Whether we are aware of it or not, our mind and body are seldom in harmony. Thoughts and activities keep us busy – and restless. Worries of what might happen, or what has happened in the past and which still remains unresolved, create stress, often leading to physical ailments. Existing ailments, too, lead to stress, overwhelming our body, mind and spirit. It’s a burden none of us really wish to carry for long. But, wishing it away doesn’t work either.
Among therapies which address this problem, there is one which is somewhat unique in practice but has been known to work for centuries, relieving people of their pain. Simply put, it’s healing through sound and involves attuning our mind and body to the vibrations of soothing sounds until our mind, body and spirit reach a moment of harmony. It’s non-invasive, so there’s absolutely nothing to fear. On the contrary, it’s passive, although it requires our participation.
Healing through sound therapy is based on the concept of aligning the vibrations of our mind and body until they resonate in rhythm, weaning away the distortions or negative vibrations which cause disharmony within us. As the therapy progresses, the sounds (i.e. the sound frequencies) the facilitator of the therapy generates in the room using gongs and bowls help align the vibrations in our mind and body, guiding us into a state of relaxation or relaxed consciousness.
For sound therapy to be effective, our mind and body need to be prepared to receive the therapy. This attuning of the mind and body is achieved through breathing and yogic practices. The body is physically relaxed by laying down and slowing down (i.e. regulating) our breaths, focusing on our breath to quieten our mind and trying to reach a meditative state. In doing so, our mind and body become both open to receiving the sounds and aware of the sounds entering our consciousness.
Thus, we create a mind-body state within us which allows the sounds to gently enter and influence the vibrations in our mind and body until, together, they resonate in harmony. Throughout this entire session, we remain aware of what is happening. In fact, the key to the success of healing through sound rests entirely on our ability to remain aware of the mind-body meditative state we are in – watching, feeling and absorbing the rhythms of the sounds doing their work.
With heightened awareness, we can actually sense the sounds connecting with our areas of pain and discomfort, gently reducing or removing their severity. This helps in softening our earlier pre-therapy relationships we had with the pain and discomfort, and allowing the energy in the mind and body to flow freely. Sound therapy, therefore, improves the state of our whole being, creating positive energy and bringing in harmony where we had once felt distressed.
Sound therapy is found to be effective in resolving physical pain and discomfort, stress, anxiety, sleep disorders, depression, and many other illnesses, making our lives new again.