Sound therapy has been a life journey of self reflection and integration. Sometimes a magical moment in this work shines through like a diamond when we turn our self over to the Mystery and it supports us without our knowing why or how.

If by words we create more noise, then they have not reached their goal, for the ultimate purpose is to create silence, for the perfection of Silence is an inexpressible state of being. My Tibetan teacher said: ‘the most beautiful sound is found in silence’. On this walk we learn how to apply our 'listening' with heart in a grounded way. Excitingly this lifelong mastery has no end.

The ear is the first sensory organ to evolve and it is the last to recede at death. The appreciation for acoustical nuances is built into the human brain during its embryonic development. Our auditory capacity is 10 times larger in range than our visual capacity. This memory therefore far exceeds that of our visual memory. There is an enormously greater audible functioning happening in our subconscious than we are aware of. Language and sound activates the entire cerebral cortex, the ‘seat’ of higher thought.

Sound therapy uses audible sound frequencies that stand on their own for healing. Because these sounds are without content, harmony, rhythm or emotional colour, they amplify the right brain environment (the intuitive, creative, abstract) giving our mind relief from left brain analytical logical thinking. In this quieter space we can better listen to ourselves and recognise the important difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is a passive experience. Listening is a completely focussed activity. Alert listening is a deeply heart oriented activity. The potency of sound can produce beauty and inspiration, or it can be destructive and shattering, violent and painful.

When we experience powerlessness it is often because most of the time our search is in our cognitive and rational area. The permeable tool of sound not only helps open our heart to learn about silence and listening, but it also taps into the unspoken, unexpressed part of ourselves. Sometimes it facilitates awareness to open up wherein we can discover our own inner mythology and source.

In Buddhism, ultimately our intention to reach happiness is not enough unless we carry in our heart, the loving promise to help alleviate suffering of all beings. By doing so we tap into a morphic stream of energy far greater that the sum of its parts and our activities become empowered by the great ocean of blessings, wisdom and compassion of enlightened activity.
 Sound therapy is a meditative experience where growth is more about simplification and subtraction to get to that desert-clean essential. As the years progress science is proving that beyond any doubt, sound has greater and greater vibrational healing significance. Sound creates solid ground and safe space for those who are newly entering spiritual fields of study. It can smoothly guide us from the relative material world to the sacred. The experience of this sacred place within ourself is the gift and a blessing. Ah - to become the flute through which spirit sings. There is no separation. Yonder shore is this shore.

The therapist and client actively listen together attaining a rapport. We recognise emotions and gently turn away from dwelling on them. Because energy follows attention, we then move on to a creative path of self discovery. When there is vulnerability and an open heart sometimes the numinous ‘walks in’ and we are awed into Silence.

When the client’s energy uplifts, their eyes shiny and direct, spine straightens, shoulders settle and square up, with an inner certainty and spontaneous enthusiasm, it is then that I know the intention they have arrived at, has ‘hit home’. The seeds of this enthusiasm is the kindling needed for us to strive further.

Using sound and breath the body and mind relaxes into itself becoming fertile ground for this seed of intent to take root. The mind moves into a state of trust and relaxes into letting go merging with the all-encompassing sound dissolving into silence. This space is where transmission, healing, clarity and calm abiding happens. This can bring a complete shift of a conflicting mental landscape. Sound captivates the mind to witness beyond itself and to merge with the unknown and become unknown.
Karma and trauma can create ‘memory-locks’ deep into the cellular energy which can manifest as physical, emotional or mental disease that can be triggered at any time when a situation resonates with the original experience. Stored memories can be unlocked and recognised because sound is able to gently blend through all borders resonating and retuning the energy for healing to take place.

If one talks about sound, it is then essential also to talk about silence. If we refer to resonance, then again it is necessary also to mention dissonance. Dr Prigogine, who won the Nobel Prize in physics, proved that for a system to change and to evolve to a higher state of functioning/resonance, it must first pass through a state of disruption or chaos. The sonic term for chaos is dissonance. The learning from this is to listen to and appreciate dissonance in our lives, for the challenges and crises can be opportunities for extraordinary growth. Resolution happens when dissonance becomes resonance.

Working in a quiet safe environment sets the ‘listening’ tone and gives a sense of timeless space with sounds swelling, merging and sinking into nothingness. These sounds nourish the five elements which are the building blocks of the physical and subtle worlds. They penetrate at a cellular level vibrating, entraining and healing the body from within.

The various instruments that are played during a therapy session gradually slow down and become less. Finally only one instrument is played allowing the client to float in sound and become inwardly silent.

Clear high sounds of Tibetan handbells and tingshaws (hand cymbals); subtle rotating tones from singing bowls softened by the rolling thunder of gongs; the thunderous shimmering sound of gongs precedes the rainstick patter of droplets, and the final heartbeat of the drum, giving way to the repetitive undulating drone of the monochord. It is in this space that the physical slows down and the energetic speeds up. Within this stillness the experience is different for each person.

Tibetan singing bowls are made of seven different metals which resonate uniquely according to their shape, size and the proportions of the metals mixed into them. The undulating pulsating sine wave sounds of these singing bowls entrains the brain into deep relaxation, alpha and even deeper theta states. I also use crystal singing bowls that resonate and re-pattern the crystalline energies within us. Crystal sound rebalances and elevates the etheric radiance of the individual.

The monochord on which the client lies, is an instrument that I precisely tune to the frequency of the ‘om’ or heart chakra. When the long piano strings underneath this resonant table are repeatedly strummed, it produces a rotational drone with a myriad of audible overtones and undertones vibrating through the body. Clients are drawn into very deep states of relaxation.
Tuning forks are used in sound therapy instead of acupuncture needles on meridian points, reflexology points and any relevant blocked or painful areas of the body to re-establish the natural flow of energy.
Frequency vibrations transferred to cells using these tuning forks, cause spiking of nitric oxide that sets off a cascade of physiological events directly influencing health, well-being, state of mind and consciousness. Vast scientific research proves these numerous benefits beyond any doubt.

In my view, key significance of cymatics (where we can see the geometry of sounds) shows how our life patterns can change on a new fundamental level if just one new tone is introduced.
I’m in full agreement with the ancient Greeks that all forms and processes in the universe are in sympathetic and resonant relationships.

For more info, visit www.healingsounds.co.za , www.singingbowls.co.za and www.soundhealing.co.za