Article: "The Role of Music and Sound in Healing from Cancer: Developing Your Own Sound Healing Practice" by Amrita Cottrell - The Healing Music Organization
Copyright 2000, Amrita Cottrell. All rights reserved
Introduction
Sound and music can be powerful tools in the healing process. They can be utilized as medicine in some cases, but in all situations they can certainly be used as a pleasant adjunct to any form of medical treatment.
What is Healing and Where Does it Come From?
Mitchell Gaynor, M.D., Medical Oncologist, Director of Medical Oncology and Integrative Medicine at the Strang-Cornell Cancer Prevention Center and New York Hospital, and author of Sounds of Healing: A Physician Reveals the Therapeutic Power of Sound, Voice and Music, says that, "Sound enters the healing equation from several directions: It may alter cellular functions through energetic effects; it may entrain biological systems to function more homeostatically; it may calm the mind and therefore the body; or it may have emotional effects, which influence neurotransmitters and neuropeptides, which in turn help to regulate the immune system--the healer within."
Healing sounds focus on the ability of harmonics to create vibrational changes. These changes may occur in the physical body, or in the mind, emotional and etheric bodies. When these changes occur, they initiate transformation and healing.
Throughout this century, the medical profession has focused more on "cures" than on "healing". Healing addresses the whole individual and not just the disease. Cures treat a specific state of physical, psychological, and emotional being. Terms such as "wellness" and "holistic" have become popular in today's world. Many people in contemporary society feels as though they have lost control of their life. Indeed, there are many great influences over our well-being. However, our true health cannot be insured by our jobs, or secured by a large medical institution, governed by the country we live in, or even defined by our diagnosis. It comes from deep within each of us. Our ancestors have passed on a rich heritage of how to survive in this increasingly chaotic world, but we are beginning to shift as a society into discovering the secrets of how to thrive.
Wellness can be defined rather abstractly as intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and physical vitality; engaging in attitudes and behaviors that enhance the quality of life. A true state of being "well" is not merely a condition of the individual. Our wellness exists when it is inter-related with the wellness of family, community, and environment. Diseases can manifest cellularly, energetically, physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually in many combinations of the body and mind. Cancer is becoming an ever-increasing problem in the world, and we must exhaust all possible therapeutic means in order to survive. The American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute provide the following statistics:
Since 1990, 5 million people have died from cancer Approximately 1.3 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed in 1998 Men have a 1 in 2 lifetime risk of developing cancer. Women have a 1 in 3 lifetime risk of developing cancer. Cancer is the second leading cause of death; heart disease is the first. One of every four deaths is from cancer. Approximately 8 million Americans alive today have a history of cancer. Some can be considered cured, even if their cancer returns after 5 years. Others still have cancer. The overall annual costs for cancer equal $107 billion; $37 billion of that amount accounts for direct medical costs. Treatment of breast, lung, and prostate cancers account for more than half of the direct medical costs.
Arthur Harvey, Ph.D., a music professor and advocate of music therapy, shared his feelings on healing with the Music for Health Services Foundation in 1995. He stated, "As an active (music) educator for the past 35 years, I knew I had to clarify what I meant by [healing], and [to heal] if I were to know whether I believed in healing through music, and believed it is an area that I want to continue to be associated with. While we all have our own interpretations of meanings of the concepts associated with healing and heal, Webster's New Unabridged Dictionary utilizes a musical term as synonymous with Healing… becoming SOUND, well or healthy again. Healthy is defined as…being in a SOUND state. To heal is…to make SOUND, or…to grow SOUND, or….to return to a SOUND state." In addition, I believe that we can heal ourselves by literally becoming sound and making sounds.
Our life can be thought of as a beautiful symphony orchestra. We are made up of many facets that can be thought of as instruments. When we are in a state of health or wellness, it is as though all the instruments are in tune with each other. They can create the most beautiful music, which moves us to experience the heavenly realms of health and wellness. If only one instrument in an orchestra is slightly out of tune or if the percussionist is slightly off the beat, the music looses some of its magic and power.
When we become ill, some part of our being goes out of tune or off the beat almost as though we have lost our sheet music and don't know the notes or where the downbeat is in the music. If the instrument is badly out of tune or the rhythm stays off-beat, the musical experience can be quite unpleasant. Jonathan Goldman takes this analogy one step further. He says, "Traditional allopathic medicine currently has several approaches to the problem of illness or being out of harmony. Metaphorically speaking, one solution is to drug the violinist, sometimes to death, in hopes of getting this person to stop playing.
Another more frequently utilized solution is to cut out the offending organ as occurs in surgery. But what if it was possible to give the frustrated musician back their sheet music and let the whole orchestra return to normal? Analogously, what if it were possible somehow to project the proper resonant frequency back into the organ that was vibrating out of tune, harmony or rhythm."
The Mind/Body Connection
Increasing scientific evidence supports the powerful communication between the mind and body. It is a widely accepted belief that medical treatment is effective only when the whole person is treated-body, mind and spirit. Music has been referred to as a universal language. It crosses cultural boundaries and historical backgrounds. Its use in therapy with profoundly handicapped patients suggests that music is an effective means of communication when other means fail. Music is believed by many to be an important asset in creating healing environments.
Dr. Alfred Tomatis, a surgeon in the specialty of Ear, Nose and Throat and who later became a pioneer in Applied Psychology, has conducted many research studies about hearing. Our sense of hearing is one of the first that is developed and activated, in utero. For each of us, the first sounds we ever knew were the sounds of our mother's heartbeat (approx. 50-60 beats/minute); the soft whooshing sound of our mother's breath in and out, much like the sound of distant surf coming in and going out (approx. 12-15 cycles/minute); the tone of our mother's voice, muted and high pitched resembling the sound of a dolphin. These were the first sounds that connected us to our bodies and the world around us.
We are rhythmic creatures. Inasmuch as all matter is vibrating, our bodies are a series of overlapping rhythmic patterns: heartbeat, pulse(s), brainwave activity, electrical currents from our muscles, etc. When we speak, the variations of pitch, tone, volume and rhythm, are responsible for 38% of our communication. The remainder of human communication is 55% non-verbal, and 7% actual verbal language. In actuality, we use sound and music as part of our ongoing human experience and communication network, whether we are consciously aware of it or not.
