What is sound therapy and how does it work?

Sound therapy, also known as sound healing, has gone big! It's out there, it's everywhere. Whether that's gongs, singing bowls, crystal bowls, chimes, flutes, shakers, humming, drumming or chanting, you'll likely find a sound bath available to you in nearby yoga studios, community and village halls, or at festivals and retreats. It's growing and booming and mushrooming.

But using sound for healing is, relatively speaking, still a newly emerging area of health and wellbeing (despite being a super ancient therapeutic tool in real terms), and one that I do find myself explaining to many people I meet. Most have heard of it, some have experienced it, but plenty still aren't quite sure what it means or how it works. I have a few times been asked if lying in an actual bath is involved!

So this feels like a great first blog post to kick off with!

First things first, sound therapy/healing is not new at all. In fact it is beyond ancient, more ancient than you can probably wrap your head around. It's wonderful that so many of us are now intentionally re-connecting with the power of vibration and sound, but really all living things have been bathed in and benefitted from healing frequencies since the dawn of time. So much so that according to ancient Sanskrit texts, the universe began with sound - the primordial sound of creation, or 'om'. This sacred sound represents all that was, is and will be, beyond the bounds of time, and is the sound from which all other sound emanates.

The origins of sound and music in humanity are thought to have begun with a 'hm' sound before verbal language developed that then went on became a more musical sound or hum - probably used by mothers with their babies, and most religions incorporate sound mantra, humming and chanting as part of their story. Sound has a rich and varied history across the world, it is a huge and complex topic that can be learned about in some fascinating and very detailed books, like the Secret Power of Music by David Tame or The Mysticism of Music by Hazrat Inayat Khan.

Fast forwarding to the present day, what do we now mean when we talk about sound healing?

We can think of sound healing/therapy as the intentional use of a range of instruments, including the voice, that produce beneficial frequencies or vibrations that have a positive impact on the physical and energetic bodies of the person they are being played near to, promoting relaxation and bringing a sense of peace and wellbeing. Sound therapy can actually help 'retune' our systems and restore a more harmonious internal state so we are humming or vibrating more 'in tune' again.

But how does it work?

First things first, it's helpful to know that quantum physics teaches us that everything in the universe is made up of vibrating particles or waves, including the cells in our own bodies, and all of these vibrating particles influence and communicate with each other.

One of the ways they do this is called entrainment, a phenomena that means different things in different fields, but essentially is all about synchronisation. Whether that's our internal body clocks synchronising with environmental cues like light, temperature and even the moon, or actual pendulum clocks oscillating in tandem via mechanical vibrations, as discovered by Dutch physicist Christian Huygens, the principle is the same. And it also happens during sound therapy, when one vibrational body influences another in its field, or in other words, when we synch up with the vibration of healing sounds being played around us.

There are many other factors that weave into wonderful benefits of a sound therapy session, including the effect that listening to the sounds and frequencies has on your nervous system, the power of wonder and awe, playing the instruments with love and healing intention, creating a trusting client/practitioner relationship, and looking after the sound space so that it is clear and supportive energetically. Lots more to come on those topics in future blog posts!

With love

Emma

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