How to Use Sound to Heal: Understanding the

Principles of Resonance in the Human Body

Posted by admin on April 30, 2013 ~ The Healers Journal
Note: Be sure to read the section on Intention
HJ: Anyone who has experienced a quality sound healing can
attest to the profound power
they have to induce states
of expanded awareness and
deep healing. But how,
exactly does this work?
What is the science behind
this sacred method of
healing? As a sound healer
myself, the answers to these
questions are not just interesting, but influence how I do my work
and the way in which I approach and innovate when creating new
pieces. Sure, I can intuit how sound healing works sound being
a vehicle for the expression of vibration, a fundamental quality of
energy in the universe but how does it specifically influence the
cells and organs of the body? How, specifically, does it influence
the mind?
Most ancient cultures used the seemingly magical power of sound
to heal. Sound healing had almost disappeared in the West until
the 1930s when acoustic researchers discovered ultrasound and its
medical properties. With this discovery, research burgeoned and
today the ancient art of sound healing is rapidly developing into a
new science. There is now a mass of research into the healing
benefits of ultrasound, including its use in breaking up kidney
stones and even shrinking tumours. [1-3] In addition, infrasound
and audible sound are now recognized as having immense healing
properties.

The Aboriginal people of Australia are the first known culture to

heal with sound. Their (modern name, didgeridoo) has been used
as a healing tool for at least 40,000 years. The Aborigines healed
broken bones, muscle tears and illnesses of every kind using their
enigmatic musical instrument. Interestingly, the sounds emitted by
the yidaki are in alignment with modern sound healing technology.
It is becoming apparent that the wisdom of the ancients was based
on sound principles.
The Egyptian and Babylonian
cultures used drums and rattles,
two of the earliest known musical
instruments. The low frequency
sounds from drums and the ultra
sound created by rattles are both
now known to accelerate healing. A
Greek traveler, Demetrius, circa
200 B.C., wrote that the Egyptians
used vowel sounds in their rituals:
In Egypt, when priests sing hymns to the Gods they sing the
seven vowels in due succession and the sound has such euphony
that men listen to it instead of the flute and the lyre.
The healing chapel at Deir el-Bahari, Thebes, was dedicated to
Amenhotep-son-of-Hapu, a deified healing saint closely associated
with Imhotep who is largely recognized under the title of
physician.
Imhoteps repute was so tremendous that, 1,500 years after his
death, the Greeks identified him with their healing god Asclepius.
These two deified men Amenhotep-son-of-Hapu and Imhote were
usually worshipped together in the same Egyptian healing temples.
My acoustics research in the pyramids has provided strong
evidence that the Egyptians designed their chapels and burial
chambers to be reverberant in order to enhance ritualistic chant.

(See Egyptology section of this web site.) It is, therefore, very

likely that the ancient Egyptians were aware of the healing
properties of sound long before the Greeks.
Pythagoras (circa 500 BC) is credited as being the first person to
use music as medicine. The flute and the lyre were two of the
primary instruments used by Pythagoras and his followers for
healing purposes. He is also credited with being the first to
understand musical intervals from his work with the monochord, a
single-stringed instrument in which the string tension was
established by a fixed weight.
In the Greco-Roman period healing temples were used for
incubation, a process in which patients underwent dream sleep,
among other known modalities. It seems likely that music was
used therapeutically during their stay and the reverberant spaces
of the temples enhanced the efficiency of acoustic instruments, a
function of the solid stonewalls of temples and sanatoria.
Of Pythagorus Iamblichus noted that:
Pythagoras considered that music contributed greatly to health, if
used in the right way He called his method musical medicine To
the accompaniment of Pythagoras his followers would sing in
unison certain chants At other
times his disciples employed
music as medicine, with certain
melodies composed to cure the
passions of the psycheanger
and aggression.