Sound is an extremely powerful tool for healing, personal growth, and spiritual transformation, which I believe are all one in the same. For centuries, sound has been used successfully to induce states of physical, mental, and emotional relaxation. Ancient esoteric traditions contend that our identity is an interactive vibrational energy system whose patterns of intention, consciousness, and information can be expressed dynamically through the human voice. Sound vibration directly aligns all energy fields, the use of our own voice is the most powerful and potent vehicle to bring about this alignment. Sound allows a person to enter into what is the most personal and sacred place we may ever know. From this place, we can journey deep into our own inner resources to retrieve information, energy, renewed vitality, balance, clarity, inspiration, relaxation, creativity, free expression, and transformation.
I believe that it is possible to experience powerful physical healings by harmonizing the emotional body. Many physical ailments are actually aspects of blockages in the emotional body. When the emotional body is healed through sound, physical healing can occur. And vice versa-bringing the physical body into harmony with the emotional body.
History of Sound in Healing
History tells us of the value music has as a therapeutic tool. From the dawn of civilization music was used to heal. In ancient Greece, Apollo was both the god of music and medicine. Ancient Grecians said, "Music is an art imbued with power to penetrate into the very depth of the soul." These beliefs were shared through their Doctrine of Ethos. In the mystery schools of Egypt and Greece, healing and sound were considered a highly developed sacred science. In ancient Egypt, the professions of priesthood, musicians and physicians were combined. Around 400BCE, Plato shared this profound belief, "Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything. It is the essence of order, and leads to all that is good, just, and beautiful, of which it is the invisible, but nevertheless dazzling, passionate and eternal form."
In the Bible we read about how Saul was healed by the harp of David. Saul suffered from what we now call major depression. In the middle ages Burton's Anatomy of Melancholia clearly described the healing powers of music. Burton was a minister and suffered from episodes of major depression. Novalis, pen name of Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr (Baron) von Hardenberg (1772-1801), was a romantic poet whose fiancée died in 1797 of tuberculosis, which later claimed his life in 1801. In his writing entitled The Encyclopedia, he wrote this about music's role in wellness. "Each illness has a musical solution. The shorter and more complete the solution, the greater the musical talent of the physician."
Around the time of Novalis, healing and music diverged into the disciplines of arts, and science or medicine. The therapeutic role of music was eclipsed by its role as entertainment. The sciences became a rational, logical, temporal, intellectual way of defining the mysteries of the universe. Scientists have searched for explanations of illness by studying its parts rather than looking at the total picture. We must not discount, however, the life-saving discoveries of scientists such as Alexander Fleming, with his discovery of penicillin, as well as other masters of the scientific world who brought us many other life-saving remedies.
Sound in Medicine?
Allopathic medical hospitals all over the country are test-researching the use of sound within the hospital environment. Music is being used to minimize pain, reduce complications of surgical procedures for patients, and to promote relaxation and the subsequent lowered blood pressure, heart, and respiratory rate of both doctors and patients.
Don Campbell, in his book The Mozart Effect, notes that places like the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worchester are using harp music in lieu of tranquilizers and painkillers for cancer and other seriously ill patients. He also notes that Dr. Paul Robertson, visiting professor at Kingston University in Ontario, Canada, cites studies where patients exposed to fifteen minutes of soothing music require only one half of the recommended doses of anesthetic drugs and sedatives for painful operations. Even President Clinton, in 1997, chose to forego general anesthesia in place of country-western music during his extensive tendon operation.
Sound, in the form of chant, tone, music, and nature sounds is being re-discovered in the healthcare arena for the enhancement of health, vitality, hospice/pallative care, numerous psychological and behavioral conditions, and stress reduction. Goldman & Gurin's work on psycho-immunology, which they published in 1993 in their book Mind Body Medicine, revealed that nerve fibers are contained in every organ of the immune system, which provide biological communication between the nerve endings and the immune system. They postulate that there is a direct link between a person's thoughts, attitudes, perceptions, and emotions, and the health of the immune system. This being the case, we have the ability to be proactive in the health of our bodies and minds.
The quantum physicist, David Bohm, who wrote Wholeness and the Implicate Order, speaks of health as "the essence of non-obstructed, indivisible, flowing movement of the self's internal harmony transcribed into the external world. When the internal and external are at odds with each other--dissonant--the result is disease or a break in harmony. In tonal music the appreciator sought the fundamental in the music as a metaphor of spiritual unity, the ending of a journey. In new music one seeks the fundamental in one's self; the return to the fundamental is anywhere, anytime, and any direction, because the fundamental is everywhere and here."
Co-Relation of Health in Music
It is interesting to look at achieving health through musical terms.
Sound:
- Transmitted vibrations of any frequency including those outside the range of human hearing.
- The sensation stimulated in the organs of hearing by such vibrations in the air or other medium.
- A distinctive noise.
Music:
- Transmitted vibrations of any frequency including those outside the range of human hearing.
- The sensation stimulated in the organs of hearing by such vibrations in the air or other medium.
- A distinctive noise.
Harmony:
- Simultaneous combination of notes
- The study of the structure, progression and relation of chords
- Combination of sounds considered pleasing to the ear.
Harmonics:
- Of or relating to harmony.
- Integrated in nature.
- Series of overtones produced as an integral multiple of a fundamental tone.
- The theory or study of the physical properties and characteristics of musical sound.
Vibration:
- A rapid back and forth motion or oscillation.
- To shake or move with or as if with a slight quivering or trembling motion.
- To produce sound; resonate.
Resonant:
- Strong and deep in tone, resounding.
- Continuing to sound in the ears or memory; echoing.
- Having a prolonged subtle, or stimulating effect beyond the initial impact.
Dissonant:
- Discordant
- A clashing musical interval
Consonnant:
- Harmony or agreement among components.
- Correspondence or re-occurrence of sounds; repetition.
