Although it’s commonly accepted that listening to music may quickly lift your spirits, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that there are many more advantages to doing so. According to research, music significantly impacts your body and psyche. Music therapy, a developing area of medicine, employs music to promote healing. We have known the importance of music and its power since the dawn of time. Music therapy is a new career that emerged after World War II. The forms and techniques of music therapy have made a significant difference in a wide range of contexts, with far-reaching effects. When used with conventional therapies, positive psychology, or a stand-alone intervention, music therapy has several advantages.
Since the beginning of time, there has been music. Each known civilization includes it. It can make you happy, get your feet moving, and help you remember something that happened in the past. Researchers are looking into how music might promote healthier bodies and minds. It impacts your thoughts, feelings, movements, and more when you listen to or make music. Modern technologies are assisting researchers in their quest to understand the brain’s functioning, the areas of the brain that are affected by music, and the potential therapeutic benefits of music for various diseases and ailments.
What is Sound Wellness Therapy?
Sound healing therapy is one of the most well-liked trends in the industry. For thousands of years, it has been utilized to dispel evil spirits, balance the body’s vibration, and alleviate emotional and mental health issues. Sound therapy, sometimes known as music therapy, is a method that uses music or other sounds to improve wellbeing. The gadgets and recordings are available online at home and come in various forms that are helpful for a wide range of diseases. Music therapy and sound baths are two examples of treatments under sound therapy. It is a sensory therapy, like massage therapy, which promotes healing through touch and has been used for ages by many cultural groups.
Although music therapy is the most common type used in the US, the usage of specific tones and frequencies has been increasing. Sound and music are basic, low-cost, non-invasive therapeutic methods. Like how different therapies are, there are many types of sound healing. One of the most popular types of sound therapy is sound baths, which use objects like bowls to create “a deeply immersive, full-body listening experience.” Other types include music therapy, which uses therapist-guided sounds to improve memory and reduce stress, and binaural beats, which involve playing two tones in each ear. Still, the brain interprets as a single, almost euphoric tone.
It has been demonstrated that music can greatly and deeply impact the mind and body, reducing anxiety, exhaustion, and chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting. Music therapy is used in some hospitals to induce sleep, lessen muscle tension, improve patients’ emotions, and fight despair. Additionally, music therapy is utilized to lift the spirits of psychiatric patients and enliven nursing home residents. Simple activities like singing, playing an instrument, or listening to music can be used as sound therapy. Along with meditation or guided imagery, music therapy is another option. To reduce pain and muscle tension, tuning fork therapy applies the vibrations of calibrated metal tuning forks to various body regions. Sound treatment may be effective because our bodies respond naturally to multiple rhythms. Your heart naturally beats more slowly, your breathing becomes deeper, and your brainwaves slow down when you listen to quiet, calming music—all signs of the relaxation response.
Types of Sound Healing Therapy
Some people might be skeptical of sound healing as an alternative medicine. After all, it cannot be easy to comprehend how vibration and sound waves can aid your body’s recovery. However, this complementary treatment approach is effective. Since ancient times, sound therapy has been practiced using music, which has long been recognized for its therapeutic benefits. Greek thinkers have confirmed its curative properties. The Bible also recounts the tale of King Saul, whose sadness was relieved by David’s harp music. Other than musical instruments, sound healing procedures can also employ different sounds. One is the human voice, which is also used to treat numerous illnesses.
1. Yogi
The yogic traditions, which have also used various aspects of sound healing over the years, maybe better known to many Westerners. Yogis employ sound vibrations from their voices and instruments. Sanskrit mantras, a form of healing prayer, are composed of Baja, or seed syllables. When chanted, they have beneficial benefits on the body and psyche.
2. Qigong
Certain chants and noises are utilized in the traditional Chinese exercise known as Qigong to activate different bodily organs. There are six key therapeutic sounds in Qigong, often called Liu Zi Jue, and they involve matching breath and movement to sounds and vibrations. The method has its roots in Chinese Traditional Medicine, which is still frequently used today.
