The Healing Power of Sound

The Yoga of Sound is also known as Nada Yoga a Sanskrit word that means sound. Though the practice of Nada Yoga is not one specific practice it covers a wide range of practical exercises. Some practices include vocal play, singing, sounding the Indian scales and mantras. Part of Nada Yoga is learning to fine-tune your ability to listen to audible and inaudible sounds, which is an aspect of subtle vibration.

Overview of Sound Healing

From the beginning of time, all Indigenous and ancient cultures all over the world have used the element of sound. These Peoples have employed sound for healing, invoking spirits, ceremony and transforming consciousness. Some of the methods used have been with the voice, rattles and drums among many other instruments. Sound is the essence of creation. Many ancient traditions believed that sound created the universe. Sound was considered to be the vehicle that moved and created energy. The Christian Bible quotes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”( John 1:1). From India’s Vedic scriptures comes the term Nada Brahma which means, “the primal sound of being creating the word Aum.”Everything you see with your eyes has a vibration and creates a sound. We are unable to hear all the sounds at once, due to our limited hearing capacity.

All things in life vibrate due to the movement of electrons and protons of every atom, molecule and substance. Quantum Mechanics has proven that the substance of matter is vibration and nothing solid exists in the universe. Matter is simply a collection of vibrating waves of energy. Anything that vibrates produces a sound; some we can hear and some we cannot. The vibration creates a phenomenon referred to as waveforms. On a cellular level, our bodies are composed of a nucleus surrounded by endlessly rotating waves of energy. When we hear a noise in our environment we are really experiencing these waves occurring at a certain frequency: the number of sound waves per second. Frequency is expressed in cycles per second, a measurement called Hertz. Each Hertz measurements can be thought of as pulses of sound. The higher the sound frequency, the faster the waves are moving. Everything living thing, human or animal, holds a vibrational frequency. This may be expressed by some by having an instant “good vibe” or “bad vibes” when meeting another person. We usually do not see this energy with our eyes yet everyone has experienced this subtle level of communication. Sound has the potential to be healing, nourishing food for our mind, body and soul.

Certain music and sound stimulate and charges the neo-cortex with electrical impulses. Particular sounds make it easy for us to relax which then influences the para-sympathetic nervous system, assisting our body into homeostasis. The opposite effect can also occur with disruptive sounds, influencing the sympathetic nervous system which brings stress to all systems of the body. A jackhammer sound has a different response to the body then classical music. Nada yogis incorporate the full spectrum of frequencies, both those that are audible to the human ear and those that are inaudible, within the field of their yoga practice. This means that all forms of earthly music, the sounds of space, and even the entire electromagnetic spectrum of frequencies are included within this range of perception.

The auditory system is connected to every muscle in the body, interacts with the cranial nerves that send information to and from the brain and maintains balance and harmony within.

When we make a vibrational sound the sound wave transforms into information that is transported into molecules within the body. This is the stage when a disease can be healed or created with in the body. It is important to note that our thoughts also hold a vibrational frequency that can harm or heal the body. Our emotions flow in one of two ways: when there is an expansive sensation, this makes us feel good, activating positive vibrations of coherence such as love, appreciation or gratitude. Transversely, negative vibrations are feelings also known as incoherence which is recognized as a sensation of contraction such as fear, hate or guilt. Thoughts and feelings transfer from our emotional body into our physical. When we direct our thoughts, feelings and words with consciousness awareness into positive vibration this helps guide our life by attracting people, events and situations of a positive nature. The same happens if we choose to dilute our life with negative thoughts, people and entertainment. If you can imagine it in your mind then you can believe it to be true. Our suppressed emotions are stored in the body in formless energy centers known as Chakras until we are ready to open these areas and look at what we are holding or suppressing. The human body is a bio-electric system that can be altered, strengthened and balanced by vibration, be that the vibration of our positive or negative thoughts, words, emotions, the use of our voice, musical instruments, Tibetan/ crystal bowls, the sound of the ocean, or birds singing. Sound effects our whole nervous system. Whatever the modality of vibration there will be a shift inside the physical and energetic body that can heal or harm. The process begins with your thoughts as they vibrate- this is why intention is so important as it has the power to break up, replace, alter or strengthen cells within the body. There is the potential to create balance or disorder depending on the thoughts you hold. The vibration of your thoughts actually emanates from your personal energy field.