What Is Sound Therapy?
Sound therapy is a process by which a variety of instruments are used to produce therapeutic sound, using frequency and vibration, the resonance of which has been shown to have a significant effect on your state of health and wellbeing. When an instrument such as Tuning Forks and Himalayan Singing Bowls are played, they produce a frequency and vibration, which travels through air and matter (resonance), much like ripples across a pond, with the 'chakra' energy system or energy centres, represented by a specific note, which in the Western (Vedic system) are: Root (C), Sacral (D), Solar Plexus (E), Heart (F), Throat (G), Third Eye (A), Crown (B), however, in the traditional (Tibetan system) it is as follows, from Root to Crown (F, C, G, D, A, E, B) as per the diagram below. These 'waves' of sound that are created, interact with the aura, the human bio-field, the neurons and brainwaves, which in turn interact with the autonomic nervous system, of which there are two primary parts, these are the 'Sympathetic Nervous System' (fight and flight) and the 'Parasympathetic Nervous System' (rest and digest), thus affecting every single cell within the body.
The aim of Sound Therapy is to enable your mind and physical self to return to a state of calm (parasympathetic), so as to reduce stress, anxiety and depression, along with auto immune imbalances within the body and rebalance the energy field (aura), thus enabling you to become more relaxed. The process that we go through within any given session, enables you to switch off, to allow time for stillness, clear the 'mind chatter' and instil relaxation, with many added benefits to this process. During sound therapy sessions, you often experience this deeply relaxing effect, upon the mind, whereby the brainwave frequencies slow down, enabling the whole self to rest and rejuvenate, returning you to a state of calm, leading to an improvement in your overall health and wellbeing.
What are the Benefits?
Sound Therapy can be a means of obtaining a sense of relaxation, through to much deeper transformation, enabling you to improve your wellbeing and gain a richer understanding of your 'self'. Some of these benefits include, but are not limited to:
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Increase and rebalance energy levels
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Ease physical tension and ailments
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Deeper rest, relaxation and sleep
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Increase mental clarity and focus
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Calming the nervous system
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Relieve stress and anxiety
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Release stuck emotions
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Improve circulation
There are many other benefits including that of an improvement in other more significant health issues such as Alzheimer's and Dementia, as well as aiding in the clearing of blockages connected with past life & ancestral traumas. Sound therapy can also assist in the clearing of blockages and re-alignment of the chakras, thus improving your overall mental, physical, spiritual and emotional wellbeing, often enabling a much deeper personal transformation.
Please visit the FAQ's page for some links to scientific research studies, which you may find useful, including those on Alzheimer's and Dementia and the improvements shown in memory recall.
What are Neurons?
There are approximately 100 billion cells called 'Neurons', the basic building blocks of the brain. These specialized cells are designed to transmit information, by way of electrical pulses, known as 'brainwaves', sending information, to every single cell, throughout the whole body via the autonomic nervous system and vagus nerve. You could think of them a bit like wires of a computer, transmitting information over short and long distances, as much as several feet away.
There are three basic parts that make up a 'Neuron', these are:
1) The 'cell body' (Soma) - the main part, which has all the necessary component, such as the nucleus
2) The Axon - a long cable-like projection, which carries the electrical signal
3) Dendrites or Nerve endings - small branchlike projections, which make connections to other cells, allowing the neurons to 'talk' to each other
What are Brainwaves?
Brainwaves are synchronised electrical pulses/ activity within the brain, these electrical pulses are created by masses of neurons communicating with each other. Brainwaves are measured in 'Hertz' and can be defined into five different states of frequency. These are......Gamma, Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta. We spend most of our wakened day in the Beta brainwave state, but to truly benefit from deep relaxation and experience deeper healing and transformation, we need to be able to experience the slower brainwave states of Theta and Delta, below I explain a little more about these individual states:
Gamma Brainwaves (31 - 100Hz)
These are the fastest of the brainwave frequencies and are associated with cognitive function, learning, memory and the processing of information. The mind has to be quiet in order to access Gamma frequencies. Gamma frequencies can be related to an expanded or higher state of consciousness.
Beta Brainwaves (16 - 30Hz)
These are where we are in our most normal waking state of consciousness, thus attention is directed towards cognitive tasks such as problem solving, judgement and problem solving. It is also the state where we can therefore experience stress and anxiety most frequent.
Alpha Brainwaves (8 - 15Hz)
These brainwaves are the mid-state of brainwave frequency. They are produced at times where you may not be concentrating too hard, or on anything in particular, for example, when you have recently woken up and are still feeling relatively calm and relaxed.
Theta Brainwaves (4 - 7Hz)
Theta brainwaves are the border between conscious and sub-conscious, this frequency occurs at a point when we are drifting off to sleep. They are the gateway to our dream state, as well as our learning, memory and intuition. They are also dominant during periods of deep meditation and relaxation.
Delta Brainwaves (0.1 - 3Hz)
Delta brainwaves are a slow, low frequency brainwave. A state where deep meditation and dreamless sleep occurs. When these brainwaves are active, awareness of the external world is suspended and healing and regeneration of the cells of your body can be stimulated. This is exactly why deep restorative sleep is an essential part of the healing process. A perfect example of Delta frequency is that of a beating drum, eg. shamanic drums.