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Sound is the source of all manifestation... After silence, that which comes nearest Since human beings first opened their mouths and had song emerge, sound and music have been used for healing and prayer.. Sound has the ability to transport the spirit to a realm of joy that is indescribable and leave a person in a deep state of bliss. All healing sound simply is a reflection of the inner sound stream. The Vedas (the oldest recorded religious writings) speak of Nada Brahma or 'Unstruck Sound' as a fundamental layer of reality which underlies and is the “warp and the woof” of creation. Modern Superstring Theory says that the subatomic particles that make up creation may in fact be the resonance or vibration of an infinitely smaller layer of tightly woven “strings”. Ernst Chladni an 18th century scientist used a violin bow to vibrate metal plates that were scattered with grain, demonstrated how sound wave energy formed beautiful, mandala-like patterns. Masaru Emoto a modern day scientist from Japan has photographed ice crystals from water that was exposed to different types of music showing the beautiful and profound effect that sound has on matter. In the yoga tradition, the call and response of the Bhajans and the use of mantras to alter awareness has taken the use of sound to a deep and profound level. When this is combined with ancient sounds of the sitar, tamboura, harmonium, and tabla, the heart and mind can be wondrously opened and healed. In indigenous or nature-based cultures, a rhythmic beat on a simple drum assists the inner journeywork of the Shaman. To the indigenous Australians the sound vibrations created by a didgeridoo is used for both ceremonial teaching and healing work. The icaros sung by Amazonian Shaman along with the rhythmic shaking of special leaves open the mind to a state of synesthesia wherein the music paints visual images in the mind. And of course there's the beauty and healing of the Tibetan Singing bowls. If you develop an ear for sounds that are musical it is like developing an ego. Imagine two violins in a room, both perfectly tuned to each other. If one string of a violin is played, the same string of the violin on the other side of the room will start to vibrate. This process is called entrainment. Dutch scientist Christian Huygens first observed this effect in the 1665. While working on the design of the pendulum clock, Huygens noticed that when he placed two of them on a wall near each other and swung the pendulums at different rates, they would eventually end up moving at the same rate. A dramatic example of entrainment occurs when individual pulsing heart muscle cells are placed close together, they begin beating in the same rhythm. When entrainment is applied to sound and music, different effects can occur for the listener. There can be emotional entrainment (think of how you feel and what you remember when hearing broken-hearted love songs) the rhythmic entrainment common in drum circles, and melodic entrainment. Entrainment in music has the potential to resonate with the listener’s feelings and to transform negativity into positivity, sadness into joy, and illness into healing. On a deeper level of entrainment, binaural beat technology can be used. This is a technique that uses slightly different tones played in each ear within recorded music where the difference in the frequency from the right ear to the left ear creates a third, highly controllable resonant pattern. A skilled practitioner/musician can precisely control the healing effect created by this upon the listener. The use of tuning forks placed on acupuncture points and subliminal suggestions deepens the entrainment and healing that occurs. In the healing setting, sounds can jar loose set mental patterns, release old traumas, and transform consciousness. Deep revelations about life and life paths occur as if by magic, depressions lift and healing and joy fill a person's Being; so powerful is the healing that can be experienced through the right use of sound and music. Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body. Published in the November issue of Yogi Times.
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