In this post, you’ll discover the principles of sound foundations and learn 7 steps to incorporate these concepts into your own life.
We live in a Universe of vibration and that we ourselves are Beings made of vibration/sound. We affect each other, our environment and ourselves through our personal resonance. Entrainment is the term used to describe the process by which one vibrating source locks on to another source and brings it into step with itself. So, if something is vibrating at an unnatural frequency, we can bring it back into balance using entrainment.
How Do You Use Sound to Better Your Life?
Sound is a carrier wave for consciousness. We can project energy into sound by using our intention. Students of Mind Power know that thoughts are real forces. We can project these thought forces into sound waves and allow them to interact with any aspect of ourselves (body, mind, soul), or with another person, or even the environment at large. Think of your mind as the conductor of an orchestra made up of the different parts of you. Think of these parts — the organs and cells in your body, your emotions and thoughts, your soul — as instruments in the orchestra, each vibrating the essence of who you are as a unique individual. When everything is playing together in harmony you get beautiful music; you experience sound health and a feeling of well-being. But when something goes out of tune it affects the entire orchestra. As the conductor, it’s your challenge to keep things together. There are many tools that you can use; Mind Power is one such tool. Sound Therapy is another.
Just as negative thinking affects us negatively, there are some sounds that have an adverse effect on our general health and well-being. Just as in Mind Power where we weed out negatives, so too in sound work we balance our personal vibration and our sonic environment. Noise pollution is prevalent in most cities and towns. Cars, trucks, buses, hooting horns, the cacophony of voices in a busy shopping centre, even the sound of your fridge or your air conditioner, all have an effect on you. Through the process of entrainment these sounds can bring you out of balance and make you tense up without you being aware of it. With awareness however, you can reverse this process and use sound daily to charge you with energy.
Here are some practical steps to working with sound in your life:
1. Be aware of sound and know how different sounds affect you
Ask yourself: “How does this sound make me feel?” Energized? Relaxed? Tired? Irritated? Angry? Motivated? Depressed?
2. Take appropriate action
Eliminate sounds from your daily environment that have a negative effect on you. If that’s not possible, then balance them out with nourishing sounds. With our diet we need the nutritional balance that fruits and vegetables bring; we can’t always eat junk food or we will become ill. Similarly, since we are sound beings, we need to expose ourselves to nourishing sounds and balance our sonic diet.
3. Take a regular “Sound Bath”
A great way to wake up in the morning and to go to sleep at night is to bathe yourself in some beautiful sounds. Nature sounds are the most effective. The sound of rain, ocean waves, wind blowing through the leaves, crickets and birds, children laughing. There are so many natural sounds that give us energy. If we need more there are some very good recordings of nature sounds; get a CD and pop it into your player or use your iPod. Listen just before you go to sleep and first thing in the morning when you wake up. This helps you get a deep, restful sleep and enhances your dreams. It’s also a great way to stimulate the subconscious mind.
4. Use music to enhance your activity
Different sounds have different effects. If you need to be energized, a fast beat is good. If you want to relax after a tense meeting, choose a piece of music that calms you. If you’re studying, the music of Mozart has been found to be extremely helpful in concentration. Experiment with different music and see what works for you. Use your computer to play music while you work and do some “Sound Tanning” (my personal term) during your busy day. Sound can help to focus, inspire and motivate you. Music can be meditative and relaxing, soothing a restless mind, body and spirit. Sound can do so much for you that it is a shame that we have neglected it or used it only for entertainment value. As you can see, there are so many more ways to use sound than we have presently been taught.
5. Learn to use your voice creatively
Unfortunately many of us have become distanced from our voice, or even worse, ashamed of it. There are many limiting and negative beliefs about the voice. Most adults believe they “can’t sing” and are uncomfortable with the sound of their voice. This is a great shame, because the voice is a fingerprint of the soul. Each of our voices is unique, containing precisely the right frequencies to help us balance. It is the perfect instrument for us regardless of how we think we sound; plus it is portable, with us everywhere we go. Babies know this instinctively. They hum to themselves to relieve stress.
6. Practice toning vowel sounds
Toning vowel sounds is a very effective way to use your voice to work with your body and energy system. Vibrating the body with these sounds stimulates the secretion of powerful endorphins which are natural painkillers and immune boosters. We have an amazing natural pharmacy at our disposal inside us, awaiting our sounding of it into action. Vocal toning also gives internal organs a massage at a cellular level. When was the last time your kidneys or your liver got a good massage? Use simple sounds like OO, OH, AH, EYE and EE. Repeat them over a long breath to resonate different parts of the body. This also teaches you how to breath deeply, which in turn oxygenates your blood and detoxifies the body. Do this in your car while you’re in traffic, or in the shower accompanied by the sound of running water. I have a simple rule when it comes to working with the voice: It’s not about sounding good or sounding right, it’s simply about sounding. Period.
