A Return to the Old Ways

The ancient Greeks spoke of three types of music: the music of the spheres (musica universalis), the music of the internal human body (musica humana), and the music made by musicians (musica instrumentalis). Indian classical music has its origin in chakra meditation.

In the mid twentieth centuries many of these ideas came into American youth counter-culture...the use of music and sound to heal, the ideas of vibration and wellness, and looking at the relationship between ourselves, the planets, and art. It was often dismissed as hippie-speak and many people today still brush it off as New Age syncretism. However, there is more and more evidence being presented that there is much truth behind all of this.

First, I believe that the consciousness of people is changing. Here's an example. In the not-too-recent past, the so-called "placebo effect" was usually looked at as proof that a pharmaceutical was not working. "Placebo", then had a negative context typically. Now, people look at a placebo effect and ask the question, "What is causing this?" If a drug and a sugar pill are doing the same thing, there are two options...either the drug is actually doing nothing, or there's something else going on with the control (placebo) group. If the drug were actually doing nothing, though, none of the subjects would react to the drug's effects. So it seems that the placebo group has something else going on (and it's not the sugar!) What I'm suggesting here is that we're ready for a new way of thinking...which is not far off from the old ways of thinking!

Everything vibrates. Every molecule, atom, tissue, etc. in the universe has a rate of vibration. And vibrations cause other vibrations to happen. And enough vibrations produce energy. Here's the classic example: An opera singer shattering a wineglass. Her pitch (frequency) matches the frequency of the glass and she maintains the pitch long enough and the energy causes the glass to shatter.

Reiki healing is, in a nutshell, allowing the body to relax itself to a state in which self-healing can take place. Reiki translates to "universal life energy" but it is often taught (and I believe) that the energy outside us is also the energy within us. So whether we're letting us heal ourselves, or letting the universe heal us, it's all the same to me. Reiki practitioners are taught techniques to allow themselves to become channels for this energy (which, I think, could also read "to allow themselves to help their patients become more aware of their own energy").

Sound healing is based on a couple of principles. The auditory nerve running through the entire ear to the auditory cortex in the brain and the vagus nerve running from the outer ear to the internal organs help sound to travel from the ear to most internal parts of the human body. The largest organ, the skin, also feels sound in the form of vibration. When we cause sound to vibrate at particular frequencies, these vibrations will cause other vibrations to occur which will cause other vibrations, which will cause other vibrations, etc. There are frequencies that are seen to correspond with certain chakras (energy centers) of the body and these are the frequencies that most sound healers use when working on an individual.

My personal form of healing combines Reiki healing with sound healing (Tibetan singing bowls, tuning forks, gongs, toning, and recorded music) to allow a very deep relaxation and healing to take place. I also utilize crystals and aromatherapy if desired. My idea is to fully immerse the client with the senses of sound, smell, and touch.