Development of sound
healing in modern times
Technological sound healing devices first appeared in 1928 when
German scientist Erwin Schliephake discovered that sound

accelerated healing. He created an acoustic device known as the

Novasonic that is still available today.
In 1938 another German scientist, Raimar Pohlman, demonstrated
ultrasounds therapeutic properties in a Berlin physiotherapy clinic.
By the 1950s ultrasound had become a widely used sound healing
modality. Even to this day the underlying healing mechanism is not
fully understood.
British osteopath, Peter Guy Manners, developed an audible sound
healing modality during the 1950s that today is called
Cymatherapy .
Cymatherapy International bought the rights for the technology
from Manners and now manufactures the Cymatherapy machine in
the USA. Their version uses advanced computers to create ultra
pure tones, mostly in sets of five. It has 700 codes that address a
huge range of injuries and ailments. There are many other sound
healing modalities currently entering the market place, including
personal therapeutic ultrasound units manufactured in the Far
East, many of which find their way into people homes.

Funadmental principles of
sound healing
Resonance may be the most
important principle of sound
healing and has various definitions. In the context of healing
humans or animals it can be described as the frequency of
vibration that is most natural to a specific organ or system such as

the heart, liver or lungs. This innate frequency is known as the

prime resonance.
All cells emit sound as a consequence of their metabolic processes.
There is an interaction between the cells own sounds and those
imposed by the environment, including those applied by sound
healing devices. The resonance principle relates to the cellular
absorption of the healing sounds and/or their harmonics. In sound
healing, resonance principles are employed to re-harmonize cells
that have been (hypothetically) imprinted with disruptive
frequencies. Such troublesome imprints may have been a result of
toxic substances, emotional traumas, pathogens, or long-term
exposure to noise pollution.
Another possible explanation of how sound is able to trigger the
healing response relates to cellular ion channels. Situated within a
cella membrane, ion channels are the means by which the cell
receives nourishment and communicates with neighboring cells. In
dysfunctional cells it is proposed that some of these vital channels
are shut down causing cell senescence, so literally the cell is
sleeping. In this hypothesis, sound opens the closed channels,
supporting the cell to awaken and resume normal functioning and
replication.
Dr James Gimzewski, of UCLA, California, has taken a
revolutionary approach to studying cellular function. He uses an
atomic force microscope, a kind of super-sensitive microphone, to
listen to the sounds emitted by cells. The focus of this new
science, called a sonocytology, is mapping the pulsations of the
cellas outer membrane, thus identifying the songs of the cell.
Gimzewskis work has revealed that every cell in our bodies has a
unique sonic signature and sings to its neighbors. Sonocytology is
a potentially powerful, diagnostic tool for identifying the sounds of
healthy cells versus those of injurious ones. But it introduces an
even more exciting prospect: the ability to play the destructive
sounds of rogue cells back to them greatly amplified, so that they

implode and are destroyed. In this scenario there would be no

collateral damage to surrounding tissue since healthy cells would
not resonate with these frequencies.
Dr Gimzewski, himself a
Nobel Prize winner, is one of a
large number of innovative
minds at work in our world
that share the vision of
creating modalities to assist
the body to heal. Audible
sound therapy may offer the
greatest potential in noninvasive healing. In the years to come we may well see diagnostic
and therapeutic beds that resemble a scene from the futuristic
Star Trek sick bay. We will certainly see a proliferation in
modalities in which sound is the governing principle. Sound heals
life naturally.
It is now widely accepted that electromagnetic interactions are
fundamental to the workings of biological tissues. The drawing
below shows this effect diagrammatically, derived from the work of
Allen & Cross 1963 and Sauer 1995. Even though the two protein
molecules are not in direct contact, the oscillating electric
component of the electromagnetic field (termed biophotons)
causes the amino acid of protein 2 to oscillate in sympathy with
the corresponding amino acid in protein 1. However, the important
point to remember is that all electromagnetism is created as a
direct result of sound collisions. Sound is always the precursor to
electromagnetism.
Entrainment between two protein molecules (Energy Medicine, The
Scientific Basis)
The work of Herbert Frohlich (Frohlich 1968) predicted that
crystalline molecular arrays, within the structures of the human

body, would be extremely sensitive to electromagnetic energy

fields in the environment. (Again recalling that sound is always the
precursor to electromagnetism.) His prediction was confirmed by a
number of laboratories and his later work showed that cells also
share data via electromagnetic transmissions, an effect termed
coherence by Frohlich. (His work was later confirmed by Callahan
1975; Popp et al 1981, 1992.) It is generally believed that
biological coherence is the means by which the body integrates
processes such as growth, injury repair and defense.
Other related research (Weisenfield and Moss, 1995) concerns
cellular emission of biophotons. Intrinsic random noise, created by
the activity of membrane ion channels, may be entrained by
incoming weak electromagnetic fields to create cell signals that
harmonize with the incoming frequency. This effect is known as
stochastic resonance and can have positive effects on cell function.
Apart from the employment of sound healing devices the healing
response can be triggered by the application of electromagnetism
to the affected body part. There are many such modalities
currently in use, including shortwave diathermy and microwave
diathermy.