7. Incorporate small amounts of sound work with your daily Mind Power program
Exercises like Affirmations can be combined with voice work. Appropriate music can be used in conjunction with Visualization, Seeding and Contemplation. Instrumental music is best because it doesn’t contain someone else’s words or thoughts. The instruments stimulate the mind and emotions and generate energy.
Understanding Sound Foundations
Quantum Physics tells us that everything is a vibration of energy. Even solid objects like walls and mountains and our physical bodies, are vibrations of energy at different frequencies. Solid matter is actually quite empty when viewed from a quantum level. Our thoughts are also vibrations of energy. And now there is compelling evidence that these vibrations are made of sound.
Our religions also seem to agree: The ancient Vedic scriptures say, “Nada Brahma” – the world is Sound. In the Hindu tradition as well as in the creation stories of many cultures, including the Aztecs, the Persians, the Inuit and the Malayans, it was believed that the Universe was created by sound. The Bible says, “In the beginning was the word…”, and what is a word but a sound? Interestingly, even scientists refer to the creation of the Universe as a sound. They call it “The Big Bang.”
Taking this a step further, anything that vibrates creates a sound. This may be audible or inaudible. Blow a dog whistle and your dog reacts. You hear nothing but he does. Whales and dolphins can hear frequencies far outside of our spectrum of hearing. An important starting point in understanding the principles of Sound Therapy is to recognize that: Sound exists beyond that which we can hear. Sound is in fact quite a magical and mysterious entity. Think of it as the substance that makes up everything that exists in the universe — visible and invisible. We live within a giant vibrating orchestra, and we are musicians and conductors in the orchestra.
If you scatter iron filings onto a glass pane and drag a violin bow across the edge, patterns will emerge on the surface. These are a result of the vibration (sound) caused by the bow. Experiments, carried out in the 1950s by Dr. Hans Jenny using a machine called a Tonoscope, showed that there is a direct relationship between sound and physical form. In fact, sound creates form. This may seem arbitrary, but let me emphasize it because it is far more profound than it seems: Sound Creates Form.
In his experiments, Dr. Jenny was able to show that frequencies of sound created life-like shapes out of inert materials (liquids, pastes, soil particles). Some of these resembled galaxies. Others resembled storm systems as seen from modern day satellites. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. A moving snake appeared by resonating a drop of water on some Vaseline. Mountain ranges took shape out of pastes. The higher the frequency the more complex the shapes. Cells in the process of division and living creatures materialized out of ‘dead’ matter. As long as the sound was sustained, they were ‘alive’. As soon as it was removed, they returned to their inert, lifeless state. Isn’t this what happens to our body when we die? As long as our Life Force runs through it we are animated. When it leaves us, the body returns to inert matter, to flesh and bones that decay into their original elements. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Sound Therapy is the knowledgeable use of sound to harmonize the human being. It works on the physical level, affecting the cells that make up our body. It works on the emotional level, guiding us to places deep within that we cannot reach on our own. It works on the level of the mind, helping us to access deep-seated unconscious thoughts, ideas and beliefs. It works on the brain, balancing the frequencies that are part of the process of thinking, learning, relaxing. It helps to restore balance in the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of life.
Sound connects us to our environment and to the Universe. We live in a Quantum Soup of Sound. We Dance to the Sound of the Divine Song. Music is often called “food for the soul”, and indeed it is. There isn’t a single spiritual tradition that doesn’t use some form of sound. From the hymns of the Christian church, to the chants of the eastern traditions, to the drumming of the Shaman. Plato talked about “the music of the spheres”. Pythagoras, well known as a mathematician, was also a sound healer. He trained in the Egyptian Mystery Schools. He invented musical instruments for healing and described music using the language of mathematics.
Since modern science has confirmed that sound effects us on many different levels, we can now go ahead and explore the many diverse avenues available for us to use. We need to make sound a meaningful and constructive tool in our life. A tool for physical health, mental stability, emotional processing and even spiritual enlightenment. With awareness and intent, there is no area that cannot be affected by sound. This truly is a sound foundation for transformation. We are, after all, Beings made of Sound.
My experiences have shown me beyond doubt that there is something of great importance here and this needs to be explored, experimented with and expanded. Simply stated, Sound Therapy is a revolutionary and user-friendly practice that is now ready to reclaim its rightful place in the world of healing and self therapy.
How can you bring sound into your life as a tool for personal development? Do you need a sound healer? Well, actually, you are a sound healer. It’s part of you; it’s just that no one ever told you this before.
I hope that these simple ideas have given you some food for thought, as well as something practical to work with. Like Mind Power, sound work is a practice, not a philosophy. Try it out and see how it works for you. It can make a significant difference to your well-being. Be creative, and most importantly, as John would say, “Have fun!”
Article by Steve Tsakiris: Steve Tsakiris lives in Johannesburg and holds workshops in South Africa. Get in touch with Steve at constrat@mweb.co.za.