- An agreeable combination of sounds or musical notes
Coherency:
- The action or fact of stitching together, cohesion
- Logical connection, congruity, consistency
- Harmonious connection of the several parts of a discourse, system, etc., so that the whole works together.
Harnessing the Healing Powers of Sound and Music for Yourself
Our body is a self-healing instrument. We have a genetic blueprint for health. We become ill when we lose the sacred balance with our true essence and become out of harmony with our true nature programmed within our DNA. Sounds and music vibrate us into a state of resonance with our natural rhythm and state of harmony and health. When we surrender ourselves to healing sounds, they not only assist us in becoming more receptive to their healing affects, but, additionally are the means by which the healing can happen. Every cell in our body is a sound resonator and lives in a rhythmic pattern. Every organ has its cycle, its pulse, and its musical note. Every system has its cycle and its pattern and its pulse. The various systems in our body respond to sound vibrations as do our mental, emotional, and spiritual states of consciousness.
Fabien Maman, a French composer, acupuncturist, and bio-energeticist, believes that each individual has one particular frequency that is unique to each person. This frequency, which he calls the "fundamental sound" has been verified at the cellular level under a microscope. Just as each person has their fundamental sound, he also believes that certain types of music has different affects on the mind and body depending on the time of day or the season in which it is played. This can be seen throughout the music of India if one studies the Indian Raga system.
This being true, we must become incredibly sensitive to our mind and body, and the signals and signs that are always there for us to notice. We must learn to pay close attention to how things affect us. It is a matter of feelings, not a matter of following a generally prescribed program of treatment. Just as we change, so must our ways of healing ourselves. We must become more aware of the rhythms of life in the purest sense.
Music for Entrainment and Diversion in Healing
The history of entrainment is linked to Dutch scientist, Christian Huygens in 1665. While working on the design of the pendulum clock, Huygens found that when he placed two clocks on a wall near each other and swung the pendulums at different rates, they would eventually end up swinging at the same rate. This is due to their mutual influence on one another.
P ractically defined, entrainment is the tendency for two oscillating bodies to lock into phase so that they vibrate in harmony. It is also defined as a synchronization of two or more rhythmic cycles. The principle of entrainment is universal, appearing in chemistry, pharmacology, biology, medicine, psychology, sociology, astronomy, architecture and more. The classic example shows individual pulsing heart muscle cells. When they are brought close together, they begin pulsing in synchrony. Another example of the entrainment is when women live in the same household, often they find that their menstrual cycles will coincide. Entrainment is very evident in music.
Examples of musical entrainment are: rhythmic entrainment, melodic entrainment, and dynamic entrainment.
Entrainment music has the potential to:
resonate with the listener's feelings transform the negative into the positive promote a state of liveliness or serenity.
Certain sounds, in specific sequence can help bring the listener from one state of consciousness or awareness to another. It can also bring our cells in our body into a state of joy where they actually pulsate with the vibration and become more healthy. Fabien Maman, in his studies of the affect of music on various types of cells, actually witnessed healthy cells that become more vibrant and radiant as they were exposed to the sounds of music.
"The
seed of the spiritual is found in the physical.
In the heart of the cells, in the spiral of the DNA, is written
the divine story. When scientific research, spiritual practice
and artistic expression work together, heaven and earth are i
n resonance. This is the vibratory promise which is the gift
of our musical universe."
— Fabien Maman
This is a picture shows a healthy hemoglobin cell exposed to a voice singing of the note G '392'. The cell clearly is pulsing with vibrancy and life as it entrains to the frequency of the sound, becoming clearly more alive and healthy. It appears to actually soak up the sound, until it eventually pulses and emits the sound.
Our bodies automatically adjust to the pace, rhythm, or pulse of the music. How many times have you walked into a room with other things on your mind and heard music playing? You stop to listen for a few minutes and all of the sudden, your foot is tapping to the music or you are swaying your head or body with the beat. Or, a certain piece of music evokes memories of a time when you heard the music before, and the feelings of that time come immediately back into your awareness? In scientific terms, our psyches and bodies become entrained to the sonic environment created by the music.
Entrainment is a powerful tool in behavior modification. In effect, the principle of entrainment directly relates to the Greek word isomorphic (commonly referred to as the iso principle). Isomorphic means same form or appearance. Therefore, musical entrainment is actually a process of joining with feelings conveyed in the music and sensing the feeling of commonality with it. One might almost have an experience of feeling a connection with the composer or performer by sharing emotions and feelings conveyed in the music, either through its creation or through the performance itself. Music in this sense can be a powerful tool in both positive and negative ways to the listener. Music entrainment is more than just a tool to be used for behavior modification, however. Music has the power to integrate the whole person, allowing for profound healing. Music is one of the few experiences that can touch a person on all levels of consciousness. It is a potent sensory stimulus that can work simultaneously on the body, mind, and spirit.
The second way in which sound and music can be used in healing is through diversion. Sound and music are used to take the attention away from an unpleasant or unwanted situation. An example of diversionary music is the playing of bright, happy, energizing music when the listener feels down in the dumps. Music, in this sense, can be used in a therapeutic situation to reduce anxiety and pain, transporting the listener to another reality temporarily during the healing process. For centuries shamans have used drums and vocal sounds as an integral part of healing practices in indigenous cultures. The shaman uses the sounds as a tool for entering into a trance themselves as well as an actual tool in the healing process.
When Music is used "as medicine" in this way, it is used to directly affect the health of the patient. An example is the use of music in "audio-analgesia". Music is used in this way to alleviate or lessen pain, and can be used, at times, in lieu of pain medications. In this way music is seen as a necessary component in affecting the outcome of the treatment. Vibrational therapy sessions can be used to affect physiological changes such as lowering of blood pressure, heart rate, lessening muscle tension, decreasing ACTH (stress hormones), and relieving nausea.
How Does Sound and Music Heal?
It has been proven that music affects us physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. We know that our responses to music are far more complex, subtle and far-reaching than can be proven scientifically. However, science has measured observable physical effects, such as changes in blood flow through the fingertips or the speed of muscle reactions to sound. New areas of understanding in the field of blood chemistry, show the connection between the body's release of endorphins and neuro-peptides and changes in emotion.