The role of intention in sound

healing

Sound is a highly effective tool for healing and, fortunately, an

individual does not need to believe in it for it to work. However,
there is another factor that can greatly amplify the effectiveness of
healing: creative intention. It may be a long time before
mainstream medicine recognizes the importance of intention. In
contrast, most vibrational energy practitioners, including sound
healing therapists, use a holistic approach that addresses both
mind and body. When the power of intention is held, the chances
of a successful outcome are greatly intensified.
Intention consists of using your focused thoughts, feelings and
visualizations to attract whatever is desired, such as enhancing
ones health. It seems possible that the energy of intention is
carried on the frequencies of sound. American sound healer, Dr
Steven Halpern, believes that, Sound is a carrier wave of
consciousness. One intention is the spiritual counterpart of the
sound and the combination of sound and intention create the
outcome of healing.
Another American sound healer, Jonathan Goldman, created this
simple formula:
Sound + Intention = Healing
The power of intention involves consciously drawing on the
universal field of energy. Utilizing this potent, universal force along
with healing sounds has been found to dramatically accelerate the
healing process.
Many people fall into the trap of fear, or negative intention,
particularly in regard to health issues. It is all too easy to fixate
upon the possible consequences of a health challenge rather than
on the positive expectation of enjoying a healthy, vital life. The
universe, it seems, is neutral and will return in kind whatever we
focus upon. Whether we are aware of it or not, we use the force of
intention either positively or negatively every moment of every

day. Our thoughts, feelings and imaginings are the templates for
the results and experiences of our lives. In this context, like
attracts like.
When using creative intention, there is the sense of being deeply
inspired. (The word inspiration means in-spirit.) We are motivated
to respond to a deeper calling with a firm belief, an absolute
knowing, that our desire has already been fulfilled. When we
merge the mind energizing force with the universal field of energy
for the purpose of healing and creation, our health and the quality
of our lives can be transformed.
One may ask how it is possible to have absolute certainty about a
desired outcome before there is any apparent proof. People tend to
believe things only when they see them. However, the art of
creative intention calls for a new way of thinking: when you
believe it, you will see it!
It is highly beneficial to the creative process when you act as if you
already have what you want. See, feel, and think as if your body is
currently vital and whole. When you act as if your desired outcome
has already happened, the subconscious mind cannot differentiate
between what is factual and what is imagined and believes your
intention is actual reality. The mind holds immense healing and
creative powers and will continue to work on your behalf as long as
you maintain your conscious focus of intention. Perhaps the most
important element in acting as if is to feel the experience of
having already manifested your desire.
Some people have used these and similar tools of intention but
have not experienced the successful outcome for which they had
hoped. Generally it is not because they have applied it incorrectly
or missed an important element in the process. Their lack of
success usually stems from unresolved issues and detrimental
beliefs that are harbored as internal fears in the subconscious

mind; issues so old and ingrained that the person may not even be
aware of them.
Buried fear-based issues and limiting beliefs tend to set up an
internal conflict. The conscious mind may want to create a desired
outcome, but the overpowering, conflicting influence of unresolved
issues and beliefs block success. Nothing can become a part of
your reality unless your feelings and your conscious mind are in
alignment with the more powerful subconscious mind. Many
effective vibrational healing modalities are available to resolve
these blocks to well-being and success. The magnificent power of
intention fully engages when all systems are in alliance, when the
thinking-feeling self aligns with the underlying belief system.
Intention powered by the healing energy of sound is the
key to improved health and other improvements in ones
life.
Operating on the premise that sound is holographic, sound
patterns are predicted to occur at all scales and on all shapes of
membrane, whether circular, spherical or irregular. While surface
tension characteristics on cell membranes are likely to be very
different than those employed in the CymaScope (i.e. the surface
tension of water) the principles remain the same.
For references: Click here