Implemented by a variety of cultures for thousands of years, sound healing helps you get more balanced. Whether chanting mantras, participating in a drumming circle, or simply humming along with a melody, such actions can help transform you from a state of imbalance to one of balance. And when this almost meditative state of being is reach, your body can unleash it’s natural healing powers. Whether you suffer from anxiety, chronic pain, or another disorder, sound therapy may help you effectively manage the condition.
How Does Sound Healing Work?
If you do mediation, then you already have a sense of how powerful sound is to our state of being. Sound can alter our brainwaves to that they keep pace with external rhythms. They key is that the sound needs to be consistent so that the stable rhythm entrains the body’s brainwaves. While it might sound a bit clinical, what this means for you is that your normal state of consciousness synchs up with the sound’s rhythm and effectively downgrade that state of being. You can shift to relaxed consciousness, a meditative state, and even the sleep state.
You can incorporate sound healing into your daily routine via simple vocal tuning and breathing exercises. With regular sessions, you can use sound healing to awaken the body’s natural healing response.
How It Feels
When you participate in sound therapy, you enter a more relaxed state of being. It is very similar to meditation, except that laying down for sound healing is more common that it is with meditation. During this state, you become more aware of the sound’s frequency and open to its vibrations.
Consider how loud, unwelcome sounds make the body feel, such as the loud screen of the stopping subway train or the whirring sirens when emergency services drive past you. Such sounds make the body tense up and boosts stress levels, which lowers your immune response. The exact opposite happens with sound healing. Stress levels decrease and the body relaxes, which results in a healthier immune response.
What Can Sound Therapy Treat?
Sound can heal a variety of the body’s ailments, especially during the sleep stage. Some of the ailments that can be effectively managed with sound therapy include:
- PTSD
- Anxiety
- Migraines
- Depression
- Pain Management
- Insomnia and Other Sleep Disorders
- Stress
- Panic Attacks
- Muscle Pain
Joshua Leeds, author of The Power of Sound, has even noted positive results when using sound healing with autistic children. Practitioner Bill Harris uses rain sound machines and crystal bowls to treat conditions that are exacerbated by stress like irritable bowel syndrome, psoriasis, and chronic pain. Los Angeles-based sound healer Jamie Bechtold uses tuning forks to create sound vibrations that heal headaches, colds, and pulled muscles.
How To Get Started With Sound Healing
If you live in a city like Los Angeles, then it is easy to locate a sound healing practitioner. These professional often do group and private sessions, sometimes combining yoga practice with the sound therapy.
For those not in a major metropolitan area, look for a local sound healing group on Meetup.com. Or, take to the internet where you can listen to a sound healing MP3, such as a Tibetan chant, or watch sound therapy videos on YouTube.
Sources:
- http://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/science-behind-healing-sound
- http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-17515/what-you-need-to-know-about-sound-healing.html
- http://www.faim.org/the-therapeutic-use-of-sound-in-alternative-and-conventional-medicine
- http://qz.com/595315/turns-out-sound-healing-can-be-actually-well-healing/