Studies show that music helps to increase the seretonin and growth hormone levels as well as decrease the ACTH or stress hormones. Music can transport people from a Beta (waking) brain state to Alpha (deep meditative) brain state while remaining awake. Music can affect blood pressure, pulse rate, circulation, brain wave activity, metabolism, and countless other physical and emotional responses. It is also during the theta state when people are the most receptive to healing.
NORMAL BRAINWAVES
Music and Sound Can Transport the Listener
Directly from Beta to Theta
Researchers believe that the brain either contains specific circuits or specific chemistries that, when touched by the sound of music, come alive in a way to make us feel emotional. They can measure these changes by utilizing a variety of imaging techniques such as MRI's (magnetic resonance imaging) and EEG's (electro-encephalogram) to look inside the brain to see how it perceives music. In a more practical way, we can play a variety of music and observe our physical and emotional responses. The music we listen to will resonate inside our head, and trigger any number of emotional and physical sensations such as peace or fear, joy or sadness, warmth or chills. It is a defining human experience, and one which science is only beginning to understand. Eventually, researchers hope to find out exactly how the brain interprets emotions from sound.
In the early 1800's Ernst Chladni demonstrated the affects of sound vibration on matter. Chladni has since been called the father of acoustics. He was a seventeenth-century German scientist and amateur musician who, in 1809, hypothesized that sound could move matter. He proved this theory through a series of dramatic demonstrations utilizing sand sprinkled on a plate that was affixed to a pedestal. He then drew the bow of a violin around the circumference of the plate. Astonishingly, the sand rearranged itself into intricate geometric designs that changed as the sound changed.
The scientific study of sound and matter was continued by the late Hans Jenny, a Swiss doctor, artist, and researcher, who published the book Cymatics - The Structure and Dynamics of Waves and Vibrations in 1967. In his studies, Jenny showed what happened when he took various materials like sand, spores, iron filings, water, and liquid substances, and placed them on vibrating metal plates. Astonishing shapes and patterns appeared that resembled many of the geometric shapes in nature. Jenny utilized crystal oscillators and an invention he called the "tonoscope" in order to vibrate the plates. His work became known as Cymatics, which comes from the Greek word kyma or wave. Cymatics has been interpreted as the study of wave form phenomena, or how vibrations, in the broad sense, generate and influence patterns, shapes, and moving processes.
In his research, Jenny noticed that when the vowels of the ancient languages of Hebrew and Sanskrit were pronounced, the sand took the shape of the written symbols for these vowels, while our modern languages, on the other hand, did not generate the same result! Jenny questioned how this was possible. Did the ancient Hebrews and Indians understand what seemed a mystery to us? Is there something to the concept of "sacred languages"? What qualities do these "sacred languages" possess? Do they have the power to influence and transform physical reality, to create things through their inherent power, or, to take a concrete example, through the recitation or singing of sacred texts, to heal a person who has gone "out of tune?"
Fabien Maman explored and documented the influence of sound waves on the cells of the body. He was fascinated with energetic healing techniques, and wondered if we are really touched or even changed by music? If so, how deeply does sound travel into our bodies? He began a year-and-a-half study joined by Helene Grimal, a biologist and musician, at the French National Center for Scientific Research in Paris. Together they studied the effect of low volume (30-40 decibels) sound on human cells.
They mounted a camera on a microscope where they had placed slides of human uterine cancer cells. They proceeded to play various acoustical instruments (guitar, gong, xylophone as well as voice) for periods of twenty-minute duration, while they observed the affect on the cells. The most dramatic influence on the cells came from the human voice, when Maman sang a series of scales into the cells. "The structure quickly disorganized. The human voice carries something in its vibration that makes it more powerful than any musical instrument: consciousness…. It appeared that the cancer cells were not able to support a progressive accumulation of vibratory frequencies."
His findings in the laboratory setting urged Maman to continue his study, but this time he chose to work with two breast cancer patients. Each woman committed to tone for three-and-a-half hours per day over a period of a month. In one case, the tumor vanished completely. The second woman underwent surgery to remove the tumor. Her surgeon reported that the tumor had reduced in size considerably, and had literally dried up. She recovered fully from the surgery and remains healthy. Maman's explanation for this incredible phenomenon was substantiated by the photographs he had taken during his case studies. He says, "the cancer cells show evidence of cell nuclei incapable of maintaining their structure as the sound wave frequencies attack the cytoplasmic and nuclear membranes." The vibration of sound literally transforms the cell structure. As the voice intensifies and time passes with no break in sound, the vibratory rate becomes too powerful, and the cells cannot adapt or stabilize themselves. Therefore, the cell dies because it is not able to accommodate its structure and synchronize with the collection of sound.
Daily Practices for Helping to Heal Body, Mind and Soul
Meditation
Prayer is talking--meditation is listening. It is focusing the mind in a state of relaxed awareness that, although less responsive to distractions, is more focused than usual toward things we want to pay attention to-images of healing, for example. There are many ways to practice meditation and many teachers with whom to study. The most important factor however, is to take a break from your normal routine each day for a period of time, become still, center yourself in whatever way works best for you, and listen. There is probably no better way to improve your quality of life better than meditation. Even without the aid of sound, meditation has been shown to have great beneficial affect on the health of the person who practices regularly. Studies have shown that people who meditate regularly have lower blood pressure, pulse rate and levels of stress hormones in the blood. Meditation has also been shown to raise pain threshold. People who meditate seem to live longer with a better quality of life.
Learn to Listen
The fastest way to alter consciousness is to sit still for a few minutes. Sitting in silence empowers our listening. Turn off the brain, and listen to where sounds bubble up inside yourself. It is easy to know the sound of your heart or your breath, but what about the sound of your nervous system, or your skeletal structure. Can you stay with the silence until you are able to hear these subtle messages from your body? When you can master the art of listening, then the skills you learn for shaping sounds become much more beneficial. When you know how to really listen, you will be able to hear with more than just your ears. Your brain and bones, your skin and vital organs essentially become ears to hear the way sounds affect your well-being.
