How does sound healing work?

Often I am asked this question, how does sound healing work?

Sound healing seems like a new way of managing our health issues. However, traditional cultures have been using sound, and movement, for many years to help them release and heal. It is becoming more recognised now as science is starting to be able to measure the effects of sound healing.

There a few basic principles in sound healing and why it works.

We often think of sound as travelling through the air, which it does, but it also travels through matter, like water. And as we are made up of around 70% water, sound is able to travel through us.

One concept is entrainment. You may have heard of this before but in relation to different circumstances. Most people know that when a group of women stay together their periods start to cycle together and this is called entrainment. It is the same for sound - the body reflects the patterns and rhythms of the sounds and incorporates them into its own system. So for example, the sound of the drum played in a particular way, will enable the brain waves to reflect the rhythm and it will allow the listener to drop into a meditative state. And this is why we can often feel so deeply relaxed, so easily.

Sound healing works on the premise that we are a big ball of vibrations - and this is supported now by quantum physics - and each cell has it’s own vibrations. When we are unwell our cells vibrations levels have dropped from their optimal level; and sound is one of the ways we can help them lift to the optimal level. Often people say sound healing is like tuning an instrument, or a sound massage as it can have the same effects as a deep massage.

An individual sound healing gives you the opportunity to focus on your individual health needs - emotional, physical pain, sleep or mood. A group sound bath is a more general session with a group intention and the energy of the group is lifted to the highest vibration in the room. Group sound baths can be done at yoga centres, Geelong Corporates, retreats, events, training sessions, hens day and many other places!

When you have a sound healing session, you will feel it in your own body.

If you would like to experience this for yourself, you can find out more info, and book in at my website: White Swan Sound and Yoga

How did you get into sound healing?

I have been teaching yoga for twenty years as well as working in Education and I ended up working at Deakin Uni as a Lecturer and completing my Master of Education with research in Mindfulness. During this time I explored many aspects of wellbeing including art therapy, reiki, children’s yoga and meditation.

Sound has always been important to me. I can remember saying to my Dad that I didn’t care what job I had to do, as long as I had music with me! For many years I ran No Lights No Lycra in Geelong and Ocean Grove and loved providing a space where people could let there body be free and move without inhibition (and alcohol!)

With a strong interest always in music and sound, I was drawn to sound myself. I had often used tibetan bowls at the end of my yoga classes. A friend bought me a beautiful bowl back from Tibet and I started taking a few bowls to play at the end of my classes. I kept getting comments about how much people enjoyed the bowls. At the same time, I was becoming aware of sound healing as a healing modality. I had also been chanting on and off for ten years and was finding the power of mantra and sound to be very powerful.

So I started to explore sound healing training, although I had recently competed my Masters and was really not wanting to undertake further study. So I began to learn more about sound healing through a free online course and I noticed the effects and influence sound was having on my body. This prompted me to start a short course which involved using sound healing instruments with family and friends. I quickly became aware of the power of sound healing. So then I enrolled in a Certificate Course and the pivotal moment was when I was doing a sound healing on a client who had terminal cancer who said it was the most peaceful she had been since her diagnosis. This sound healing and many others showed me the healing power of sound. Following my certificate course, I then enrolled in a Diploma which required many hours of individual work and this also showed me the power of sound healing. I know have held sessions at team weekends, retreats, yoga centres and Geelong corporate organisations as well supporting people with a number of individual sound healing sessions to help individuals uncover the transformation power of sound.

I was seeing the transformations both in my own life, and in others. I also realised that although the mode was new (sound healing instruments) the space was very familiar after having taught yoga and meditation for twenty years.