3. Toning
Toning, a method for sound healing, was widely used in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians utilized toning, which involves adjusting vowel sounds through voice and breath, to produce a healing chant that they thought would restore the body’s natural rhythms. The Band of Peace pyramids and other entire structures were constructed in Egypt to maximize the healing effects of sound during ceremonies. Each pyramid chamber has a unique harmonic that closely resembles the harmonics of the cavities found throughout the human body. Sound healing procedures restore The patient’s body to the right harmonics.
4. Tibetian Bowls
Tibetan singing bowls are also known as standing bells. They are frequently employed as musical instruments for new-age music as well as for religious practices like Buddhist meditation chanting. The most exciting applications for Tibetan singing bowls, meanwhile, are in sound therapy. They are widely used to restore the body’s normal vibrational frequency because of the diversity of sounds they may produce. Many illnesses, including those associated to stress, depression, and the majority of diseases are thought to respond favorably to the rich tones created by Tibetan bowls.
5. A Gong Bath
A gong bath or a sound bath, is an incredibly ancient sound-healing technique from Asia. It is said that the body’s entire water content vibrates, producing a wonderful sense of wellbeing. The reason it is called a “bath” is because the attendees will soak in sound waves. Similar to gong baths are massages. If you would want a massage but don’t want to be touched, this is an excellent substitute. Various harmonics that cause vibrations are produced during a gong bath meditation. Conventional wisdom and cutting-edge research hold that these frequencies harmonize your entire being, and this harmonic condition facilitates healing.
6. Tuning Fork
Since ancient times, people have used tuning forks to determine whether a musical instrument is in tune. Tuning forks were initially used by orthopedists to identify stress fractures in large bones. Later, sound therapists begin enhancing the energy in the areas of the body they are using vibrations to mend. These “good vibes” will result in relaxation, nervous system equilibrium, and greater physical vitality. The moment the fork is struck, it starts to vibrate. The area of air around it vibrates at the same frequency as it does. The space’s vibration “alters” the biochemistry of the body. The chakras are brought back into equilibrium, maintaining the complete harmony of the muscles, neurological system, and organs.
7. Om Chanting
Chanting is something that most of us have heard about. Gregorian chant is among the most well-liked chanting music that is currently known. Chanting will cause you to be transferred to another universe, as you will notice. But chanting the Om is different. It is a sacred utterance or mantra typically said at the beginning and end of yoga sessions. The first phase of meditation is chanting. Additionally, it aids in preserving health and well-being. According to research, chanting can regulate heart rate, reduce blood pressure, boost circulation, release endorphins, and help the body’s metabolism. Chanting can also reduce stress by assisting with mental focus.
8. Classical Music
There is a cause for the continued popularity of Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and other great classical musicians. We are somehow taken to this ideal universe where beautiful things happen when we listen to their music. In addition to being a crucial instrument for sound healing, classical music is also utilized to improve learning and creativity and for pregnancy and infant development. Even physical disorders like high blood pressure and muscle strain can be treated with classical music. Patients with various illnesses are being helped by using music therapy as a sound healing strategy. Music therapy professionals are discovering the benefits of employing music to treat patients suffering from depression, stress, anxiety, etc.
9. Humming
One of our first responses when we are delighted is to hum. Although it seems quite simple, the music vividly captures our emotions. And the best part is that virtually everyone is capable of humming. According to studies, humming can improve sleep, promote tranquility, and even trigger the release of pleasant neurotransmitters like oxytocin in the brain. Additionally, humming can increase airflow between the nasal cavity and the sinuses. Your sinuses may benefit from this in terms of health. In addition, the report mentioned that humming is frequently used in yoga and plays a significant part in meditation. This relieves stress and helps to quiet the mind.
10. Kirtan
Sound healing frequently makes use of the Kirtan practice. It derives from Bhakti, a Hindu tradition emphasizing loving and devoted service to the divine. Kirtan is a type of music that recounts stories by narrating, reciting, describing, and singing them. A leader or wallah will sing the mantra during a kirtan session, and the audience will respond. The audience will be able to connect with everyone through this conversation. You can meditate, exercise your right to free expression, develop your capacity for giving and receiving, and accept vulnerability through kirtan. You will experience inner healing as you take in all of these skills.
History of Sound Wellness Therapy
Since ancient times, music and singing have been employed by many cultures to heal the body and the spirit. The ancient Egyptians thought musical incantations might be a powerful means of healing. Native American tribes also held the notion that some sounds had therapeutic qualities. Yoga practitioners use sound vibrations in the traditional Indian form of nada yoga to reduce tension and quiet the mind.