Listening is not a passive activity. Hearing is passive. Hearing is what goes on when we are not paying attention. When you are in a crowded room, you hear all kinds of sounds going on around you, which you may or may not choose to respond to. You can hear all of these sounds and still pay attention to the conversation you are having with your friend. Listening is what happens when we focus our attention and expand our consciousness in a particular direction. Try listening to something you have "tuned out" for a long time. This may be the sound of your refrigerator; it may be the sounds of the tires on the pavement of the freeway. It is profound demonstration of the ability we have as human beings to change our consciousness. I recently was riding in a van with a number of friends to a concert in Berkeley. As we drove the freeway outside of San Francisco, there was a great deal of warm chatter in the van as we re-connected with our friends. All of a sudden I heard the most wonderful song coming from the sound of the tires on the grooved pavement. I told everyone to stop talking and listen. We were amazed at the sound coming from underneath the van. These kinds of sounds are around us all of the time, but we choose to filter them out in lieu of something else. Practice listening, you will be amazed what you will hear.
Make Sound Through Chanting or Toning
Since everything in the universe is in a state of vibration, and vibrates at various frequencies, with a little practice we can learn to shift our own frequencies to create healing of mind and body. We can literally change our own vibrational rate through the use of self-generated sounds that can be done anywhere at anytime. These sounds combined with intention and direction of pure love energy help us interface with different planes of consciousness that can invoke and evoke different levels of awareness. Attaining new levels of awareness can assist is in accessing subtle messages from our mind and body which can be very beneficial and empowering in our healing process. Chanting and toning are simple and powerful ways to vibrate every cell in our bodies. The beneficial physical and psychological affects of chant can be seen in the following story about the monks in a Benedictine monastery in France.
Chanting
In the late 1960's, Dr. Alfred Tomatis was called upon to investigate a strange illness that had come over a Benedictine monastery in the South of France. Soon after major changes occurred in the Roman Catholic Church through Vatican II reforms, seventy of the ninety monks became depressed, lethargic, fatigued, and unable to perform their daily tasks. There didn't seem to be any clear explanation for this phenomenon that descended over the monastery. They had experienced theological reforms, and their diets had changed slightly, as well as some of their daily routines. Nothing seemed drastic enough, however, to have caused this state of severe malaise. A succession of doctors attempted to uncover this mystery, trying a variety of cures, with no success.
Dr. Tomatis noted that the only major change in their daily routine was that several hours of daily chanting had been eliminated by order of the new abbot. Before this time, the monks would chant between eight and nine times a day for periods of ten to twenty minutes. The sounds created in the chants such as "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" acted as fuel for their spiritual (and physical) engines. It also acted as a means of release and provided common focus for the community of brothers. The chanting acted as an energizing mechanism by "awakening the field of [their] consciousness." When the daily chanting routine stopped, they became tired and depressed.
Clearly, they were not aware of the benefits of this practice, but they had become accustomed to the affect it had on their well-being. Upon the recommendation of Dr. Tomatias, the brothers returned to their former routine of chanting, and dramatic results were seen within five months. Literally, their spiritual sustenance had been restored. They again became healthy and returned to their rigorous work schedule, requiring only a few hours of sleep daily.
Toning
Laurel Elizabeth Keyes, forerunner of modern day toning as a healing art, and author of Toning: The Creative Power of the Voice, says, "Toning is an ancient method of healing…the idea is simply to restore people to their harmonic patterns." Don Campbell describes toning as, "Simple and audible sound, prolonged long enough to be identified. Toning is the conscious elongation of a sound using the breath and voice." John Beaulieu, author of Music and Sound in the Healing Arts says, "Toning is the process of making vocal sounds for the purpose of balance…toning sounds are sounds of expression and do not have a precise meaning."
Keyes recounts the time when she first started to experiment with toning. She said that it was more than just a release of tension. When she allowed the tones to emerge without trying to control them, she experienced a cleansing of her whole body. "I was convinced that there had to be a relationship between this natural body-voice and the mind without conflict, and with benefit to both."
Toning is used to resonate various areas of our body and bring them into balance. Every organ, cell, bone and fluid in our body has a healthy frequency at which it vibrates. When disease sets in, the vibrations in that portion of the body become out of harmony. By creating sounds that are harmonious with the frequency generated by the healthy body part, it is possible to bring the body back into alignment with the healthy frequency so that the disease will dissipate or disappear. The intention during this process is as important as the sound. Clear and pure intentions, sent with love will carry the sound to the appropriate place to accomplish the appropriate response.
Toning with Energy Centers
The energy centers in the body are known as the chakras. It is widely accepted that there are seven energy centers-sacral, navel, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye and crown. The Bija mantras come from the Sanskrit, and many people use them in their daily practice. There are many systems for chanting or toning through these energy centers. The most important thing, whatever system you use, is that you use them in moving vibrations throughout your body. Use what works best for you. It is not important to subscribe to any particular practice.
Begin with a vowel sound for the base chakra and feel the energy vibrating at the base of your spine. If you like, you can envision the color red or the energy from the earth coming up through your feet and legs and entering into your body at the base of your spine. Work with this chakra until you can actually feel the base of your spine vibrating. Use the deepest tone you can make and let it completely flood this area of your body.
Move up to the next chakra and continue with each of the seven chakras until you can feel the various tones resonating in their corresponding areas of the body. The first few times, only spend a few minutes in each area, but allow yourself to be fully present with the process. You may find it helpful to refer to this chart until you get in the practice of knowing each of the sounds and the chakras they refer to.
Let me add just a word of caution here. After finishing this exercise, make sure you give yourself a few minutes to re-adjust before carrying on with regular daily activities. Some people find that re-aligning the chakras can make them dizzy, or spacey, so make sure that you find a way to be fully grounded in your body before you get up from the meditation.
Overtoning
Jonathan Goldman, Director of the Sound Healers Association and author of Healing Sounds: The Power of Harmonics, says, "that of all the sound making devices and instruments found on this planet, the human voice is believed by many to have the most healing qualities." Certainly, this was proven in Fabien Maman's studies on the affect of acoustic sound on human cells.
