Sound is a potent tool for easing pain, anxiety, and other conditions. Sound healing is a deliberate sound meditation rather than just an experience of hearing and exploring sound.
Sound has long been associated with healing and meditation. The usage of didgeridoos for sound healing by Australian aboriginal tribes’ dates back more than 40,000 years. Other ancient forms of sound healing include Tibetan or Himalayan singing bowl spiritual practices. A sort of focused awareness meditation is sound meditation. “Sound baths,” a type that has gained popularity, use Tibetan singing bowls, quartz or crystal bowls, and bells to direct the listener. These rituals emphasize the various ways that sound can be perceived, including audibly, physically, vibrationally, and harmonically.
Although the science is still learning how sound heals, the existing evidence is encouraging. Strong evidence that music improves mood and reduces stress was found in a survey of 400 published scientific studies on the topic of music as medicine. In fact, rhythm, more so than melody, has a pain-relieving effect on the body.
An hour-long sound meditation can help people feel more spiritual well-being while relieving stress, anger, weariness, anxiety, and despair. The didgeridoos, Tibetan singing bowls, crystal singing bowls *, gongs, Tingshas (little cymbals), and bells, were utilized during the sound meditation. For 95% of the session, singing bowls were the primary instrument. Both those who had previously practiced sound meditation, as well as those who had never done it before, reported feeling noticeably less stressed and anxious afterward.
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The reasons why sound experiences can be associated with profound relaxation and relief from physical discomfort are the subject of numerous hypotheses. According to one idea, sound affects the entire body through its vibrating tactile impacts. The sound may arouse touch fibers that influence how painful something feels. One fibromyalgia study found that ten treatments of low-frequency sound stimulation (done twice weekly for five weeks) improved sleep and reduced pain, allowing nearly three-fourths of participants to reduce their use of painkillers.
People with knee replacement pain, menstruation discomfort, postoperative pain, and arthritis pain have been proven to benefit from sound-based vibration therapy. Even better mobility, less muscle soreness and stiffness, increased blood circulation, and lowered blood pressure have all been linked to sound-based therapy.
The idea of “binaural beats” or “brain entrainment,” which holds that hearing certain frequencies can synchronize and alter one’s brainwaves, there is another theory on the advantages of sound.
Brainwaves, or rhythmic, repeated frequencies, are an indication of electrical activity in the brain. An electroencephalogram (EEG) equipment can be used to measure these rhythms.
There are four different types of brainwaves, ranging from the most active (beta) to the least active (delta) frequencies. Brainwave frequencies fluctuate depending on the levels of consciousness and attentiveness present in various regions of the brain.
- The fastest brainwaves, known as beta waves, are produced when the brain is mentally active and engaged.
- Alpha waves are produced when the brain is in a state of non-arousal,
- Daydreaming and the rapid eye movement (REM) dreaming stage of sleep are both correlated with theta brainwaves. Engaging in an activity like long-distance running or motorway driving, theta brainwaves are produced. This kind of state is frequently linked to periods when creativity and ideas are flowing.
- The slowest brainwaves, known as delta waves, are linked to a deep, dreamless sleep.
The theory behind binaural beats is based on the brainwave frequency to synchronize to the different hertz between tones played in each ear. It matters on the frequency for this to result in either theta or beta waves, which are associated with deep relaxation.
However, sound in the form of vibrational therapy or meditation offers potential therapeutic advantages with little to no side effects, while researchers are still striving to understand the mechanism underlying the healing properties of sound.
How Does Sound Healing Work?
Although sound therapy goes beyond only those feel-good mental health advantages, sound baths are currently all the rage.
The correct music can promote better sleep, enhance mental health, or energize you and make exercise feel less difficult. And sound baths, which have been popular across the nation in recent years, are a hip way to meditate and reduce anxiety, but sound therapy goes beyond those positive psychological effects. The short version: It’s possible to “hack” your brainwaves and possibly encourage physical healing by using various sound frequencies.
Every object in the cosmos vibrates at a certain frequency. Our brain’s neurons all fire at various frequencies from the world around us. Each cell in your body responds to those vibrations in some way. You can change your brainwaves from the beta state (normal consciousness) to the theta state (relaxed consciousness) and even the delta state (sleep) by applying particular rhythms and frequencies.
So, should you try sound healing, and is it truly as effective as it is claimed to be? What to know is below.