The practice of sound healing therapy has its roots in ancient Tibetan and Himalayan traditions. Sound healers use Tibetan singing bowls and metal bowls that were historically used in spiritual and therapeutic practices performed by monks in Nepal and Tibet. These bowls have lately gained popularity in Western nations as a result of recent scientific studies that have validated their historical healing properties. There aren’t many antiques or even items from Tibet that are utilized and sold today. When a wooden mallet is used to strike or rub the singing bowls, they vibrate and produce sound.
1. Didgeridoo of the Aborigines of Australia
The Aboriginal people of Australia are the first known tribe to have used sound healing. For over 40,000 years, the Aboriginal people of Australia have employed a traditional instrument called the didgeridoo for sound therapy. The didgeridoo is a wind instrument that vibrates the lips to produce a continuous sound while using a unique breathing technique. Eucalyptus or ironwood hollow tree branches are used to make the didgeridoo. Elders in Aboriginal cultures have employed the didgeridoo for sound healing by playing the instrument nearby to create a low-frequency sound that has therapeutic effects on people and animals. Broken bones, torn muscles, and various other ailments have all been treated with it.
2. Pythagoras: The Father of Music
Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher, is regarded as the “father of music” because he first recommended music as healing and discovered musical intervals. He investigated the therapeutic potential of harmonic frequencies. He applied his ideas to everything from music, architecture, and politics to family, friends, and personal development. Sound healing was used to treat mental illnesses in ancient Greece. Greek doctors practiced sound healing with instruments like flutes, lyres, and zitters, using vibration to treat gastrointestinal difficulties, mental health conditions, and sleep disorders.
3. Henry Wilhelm Dove
In 1839, Heinrich Wilhelm Dove discovered that binaural beats have a neurological impact. American physicians found in 1896 that listening to music might increase blood flow and sharpen thinking. Being completely enveloped in music is not a new sensation. It has been around for ages and has developed into what we now refer to as binaural beats. When two slightly different frequencies are played in each ear to produce a binaural beat, the brain detects a third frequency. Since then, researchers have been looking into the potential effects of this acoustic technology on mental states like relaxation, concentration, and even pain relief.
4. Sir Peter Guy Manners
During the turn of the 20th century, English osteopath Sir Peter Guy Manners transformed sound therapy into a discipline of science and medicine in the West. His 1960s research was focused on the application of audible voice frequency in various treatment modalities. He was adamant that using sound healing techniques helped the body’s natural healing processes. He used these methods to research and cure rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, and chronic inflammation. Manners discovered more than 600 therapeutic frequencies and assigned matching physiological areas to each one.
5. Simon Heather
In 1996, Simon Heather, an acupuncturist from the United Kingdom, founded the UK Sound Healers Association. To advance sound healing in the UK, this group participated in the 2005 establishment of the College of Sound Healing. Two years after the association’s founding, Heather began teaching sound healing to therapists and healers. He shared his opinions on the method with the world during the next decades.
The Modern Approach to Audio Therapy
The establishment of numerous models of practice and the growth of ways that practitioners use in their work have been hallmarks of the development of music therapy on a global scale. Some common modern audio therapy models experts use in music and sound wellness are here. Every model and approach emphasizes or clarifies a component of music therapy that the model’s creators felt was crucial, such as the musical, sociocultural, relational, behavioral, or cause-response dimensions. Every model and approach also mentions and emphasizes each of these elements.
1. Music Therapy by Nordoff-Robbins
In the late 1950s, Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins started offering therapeutic music lessons to kids receiving special education services. Before he made a name for himself as a leader in the field of music therapy, Paul Nordoff spent 25 years as a composer. When they started working together, Clive Robbins was a special educator working with children with disabilities. The model’s primary focus on music and the fact that music’s forces, experiences, processes, and structures serve as the foundation for music therapy processes are two of its key characteristics. In addition to training workshops for qualified practitioners of alternative techniques, many nations provide training based on the Nordoff-Robbins paradigm.