Our voices have the capacity to create many different sounds. We can go effortlessly from sounding like a flute or bell to sounding like a deep drum. This is accomplished through a combination of intention, tone, and timbre. Overtoning utilizes the harmonic capabilities of the voice to create simultaneous tones which interact with each other. Harmonics are based on the fundamental tone that we identify when we hear a note. It is the tone that is most audible to an untrained ear. In actuality, the sound we hear is the fundamental note or lowest tone, combined with a sequence of higher or partial tones, which give the voice or instrument its timbre or unique sound. The harmonics or overtones are the partial tones that many times we are unaware of. With a little instruction, and practice, overtoning can become part of your repertoire of skills for healing.
Imagery
Carl and Stephanie Simonton adopted techniques learned form the Sylvan Mind Control Method which they utilized in working with cancer patients in the 1970's. They wrote of their experiences in their book Getting Well Again. They believe that visualization takes advantage of what might be called a "weakness" of the body. I would rather think of it as a strength of the mind. Whatever the perspective, the outcome is the same. The body cannot distinguish between a vivid mental experience and an actual physical experience. Psychologist Charles Gardield studied cancer survivors at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco and concluded that most of the survivors had the ability to enter states of mind that enabled their bodies to perform like those of athletes, at levels beyond the ordinary.
The mind can be trained and the body will follow. This technique is taught to Soviet and Eastern European athletes who train for the Olympics. Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder talk about this technique, called Superlearning, in their book of the same name. The practice of visualization has been used for many years as a way to assist people in realizing many types of goals. In Europe, athletic trainers have their students lie down and listen to calming music, especially the largo movements of boroque instruments, which utilize strong and regular bass rhythms at about sixty beats per minute. After several minutes, the student's heartbeat synchronizes with the beat of the music (they become entrained to the music). At this point, the trainer has the student visualize a winning performance in complete visual and sensory detail. The results of this training are that the athletes who spend as much as 75% of their training time on these exercises do better than those who compete without it.
In the area of healing from life-threatening disease, Bernie Siegel takes the same approach. He contends that the use of music is not essential, however, in the beginning, music helps with concentration. The patient must be fully relaxed and engaged in the process of "loving confrontation" with their disease. The image of the disease must be chosen by the patient, because a sense of connection and empowerment is necessary to eradicate the disease. It must be an image that is easily visualized and one that they can easily see in their mind's eye. Often patients use images of tumors resembling food being eaten by another entity.
Carolyn Myss, author of Energy Anatomy and Why People Don't Heal and How they Can, has a wonderful visualization that I used in my healing. You visualize yourself in the middle of a wheel, with the spokes of the wheel representing all of the healing options you have chosen for yourself. One spoke may be nutrition, one may be healing touch, one may be acupuncture, one may be surgery, one may be a support group, one may be toning. Visualize each spoke on the wheel with the words of each modality written on it. See your self laying down or sitting in the center of this wheel. See the wheel begin to spin slowly around you and feel the energy from each of these modalities flowing into your mind, body, and soul. Sometimes playing music during this session can be helpful for generating the feeling of movement and for helping you integrate the visualization into your physical and emotional experience. As you relax into this visualization, feel the force of the wind that is generated by this wheel moving around and through you. Visualize the energy of the wind actually melting your body into fluid and all the toxins and particles of illness draining from your body. This spiraling movement can be very effective because it generates heat, which in itself can be very healing.
Crystal Bowls
The lost continent of Atlantis, which was said to have existed for over 100,000 years beginning at 150,000 BCE, was a continent of very advanced and civilized beings. The priests who were also the healers in this civilization were fabled to use quartz crystal bowl shaped vessels to treat the sick. "As the bowl was sounded, the pure note rang clearly, and was felt in the waves in the body…It was very peacemaking. He [the priest] experimented and found three gongs were right for some, while others, not being quite as sick, needed only one or two."
Quartz is used today in the silicon industry of computers and electronics. This is because each crystal has its unique resonant frequency. Several crystals are placed near each other, and when electrical current is run through them they generate and maintain specific energy frequencies. This is the basis for the crystal oscillator used in the computer industry. These crystal structures can generate and reflect a number of energetic forces around them such as light, sound, heat, pressure, microwaves, gamma rays, as well as thought forms.
Our bodies have a natural ability to resonate with the crystal bowls. "Our bodies are more crystalline than fluid in nature," says Marcel Vogel, senior scientist who worked with Richard Gerber on his book Vibrational Medicine. Our bones and the collegan in our tissues are made up of calcium phosphate crystal.
Dr. Mitchell Gaynor uses the crystal bowls in working with his cancer patients. He believes that there is great potential for healing when a patient works with the bowls daily, and he does this for himself as well. "The bowls demonstrate the truly manifold possibilities for healing through vibratory sound. The principle of entrainment explains these possibilities; our body-mind systems are "returned" by the bowl sounds, and the effects can be physical, psychological, spiritual, or all three at once."
Dr. Gaynor reports personal experiences of relaxation and increased compassion and creativity when working with his patients. One patient account was particularly touching. Rachel, a 48-year-old woman with metastatic breast cancer, came to Dr. Gaynor for a second opinion regarding chemotherapy. In her first visit to Dr. Gaynor, she was adamant that she would not agree to chemotherapy as part of her treatment. After several minutes of discussion, it was clear to Dr. Gaynor that Rachel, had a great deal of unresolved anger about her stressful childhood with a cold and distant father and a completely self-absorbed mother. He suggested to her that she attend the support group he was facilitating so that she could learn some of the stress reduction techniques he shared with his patients.
Rachel agreed to attend the meeting where she listened to people tell their stories. She remained silent and didn't participate in the discussions. When Dr. Gaynor asked for volunteers lay down on the floor as he placed Tibetan brass and crystal bowls around them so that he could "bathe them in sound", Rachel was hesitant to volunteer. Eventually she agreed, and reluctantly laid down on the floor, squirming with discomfort. Shortly after Dr. Gaynor began to play the bowls, a look of great innocence and joy came across her face. Later Rachel shared that during that brief encounter with the bowls, she had traveled back to childhood, but one where she was valued and loved. She was able to see her true worth for the first time in her life. The sound of the bowls helped her get in touch with her own essence. She continued to attend support groups, and eventually bought a bowl of her own to use during her treatments. Several years later, after undergoing chemo and later a bone marrow transplant, Rachel remains in remission. She continues to attend the support groups, and has developed a daily meditation practice which incorporates playing the crystal bowl.
