If sound health is the state in which the physical body feels totally relaxed, when energy flows without inhibition, the body is in a state of homeostasis and body, mind and spirit are in unison. Only then, can we unlock this state by using sound? I have been researching areas such as brain entrainment, neuroacoustics, photic stimulation and binaural beats as a mode to aid, help, heal and return our body to homeostasis.
“A solemn air [melody], and the best comforter to an unsettled fancy, cure thy brains...” — Shakespeare, The Tempest. The word health, comes from the old English word hal, a root word signifying whole, healing, hale, and inhaling. Heal, means “to make sound or healthy again. Therefore, my quest has been to explore sound- a modality to bring about wellbeing and vitality. Growing up in India, I had grown up listening to my parents chant their daily prayers and mantras. Therefore, I started my quest with understanding the influence of classical Indian music, Hindu and Buddhist chanting. Over the years I have made nature and silence my own mediation practice. Quoting Rumi, “Silence is the language of god, all else is poor translation.” I have been fascinated by the profound influence of sound and silence in enabling my own meditation practice.
As human beings we are intrinsically connected and one with the Universe and the nature that surrounds us! Through evolution inherently in each of us, there is the mineral, plant, animal and human eco-system. Therefore it makes sense that when we are back in touch with nature, we find ourselves in harmony with the orchestra of the oceans, rivers, streams, and waterfalls, the wind, forests, songs of birds, cries of animals and singing of the human voice. Hence, it makes sense that we as human beings are a multitude of frequencies from the molecular levels up to the bio-energetic fields that envelope us.
I have been immersed in the book by Deepak Chopra, MD., “You Are The Universe”, and the principle of Qualia. We are defined by experience, and what we are experiencing today is a profound “human experience” and intrinsically connected to every other species specific to Qualia. The very word ‘universe” can be defined as, “turning the One” from uni =”one” and verse = “a tune”. Therefore as a human being, we are tuning into the one verse or sound. If we research the ancient wisdom traditions of the east, this equates to AUM. In St.John’s Gospel, The New Testament it states, “In the beginning was the World and the Word was with God and the Word was God”. In the Book of Genesis, the creator conceived a fundamental phenomenon in our world – Light. In order to manifest it , the creator had to intone a sound. “And God said, Let there be Light and there was Light.” The Hindus embody this concept in the expression “Nada Brahma”. These Sanskrit words translate as Nada, “sound” and Brahma, “both the creator God and the universe”, indicating the supreme being.
Accordingly, sound can truly change the way we see the world. In that event we can say at a very basic level we are all connected to the sound of the universe. Alfred Tomatis, MD had stated , “The vocal nourishment that the mother provides to her child is just as important to the child’s development as her milk.” Quoting an excerpt from the “Mozard Effect”:
The enhanced effects of music, especially Mozart and his contemporaries, on creativity, learning, health, and healing have become more widely appreciated:
- In monasteries in Brittany, monks play music to the animals in their care and have found that cows serenaded with Mozart give more milk.
- In Washington State Immigration Department officials play Mozart and Baroque music during English classes for new arrivals from Cambodia, Laos, and other Asian countries and report that it speeds up their learning.
- “Beethoven Bread”—set to rise to Symphony No. 6 for 72 hours—is offered as a specialty item by a bakery in Nagoya.
- At Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, patients in critical care units listen to classical music. “Half an hour of music produced the same effect as ten milligrams of Valium,” Dr. Raymond Bahr, director of the coronary care unit, reports.
- The city of Edmonton, Canada, pipes in Mozart string quartets in the city squares to calm pedestrian traffic, and, as a result, drug dealings have lessened.
- In Tokyo, noodle makers sell “Musical Udon” made with tapes of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and the chirping of birds playing in the background.
- In northern Japan, Ohara Brewery finds that Mozart makes the best sake. The density of yeast used for brewing the traditional Japanese rice wine—a measure of quality—increases by a factor of ten.
In recent years we have see how binaural-beat technology provides access to many beneficial first-person experiences of consciousness. The binaural-beat process offers a wide variety of applications which include, but are not limited to: relaxation, meditation, enhanced creativity, intuition development, enriched learning, improved sleep, wellness, and the personal exploration of expanded states of consciousness (https://www.hemi-sync.com/). We have also seen how brainwave entrainment which refers to the use of rhythmic stimuli with the intention of producing a frequency-following response of brainwaves to match the frequency of the stimuli. The stimulus is usually either visual (flashing lights) or auditory (pulsating tones). Brainwave entrainment has been used as an effective therapeutic tool. People suffering from cognitive functioning deficits, stress, pain, headache/migraines, PMS, and behavioral problems have benefited from brainwave entrainment (https://www.deepakchopradreamweaver.com/).
If our cells, muscles, organs, glands, blood circulation and nervous systems of the body are all sound resonators and can be compared to a complex musical instrument. Then for this complex musical instrument to be in perfect tune: every aspect of it must be vibrating at its correct frequency and in sync with the universe. To that end, when we are in tune and in perfect pitch we are in “sound health” or “at ease”, and when we become ill we are in “dis-ease”.