2. The Field of Play
This method was created by Carolyn Kenny and devoted to the investigation of the fields of music therapy and indigenous studies. This practice depends on the practitioner acknowledging the value of self-awareness, not just of their psychological condition, but also their feelings and moods, as well as the larger cultural and societal context that influenced their values and outlook of the world. To experience empathy for others, practitioners must try to comprehend the conscious and unconscious values they hold because of their developmental and cultural background. Even if they do not use it as their primary practice model, any music therapy professional can benefit from the field of play. Returning to the playing field can provide additional rewards for the seasoned practitioner by encouraging self-confidence and engagement with others.
3. Community Music Therapy
Community music therapy aims to uphold and develop music therapy techniques that entail inclusive and cooperative interactions between practitioners and their patients. German innovator Christoph Schwabe created community music therapy, a type of social music therapy that emphasizes the group instead of the individual. Music therapy in the community promotes participation in music and social inclusion, equal resource access, and joint initiatives for health and wellness in modern societies.
4. Resource-oriented Music Therapy
Rolvsjord created the resource-oriented approach to music therapy. Her multidisciplinary theoretical foundations for resource-oriented music therapy included the empowerment philosophy, the common factors approach, positive psychology, and contemporary musicology. A resource-oriented strategy would encourage the development of one’s strengths, resources, and potentials; it would promote equitable participation as opposed to intervention; it would place the individual inside their context; and it would consider music as a resource for health. Resource-driven music therapy emphasizes the value of pleasant feelings and experiences in the therapeutic process and the importance of good health. The sociology of music and a variety of psychotherapy modalities emphasize this positivity.
5. Cultured Centered Music Therapy
To mix current approaches to working with and thinking about music therapy practice, Brynjulf Stige created culture-centered music therapy. His motivation for creating this approach came mostly from the works of music therapists Even Ruud and Carolyn Kenny and cultural psychology. According to him, culture is “the accumulation of practices and technological advancements that enable and govern human coexistence.” Culture can refer to behaviors, rites, and even mental and emotional processes. Music therapy considers how music participation might increase a person’s opportunities.
Benefits of Sound Therapy
Here are some of the health-improving advantages of sound and music; recent studies have shown that sound healing has several physiological and psychological benefits. Health problems and disease are greatly influenced by stress. It’s difficult to decompress and recharge in our modern environment because of many stimuli, diversions, and sounds. For alleviation, a lot of people are using sound therapy. This acoustic treatment uses sound vibrations to calm the body and mind, which has several advantages in healing. Additionally, sound therapy is pleasurable and speaks to the soul. Let’s talk about the benefits of sound therapy and how it can help you feel more at ease and healthy.
1. Reduce Stress
Stress is the primary cause of more than 90% of health issues, and sound healing is one of the best ways to reduce stress. Health and relaxation reflect harmony, while stress and disease reflect discord. Your body and mind are calmed by sound therapy, which helps you deal with stress-related problems and enhances your health. You regain harmony, balance, and flow in your mind, body, and soul as soothing tones envelop and pass through your body. This may result in a revitalized sense of wellbeing, contentment, and purpose.
2. Offers Deep Relaxation
Deep relaxation is one of the most important and widespread advantages of sound therapy. The noises enter our entire system, restoring balance. So, even only the benefit of relaxation makes a sound healing session worthwhile. We could all use a little peace and quiet with our hectic schedules and everything happening in the world.
3. Improved Health
By lowering stress, sound therapy promotes health by inducing a calm rest-and-digest healing response, which is how sound healing develops “sound health.” Nitric oxide (NO), produced during this parasympathetic state, enhances blood flow, cell efficiency, and circulation, all support good health.
4. It assists in removing energetic barriers.
As their chakras open, clear, and are balanced during sound therapy, some patients can experience deep healing by having blocked energy released. Sound therapy practitioners say it is an “energetic deep tissue massage” that leaves you feeling rejuvenated and in equilibrium. You can have other physical symptoms during the healing process, such as tingling in your hands or a sense of heat or cold. Without identifying or identifying with the feelings, breathe into them. Instead, concentrate on your breathing as you let them go.
