Sonic Hugs and Oceanic Boundlessness
A Journey into Sound Therapy
SARAH MILNE
Recently, almost every event listing in Hastings mentions a ‘gong bath,’ or ‘sound bath’ and many of us relish the opportunity to unroll our yoga mats, don our eye masks and snuggle down under our blankets while a sonic sea washes over us.
Sound therapy is currently growing in its recognition as an effective and enjoyable complementary therapy for physical, mental, spiritual and emotional well-being.
Sound travels through the air in waves. Different pitches of sound travel in different frequencies, or different-sized waves. These frequencies have a direct impact on the 50 trillion or more cells that make us who we are and how we experience the world. The minerals within our cells carry an electrical charge. These charges travel in vibrations throughout our bodies.
According to the biologist, Bruce Tainio, a healthy body resonates at a frequency of 62-70 MHz. This is disrupted by stress as well as environmental pollutants, including noise and electromagnetic waves. Sound waves travel through water, including the fluid in our cells. Sound healers use vibrations emitted by the instruments or vocal tones to penetrate the body at a cellular level, affecting the nervous system, brainwaves, energy centres, and energy fields. This stimulation can help release energetic blockages, reduce stress and tension, promote relaxation, and restore balance within our body, mind, and spirit.
Sound therapy is not a new concept but rather a practice deeply rooted in the history of human civilization. Ancient cultures across the globe recognised the profound impact of sound on the human body and psyche. From the sacred chants of Vedic tradition in India to the use of Tibetan singing bowls and Aboriginal didgeridoos, sound has long been employed as a therapeutic tool.
In ancient Egypt, priests and priestesses used sound in their therapy rituals, combining vocal toning, chants, and various instruments to restore balance and harmony. In China, traditional medicine incorporates the use of acupuncture with sound therapy through the stimulation of specific acupuncture points with sound vibrations. Native American shamans utilised drums, rattles, and chants to induce trance states and facilitate therapy.
GOOD VIBRATIONS
The fundamental principle behind sound therapy is the concept of resonance. Every object, including the human body, has a natural frequency at which it vibrates. When the body is exposed to certain sounds or frequencies, it synchronises with their vibrations, leading to a state of balance and harmony. Sound healers use various techniques and instruments, each producing different types of sound vibrations. These include singing bowls, tuning forks, gongs, drums, rattles, and even the human voice.
Experienced healers select a sequence of different tools in harmony and discord to create a sonic journey for group well-being and therapy. Qualified sound healers can also work with individuals, selecting tools for their specific frequencies and qualities based on the therapeutic aims of the session.
While scientific research on sound therapy is still emerging, anecdotal evidence and preliminary studies suggest benefits include:
- Stress Reduction: Sound therapy techniques induce relaxation responses and reduce cortisol helping to reduce stress, anxiety, and tension.
- Pain Management: Sound vibrations can promote the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers.
- Emotional Therapy: Sound therapy is believed to assist in emotional release, balancing emotions, and fostering a sense of inner peace and well-being.
- Happiness: Sound vibrations can promote the release of serotonin – the happy neurotransmitter.
- Improved Sleep: Sound therapy can promote deep relaxation, aiding in sleep quality and reducing insomnia.
- Enhanced Focus and Creativity: Certain sound frequencies, such as discords have been associated with improved focus, concentration, and creativity.
MY JOURNEY IN SOUND
After some wonderful experiences in recent group sound baths, I was keen to find out what an individual sound therapy session would be like. We are lucky to have several talented sound healers in Hastings, including Maria Christofi of The Sound Apothecary, who very kindly invited me for a private session in her home therapy studio.
At the heart of a good sound therapy session is enabling the client to feel they are in a comfortable and safe environment to be able to relax and let the sound wash over them and flow through the body. Maria certainly provides that through her warming studio and beautiful moments, like tucking you under a cosy blanket as you enter your sound journey. This is a focused therapy session and touches like this certainly helped me to relax and feel safe enough to open myself to wherever the sound took me.
The session began with Maria helping me to explore a barrier I was experiencing in life and how this feels in my physical body and the space around me. I was then asked to focus on this as we moved into the sound. Maria starts her sessions with brass bowls and a sound she calls a ‘sonic hug,’ getting you fully relaxed and safe for the introduction of the crystal bowls. These can help you to travel through your unconscious mind and experience ‘oceanic boundlessness,’ the ability to let your mind expand and travel beyond conscious control.
I found myself back in my childhood, reliving memories I had forgotten. I then saw visions of myself in woods and fields. I experienced a huge sense of freedom and felt part of nature. I sensed the barrier I was focusing on being lifted and replaced with an urge for adventure. At the end of the session, Maria uses drums and then shakers to clear any resistance and bring me back gently into the present time and space. I was surprised at how strongly I felt I had been outside of her beautiful treatment room, outside of myself. We discussed what I had experienced and how the blocks I had described at the start of the session now felt to me. I was provided with some simple sound exercises to do at home to reconnect myself with my experiences during the sound bath.
I found it an incredible experience, made more wonderful by Maria’s care and ability to make you feel like the most special person in the world during your time with her. For me, sound therapy was a powerful way to explore something that is difficult to get a conscious hold of and put into words. I know I will be back for more.
Maria Christofi is a graduate of the British Academy of Sound and a member of the Therapeutic Sound Association. You can find her on Instagram at the_soundapothecary – learn more about her group sound baths and individual sound therapy sessions.
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