo music slows our breathing rate. The human heartbeat > will tend to match the rhythm of music. Listening to Pacabel's Cannon, for > instance, at around 64 beats per minute, the rate of a resting heart beat, > will slow our breathing rate and heart rate and change our brain wave > pattern from beta to alpha. Music will also calm our nervous system and > affect metabolism. > The pitch and rhythm of music influence the limbic system, > affecting our emotions. Scientists concluded that preferred music 'may > elicit a profound positive emotional experience that can trigger the > release > of hormones, which can contribute to a lessening of those factors which > enhance the disease process'.16 > Music is now used to reduce the pain and anxiety of patients > undergoing dental treatment and surgical operations. In a study of 59,000 > patients, 97% of patients stated that music really helped them to relax in > the post-operative situation and during surgery in regional anaesthesia.17 > In his research, Dr Mike Lewis found that classical music works > on the whole brain, whereas pop music affects only one side of the brain. > He > says, 'I recommend that those who are looking for a peak experience try > classical. Mozart is a great place to start, but it is a question of trial > and error, find what works for you.'18 > > Singing/Toning > Dr Tomatis found that a child traumatized by an enraged or > screaming adult learns to survive by shutting out these noises. Once the > hearing shuts down the child will find it hard to learn.19 > This explains why some people can sing in tune while others > consider themselves 'tone deaf'. It is impossible for us to make a sound > unless we have heard that sound or note before. I have found from > experience > in teaching voice work that once a person's hearing is reawakened then > they > can begin to hear what is sung to them and can then accurately copy this > sound. > Toning is defined as - 'to make sound with an elongated vowel > for > an extended period'. Toning with other people creates a feeling of unity. > It > also helps us to release stress and repressed emotions. Regular toning and > humming helps to re-energize the body and restore health to the mind, body > and spirit. > Toning has a neurochemical effect on the body, boosting the > immune system and causing the release of endorphins. Toning assists in > good > breathing and posture. The muscles of the digestive system are massaged > and > stimulated by regular toning. Toning has also been effective in relieving > insomnia.20 > > Wolfson > Alfred Wolfson was a German-born singing teacher who was plagued > by the sounds of artillery and human agony that he experienced as a > soldier > in the trenches in World War I. Wolfson cured himself of aural > hallucinations by singing the terrible sounds that haunted him. He went on > to develop a therapeutic method that was based on using the voice. He > taught > his students to make spontaneous noises, including those of animals, birds > and even machines. > Using Jung's concept of the anima and animus, Wolfson taught > that > by extending the vocal range through singing exercises, one could contact > the opposite polarity within oneself, thereby integrating the psyche and > healing a variety of psychological and physical conditions.21 > Laurel Elizabeth Keys, in her book Toning the Creative Power of > the Voice, says, 'A whiny weak voice will suck in negativity, attracting > lingering illness like cancer, asthma, allergies, tumors, rheumatism and > arthritis. No healing will be possible until the person reverses their > tonal > pattern.'22 > Laurel discovered toning by accident. One day her body became > filled with a sound so great that she had to express it. 'Each time I > toned, > my body felt exhilarated, alive as it had never felt before, a feeling of > wholeness and extreme well-being.'22 > > Chant > Dr Tomatis discovered the power of chant after visiting a > monastery in France. The new abbot had stopped the monks chanting. The > Benedictine monks normally chant for six to eight hours a day. The abbot > believed that the Gregorian chant served no useful purpose and that > without > it they could recapture that time for other things. > The monks had been chanting in order to 'charge up' themselves, > but they hadn't realized what they were doing. As the days passed they > became more and more tired. A procession of doctors came to the monastery > over a period of several months. They changed the monks' diet and sleep > patterns but the monks became more tired than ever. > When the abbot called in Dr Tomatis in February 1967, Tomatis > found 70 out of the 90 monks 'slumping in their cells like wet dishrags'. > He > reintroduced their chanting immediately. By November, almost all of them > had > gone back to their normal activities, their prayer, their few hours of > sleep, and their arduous work schedule.23 > > Principles of Sound Healing > Entrainment > The principle of entrainment explains how sound healing works. A > harmonious sound projected at a person who is in a state of disharmony > will > eventually bring them into resonance with the harmonious sound. Our atoms, > molecules, cells, glands and organs all have a vibrational frequency. > Sounds > from outside our body will stimulate sympathetic vibration in the > molecules > and cells of our body. > > Intention > The sound wave created by a person singing or playing an > instrument will carry information to the receiver of the sound. We all > know > that a song can be sung with a loving intention or an aggressive > intention. > When a mother sings a lullaby to her child, the child feels the love in > the > mother's voice and is rocked to sleep. At a football match, fans sing > aggressive chants directed at the opposing supporters and their team. Here > the intention is to intimidate. > > Sympathetic Resonance > When two objects have similar vibratory characteristics that > allow them to vibrate at the same frequency, they form a resonant system. > When a 'C' tuning fork is struck, another 'C' tuning fork close by will > also > begin to vibrate. For healing to occur there must be a resonance or > rapport > between healer and patient. > > Pure Tone > Jonathan Goldman in his book Healing Sounds says, " When we have > learned techniques for harmonic toning, the human voice is able to create > nearly every frequency, at least within the bandwidth of audible > frequency. " > Jonathan offers the simple formula, " Frequency plus Intention equals > Healing. " If we can find a pure sound frequency coupled with a pure > intention then healing will occur. When our body receives a pure tone our > muscles will relax and tension will be released.24 > > Sound Healing > When working with a person in a sound healing session I use my > voice to scan over their body. I find that my voice will 'break up' over > areas of their body where there is pain, disease or poor function. I then > administer sound healing through my voice using different tones, vowel > sounds and harmonics until the imbalance is cleared. I use healing songs, > prayers and mantras. I will also help a person find their fundamental > sound. > I use a wide range of sound healing techniques to treat all > conditions. These include combining my voice with instruments, using sound > in combination with bodywork, encouraging the person to express their pain > through sound, using tuning forks and different musical intervals. > Dissonant intervals can be used in sound healing to help a > person > to get in touch with painful emotions. When the dissonance is resolved by > sounding the interval above, the person listening will experience a > feeling > of release, lightness and joy. If the person has experienced deep trauma, > I > will often chant the person's name to call back their spirit. > Sound healing can be combined with other healing therapies such > as massage and bodywork. After a sound healing treatment most people > report > a feeling of deep relaxation and an improvement in the function of mind > and > body. Structural imbalances in the body will often correct themselves > during > the sound treatment. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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