5. Unburden Suppressed Emotions
It makes sense that sound affects how you feel because everything, including you, vibrates at a certain frequency. Because of this, certain emotions can be evoked by music. Sound therapy allows you to uncover and let go of suppressed emotions, traumas, and memories. As this energetic weight dissipates, you begin to feel lighter and more at ease. Therapeutic sound can benefit anxiety and depression because of these emotional changes. On our dynamic chemistry, sound has a direct impact. Not only do some musical genres make us feel joyful or depressed, but certain frequencies can also change our brainwave patterns, affecting our emotional states.
6. Improve Mood
The sounds you hear throughout the day significantly impact your mood, even if you might not be aware of it. A construction site, for instance, may cause you to feel agitated and on edge, yet the peaceful sounds of nature might make you feel at ease and peace. It’s crucial to choose the sounds you let into your area carefully. Fortunately, sound therapy offers a way to improve your mood by using high-vibrational frequencies that promote emotions of well-being. A study found that 30 minutes of live music listening raised dopamine levels. You feel joyful and motivated after consuming this “feel-good” neurotransmitter. The advantages of recorded music are similar.
7. Increase Brainwaves
Your brain facilitates the harmony for which you were created. Sound therapy enables your brainwaves to entrain, or synchronize, with the frequency of the sound by supplying a constant frequency. You feel more at ease and attentive when your brainwaves are coordinated. You may balance and synchronize your brain, body, heart, chakras, meridians, and more through entrainment. Additionally, you can change your brainwaves from a regular beta state to a calm alpha state, a profound theta state during meditation, or even a therapeutic delta state. Numerous advantages of brainwave entrainment include improved concentration, focus, relaxation, and sleep.
8. Broaden Your Awareness
Sound has the power to increase brainwave activity as well as enable access to higher realms of awareness. Ancient societies frequently utilized drumming to induce theta brainwave states, which have a pulse frequency of roughly 5 hertz. You can achieve a very meditative, dream-like state by using theta brainwaves. Certain frequencies can also open the crown and third eye chakras, allowing access to higher states of awareness. We allow ourselves to experience life entirely new by increasing our vibration through music. We connect with our higher selves, the cosmos, and everything else. Our capacity for intuition and the subtle guidance of our soul grows.
9. Get into a Whole-Brain State
According to scientific research, brainwave entrainment can also stimulate a whole brain state by connecting the brain’s two hemispheres. According to an EEG scan, one of the rare activities that illuminate the entire brain is listening to or playing music. You can think more clearly and creatively while in a whole brain state, making coming up with ideas much simpler. The brain’s two halves effectively collaborate in an entire whole brain state. You can think more clearly, creatively, and holistically when the logical left and creative right sides are united. When all sides of your brain function harmoniously, you become more clever, wise, and productive.
10. Boost Heart-Brain Coherence and Magnetic Attraction
Heart-brain coherence is increased by sound treatment, which facilitates improved communication between these two organs. You think more clearly, make better judgments, and feel more balanced, tranquil, and joyful when your heart and brain are in harmony. You can expand consciousness into mystical realms and resonate with various dimensions of reality when you reach higher heart-brain states. You can gain more harmony and develop into a powerful manifesto using sound therapeutically. When you’re in a resonance state, you release a high-frequency signal that has POWERFUL effects on your reality. Additionally, you listen to more subtly conveyed movements around you, facilitating guidance from the universe and your intuition.
Conclusion
The benefits of sound healing for relaxation may be best understood by experiencing it. There is nothing to lose from participating in a sound bathing session other than stress, depression, and discomfort, given all the promising advantages discovered thus far. Sound frequencies affect our feelings because everything, including ourselves, vibrates at a certain frequency. Because of this, certain songs and musical genres frequently evoke emotions in us. This is also a factor in sound therapy. This age-old therapeutic method employs tonal frequencies to put the body in vibrational balance and harmony.
Since sound therapy is becoming more and more well-known, finding it is lot simpler than it was even a few years ago. There are many options available if you want a more intimate or private experience. Every city, no matter how big or little, often has a sound therapy facility where people can experiment with bowls, tuning forks, and other instruments. Yoga studios are following the trend as well, so look for sound healing sessions there or ask your local teachers for recommendations. Before you try a few different types of sound therapy, there is no way to know which one is best for you. Your emotional state on that day, as well as your lifetime’s worth of experiences and memories, will all play a significant role in the experience.
