Healing with sound dates back as far as ancient Greece.
Apollo was the god of music and medicine. Aesculapius cured mental disorders with songs. The philosophers Plato and Aristotle claimed that music affected the soul and the emotions. Hippocrates played music for his patients, too. In Ancient Egypt, music therapy was a staple in temples. In biblical times, instruments were used to vanquish evil spirits from human souls. Native American culture uses song and dance to heal the sick.
Instances of sound healing therapy are limitless.
Fast forward a few centuries to the 1940s, when the United States military incorporated music into their programmes for the recuperation of army personnel during World War II. This is often described as the official dawn of Sound Healing.
Today it is used in all aspects of medicine and spiritual growth. While it is still considered an alternative to modern medicine, scores of evidence suggest that it is effective — and necessary — to our emotional and psychological health.
Yet, it remains misunderstood.
Some people assume that those who partake in sound healing therapy are crackpots who seek magical solutions to medical problems. However, sound healing, has a basis in both neurology and psychology.
When listening to upbeat or cheery music, or when listening to deep, melancholy songs, our emotions flare and we can better process our feelings. The difference is that we only care to listen to sad songs when we are feeling sad because (and here’s the kicker) we know it makes us feel better.
A 2006 study done by the Journal of Advanced Nursing discovered that those who listen to music feel less pain and experiences less anxiety than those who don’t.
Since sounds come at different frequencies and we too emit our own waves, healing with sound happens by matching frequencies to those that are conducive to healing and relaxation.
A study in the 1970s proposed that when one tone is played to one ear, and a different tone is played to the other, the two hemispheres of the brain connect and create a third (internal) tone called a binaural beat.
Binaural beats synchronise the brain, providing clarity, alertness, and greater concentration. It’s solid evidence that our brains and bodies respond to sound in both a cognitive and physical way.
So, let’s say you have a headache. A sound can be played that will override the pain brainwaves. Or, let’s say you’re in a bad mood after a poor night’s sleep. Playing a relaxing song might lift your spirits and help you forget you’re aggravated. Sounds and songs also elicit memories retrieval, and this can be used to help patients who are traumatised or depressed.
There are a number of methods, instruments, and techniques for using sound therapy. But at its foundation is the premise of entrainment.
Entrainment is a method of synchronising our brainwaves by producing a stable, solid frequency that our brains adjust to and then match.
Healing with sound can improve or cure many ailments including:
It can also bring about:
Clarity and balance
Improved memory and concentration
A stronger immune system
Heightened awareness, both of the self and the environment.
Almost everything we experience in the universe is simply our perception of waves.
When sound waves reach our ears, they are converted into electrical signals that travel up the auditory nerve into the auditory cortex, the part of the brain that processes sound. Once sound waves reach our brains, they trigger responses in our bodies.
This process alters our emotions, releases hormones, and triggers certain impulses.
Although research on how music changes our brains is lacking, there is evidence to suggest that musicians have different brains than those who are not musically inclined.
Research has shown that the brains of musicians are more symmetrical. And that the parts of the brain responsible for motor and cognitive functioning, coordination, and reasoning, are significantly larger. And thanks to an enlarged corpus callosum, the two hemispheres of the brain have better communication.
In neurological studies, it has been proven that listening to music makes us more productive and creative. It can relieve stress and improves our moods.
This is because listening to music floods our brains with dopamine. It also releases oxytocin, a natural painkiller, and hormone that allows us to bond with others. In fact, oxytocin is most commonly found in mothers during labor.
Music also helps language development and improves communication.
It’s even been shown to increase our IQs, so it’s safe to say that music makes us smarter. It improves our memory too, warding off brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s.
Music is powerful. It can change our brains, and so it changes our bodies.