Music Therapy as an Adjunct Treatment
After World War II, when veterans returned home to the United States and entered veterans' hospitals, medical and mental health professionals noticed that music could soothe their shell-shocked patients when other type of treatment failed. A new health profession was born--Music Therapy. Today, music therapists work with a variety of patients or all ages.
While music therapists report astonishing results with their patients,.some scientists caution that no one knows for sure what music is doing for these patients. At Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx, Oliver Sacks work helped to bring the healing power of Music Therapy into the public eye. In the movie "Awakenings", Dr. Sacks finds a drug and a therapy that helps the severely disabled patients. Music is the therapy. When he puts the right record on the phonograph, the mental fog appeared to lift from his patients. The effect lasted briefly, but it was long enough for patients to eat a meal, or play a hand of cards.
Helen Bonny, Ph.D., has been one of the pioneers in Music Therapy. Her use of Guided Imagery and Music has become a mainstay in the therapeutic use of music. Bonny's work began in the 1960's at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "Music Therapy is essentially non-musical in nature. The goal of music therapy is reduction of psycho-physiologic stress, pain, anxiety or isolation. It assists people to achieve a state of deep relaxation, develop self-awareness and creativity, improve learning, clarify personal values, and cope with a wide variety of psycho-physiologic dysfunctions." Bonny's approach focuses on a one-on-one private psychological practice utilizing classical music to evoke mental imagery and elicit symbols and deep feelings from within the patient's consciousness. The therapist's task is merely to keep the flow of images and expression going throughout the therapy session. This allows the patient to organically access their deeper conscious self and find answers to longstanding questions about themselves.
In the medical setting, Bonny feels music plays an important role in the recovery of the surgical patient. "Hearing is the last sense lost before sleep and the first sense regained upon lightening of anesthesia. Traditionally, the speaking voice and human touch have been used for comfort and reassurance in hospital settings, but personnel cannot always be present to facilitate this support. Music, or the "touch of sound," may be a good substitute."
Bonny was involved in a study at Jefferson General Hospital of twenty-five patients who were undergoing surgery with either regional or general anesthetic. Through her work with patients, she feels that multi-dimensional, non-verbal characteristics of music (which stimulate the right brain functioning) help to cross through linear, verbal communication channels.
One type of psycho-physiologic response happens when people shift to altered states of consciousness. When an individual uses music for relaxation, their abstract thinking is slowed down as they remain in a normal waking state. As they continue with their process of relaxation, the individual moves through the remainder of the six states of consciousness; expanded sensory threshold, daydreaming, trance, meditative states, and rapture.
In these states of consciousness, time takes on a different meaning for the individual. Often during music therapy sessions, the individual will lose track of time for extended periods, which in turn helps them to reduce feelings of anxiety, fear, and pain.
Barbara Crowe, past president of the National Association for Music Therapy, says, "Music therapy can make the difference between withdrawal and awareness, between isolation and interaction, between chronic pain and comfort, between demoralization and dignity."
In whatever way music and sound are used treatment, it is beneficial to everyone. Music therapy interventions are favored for their ability to meet quality of life issues. As quality of life issues and patient choice are pushed to the forefront of the national healthcare agenda, music therapy is becoming increasingly recognized for its unique contribution to patient quality of life.
Scientific studies have shown that music therapy helps to relieve pain and reduce stress and anxiety for the patient, resulting in physiological changes, including:
Music therapy has been shown to have a significant effect on a patient's perceived effectiveness of treatment, reports of pain reduction, relaxation, slowed respiration rate, lessened anxiety levels, and an overall increased sense of well-being.
Music Therapy or Sound Therapy-What is the Difference?
According to the American Music Therapy Association, "Music therapy is an established health service similar to occupational therapy and physical therapy. It consists of using music therapeutically to address physical, psychological, cognitive and/or social functioning for patients of all ages. Because music therapy is a powerful and non-invasive medium, unique outcomes are possible. In addition to its applications with hospital patients, music therapy is used successfully with persons of all ages and disabilities."
Music therapy has been shown to be an efficacious and valid treatment option for medical patients with a variety of diagnoses. Research results and clinical experiences attest to the viability of music therapy even in those patients resistant to other treatment approaches. Music is a form of sensory stimulation, which provokes responses due to the familiarity, predictability, and feelings of security associated with it.
Music therapists use music activities, both instrumental and vocal, designed to facilitate changes that are non-musical in nature. Music therapy programs are based on individual assessment, treatment planning, and ongoing program evaluation. Frequently functioning as members of an interdisciplinary team, music therapists implement programs with groups or individuals addressing a vast continuum of outcomes, including reduction of pain and anxiety, stress management, communication, and emotional expression.
Music therapy utilized in a medical setting complies with the expectations and requirements inherent in the medical model of treatment. Professionally trained music therapists design and utilize individualized music experiences to assess, treat, and evaluate patients. Music therapy patient objectives are specific and relevant to medical diagnosis, course of treatment, and discharge timeline. Benefits are described in medical, and not musical, terms.
Through a planned and systematic use of music and music activities, music therapists provide opportunities for:
Anxiety and stress reduction
Non-pharmacological management of pain and discomfort
Positive changes in mood and emotional states
Active and positive patient participation in treatment
Decreased length of stay In addition, music therapy
may allow for:
Emotional intimacy with families and caregivers
Relaxation for the entire family
Meaningful time spent together in a positive, creative
way
Sound Therapy and Harmonic Healing
Sound Therapy and Harmonic Medicine are re-emerging fields of treatment that link the ancient sciences and arts with modern healing methods and tools, using sound and vibration to heal the spirit, mind, and body, and to assist the individual in establishing healthier patterns for living in wholeness. It draws fundamentally on a unified view of the cosmos, in which all things are inextricably bound and existing in relationship to one another, whether it be an organ system, a family system or an ecosystem.