How Sound Heals the Body
Gongs, tuning forks, and singing bowls, among other instruments, produce sound waves or vibrations that can really change the frequency of your brainwaves. Humans can hear frequencies from 20 hertz (Hz) to 20,000 Hz, but that doesn’t mean frequencies outside of those ranges don’t have an impact on us. Vibration is measured in hertz (Hz), the same unit in which sound is measured. Additionally, if two vibrating things are placed close to one another, the stronger vibration will eventually synchronize with the weaker one.
Next comes fundamental anatomy: The vestibulocochlear nerve, located in your ear, leads to the vagus nerve, the body’s main parasympathetic nerve. Your nervous system is in charge of “rest and digest” processes like lowering blood pressure, reducing stress, and relaxing muscles. Hormone production, digestion, blood sugar levels, inflammation, heart rate, and blood pressure are all under the control of the vagus nerve.
The tympanic membrane, often known as the eardrum, vibrates in response to sound waves, and there is a little branch of the vagus nerve that directly connects to it. Therefore, every sound that you take in through your ears and process is transmitted to the vagus nerve. Why does any of that matter? Your health may suffer if your vagus is inactive or blocked, but activating it with the appropriate frequencies may be able to help.
What Research on Sound Healing Says
Yes, all of this—along with healing crystals—sounds a little woo-woo and New Age-y. A lot of practitioners are surrounded by singing bowls and make all kinds of exaggerated promises, and the sound healing industry isn’t precisely regulated. If there are health advantages of sound healing, then so be it.
According to some studies, tuning forks, which are two-pronged steel objects that vibrate at a particular pitch when implanted at precise locations on the body, may help ease bone and muscular pain. Singing bowl meditation can boost the immune system, reduce stress, improve breathing and circulation, and lower blood pressure. Additionally, a recent study on vibro-acoustic therapy, which involves applying sounds and vibrations directly to the body in order to penetrate you on a cellular level, discovered that the practice may be useful for treating chronic pain and speeding up recovery from injuries.
Nitric oxide is a vasodilator that helps cells function more effectively, dilates blood vessels, and regulates blood pressure at the cellular level. Different sound frequencies can increase the creation of this vasodilator in cells. Therefore, anything that promotes healing and anything that eases your mood will lessen inflammation, which is good for your health.
Conclusion Regarding Sound Healing
Since science hasn’t fully caught up with people’s expectations, it can be challenging to cut through the hype surrounding sound therapy. However, the beauty of these therapies is that they are often inexpensive and non-invasive, so give them a try if you are curious. It’s simple to find a nearby choice with a quick Google search as one-on-one sound therapy sessions are also increasingly being provided at all different wellness facilities, therapist’s offices, spas, and even yoga classes.
Whether a person has cancer, multiple sclerosis, a broken limb, or simply feels better after listening to Tibetan singing bowls or using a tuning fork, anything that helps them feel better will aid in their healing.
The placebo effect inevitably exists. It might work if you truly feel it will hasten your recovery. Additionally, utilizing it as a component of a holistic health regimen will allow for improvements.
The Beach Boys presumably weren’t thinking about how frequencies effected your health when they sang about nice vibrations. However, you don’t need evidence to support the notion that being in the company of positive energy improves your mood, whether that energy comes from positive people or sounds.
How to Begin Using Sound Healing
The most crucial thing to remember while starting a sound-healing journey is that each person will have a different experience. While you might experience an emotional breakthrough one day, you might also just feel wonderfully peaceful the next. To avoid setting yourself up for disappointment, try to let the experience take you.
Find a local studio that offers sound baths online or try an online session. You can listen to stuff like alpha waves or bird songs on YouTube or find a ton of clips online.
When you are at home, check if the atmosphere is calm and welcoming before you begin. Dim the lights, light a calming candle, wrap yourself in a blanket, or put a bolster beneath your knees.
A Final Observation by Doc T Elliott
Whether you’re looking to get more out of a sound-bath session or want to include sound healing into your regular life: Be open-minded when doing it. Enjoy it without overly second-guessing whether you’re performing it “correctly.” Always keep in mind that the best aspect of sound work is that it reaches you where you are. If you do fall asleep, don’t panic; perhaps your body needed the rest more.
Simply go outside if you don’t have access to a sound-healing session. You can enjoy a natural sound bath in a park or by a river. Listen to the bird songs, the lapping of a river, or the sound of rustling leaves are all known to soothe the nervous system. We all are in need of some forms of healing. Try a sound healing session, which is ancient practice brought back new today. Peace and blessings!