Sound Therapists seem to work more on the physical body and etheric body. They use a technique called "Overtoning" where they use their voice to scan the physical body of their client and then project vocal harmonics (overtones) into an imbalanced portion of the body (or etheric center). An experienced practitioner of this technique will be able to hear changes in their tone as they scan the body while toning. The vocal timbre (or tone color created by harmonics in the voice) actually changes when the sound reaches a place of imbalance. The practitioner then proceeds to project this specific harmonic into the area of the body where the imbalance was found. This process may take a few minutes or longer. When the harmonic become less audible or disappears and the tone becomes normalized, the sounding for that area is complete. Frequently, a practitioner will find a number of areas where sounding is needed. At the end of the session, a practitioner may conclude sit with the client and discuss the experience and any lasting sensations they may feel.
This technique, while quite simple, utilizes a combination of listening and sounding. The practitioner is listening for a change in their tone which occurs as a result of their sound interfacing with the energy field of their client. They must be extremely aware of the subtle changes in their sound in order to do this technique most effectively. The results of Overtoning can be quite astounding. Since sound can rearrange molecular structure, it is quite possible for seemingly miraculous things to occur; vertebrae align, muscles relax, chronic pains disappear, traumas and blockages are released, and cancer cells can be eradicated. Clients may report feelings of being energized, ecstatic, light-headed, or drowsy. However, it is also possible for nothing to happen at all. As with many of the healing arts, much of this may depend upon the relationship of the therapist with the client and vice versa.
Presently, there is no licensure program for Sound Therapists. Jonathan Goldman, Director of the Sound Healers Association, says that he has dreamed of creating a licensure program for sound healers, but think it will take some time for that to happen. "It's a bit like the word of sound healing is this huge pie and we can all take a piece of it and work with it. Some work with sound and the brain. Others work with missing frequencies and the voice. Others work with frequency and the organ, etc. I don't know that anyone is better, but simply that different people work differently and they work with the people they are supposed to work with."
What Health Care Professionals Say About Music and Cancer Treatment
Dr. Walter Quan, Jr., Oncologist-Hematologist of St. Luke's Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, attests that: "The mind/body relationship is particularly important in terms of looking at the immune system to treat cancer. We believe that patients who are under less stress, who are in a brighter mood, appear to do better in terms of their anti-cancer therapy. I think that music therapy and imaging and immune therapy of cancer all tie together…I think it can be helpful in conjunction with biologic therapy for cancer. A study done just relatively recently on cancer patients showed that approximately three quarters of cancer patients that had their usual pain medicines but also had the additional music therapy experienced less pain then previously…Music therapy in helping patients relax could possibly be beneficial in raising the innate immune system which could have therapeutic implications for cancer."
Music therapy is quantifiable and qualitative. Dr. Quan continues: "…[I]n general as a physician you only use those things that you can measure or that have a number related to [them]…but there are a number of disciplines, and music therapy is one of them, where there is a qualitative effect which can give a lot of benefit for patients."
Music therapists complete assessments for each patient and collect extensive data in order to write a complex patient history and develop a client-centered treatment plan. The music therapist is then able to evaluate the patient during the course of treatment. All of this contributes to the quantifiability of music therapy treatment.
Music therapy is reimbursable. The government has recognized music therapy as a reimbursable service. A program memorandum was released in June, 1995 by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) that cited music therapy as a reimbursable service under Medicare's Partial Hospitalization Benefit; other coverage is on a case-by-case basis. Similarly, insurance companies are recognizing the advantages of covering music therapy as a benefit as they respond to increasing market demand for greater patient choice of health care services. Healthcare plans are reimbursing for music therapy services on a case-by-case basis, as well, based on medical necessity.
Music is said to soothe the savage beast. Joyce Handler believes it can also calm the personal demons people find within themselves. "My music addresses a persons needs for hope, encouragement, support, and comfort," said Handler, an Upland, California, composer and psychologist who uses music in her private practice, Healing Art. Increasingly, research shows that music can do more than start toes tapping. It produces measurable (unseen) benefits; it energizes, it can lower blood pressure, and it can elicit deep emotional responses.
Handler recently started using her music to treat cancer patients, but says it is beneficial in treatment for a number of problems. She has taught people how to strengthen their self-esteem and develop trust in relationships using music therapy.
Cancer patients specifically started listening to music for emotional and physical healing back in 1985, when a music therapy program was started at University Hospitals of Cleveland in the Ireland Cancer Center. The Robert and Beverly Lewis Family Cancer Care Center at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center hosted a recent workshop demonstrating music therapy treatment techniques. Handler led the event, using a synthesizer to play floaty New Age-type melodies.
"Music therapy is one of the newest and most encouraging forms of complementary treatment.'' said Martha Osborne, nurse educator at the center. "We all know how powerful, healing, and overwhelming music, can be and we hope to help patients and their families get through the challenge of cancer. "Music releases many suppressed emotions cancer patients have and gives them a chance to work through them," Osborne said.
Janet Neil, a vocal coach and accompanist at Cal Poly Pomona, said music is not purely a passive experience. "There very well may be music that has some power." she said. "I do believe that music is associated with strong memory tracers much like certain smells trigger certain memories for us." Osborne hopes the techniques discussed in the workshop will help people battling cancer.
"Having cancer is like being dumped from a helicopter into a jungle and into a maze." she said. "Listening to music and allowing it to take over the body in a sensory way can help provide physical and emotional relief." Handler said people have likened her music to "chicken soup for the soul." "I hope it gives people the tools to maintain hope through the hard times," she said. "The instrumentals let people feel the comfort. Music stimulates the right side of the brain but it also cuts right through to the heart."
Problems Music Therapy Addresses for Cancer Patients:
Pain
Depression
Nausea/vomiting
Anger
Fatigue
Worry
Loneliness
Appetite
Stress
Tiredness
Fear
Immunotherapy
- reduce flu-like symptoms
- lessen incidents of rash
- reduce blood pressure
- increase ability to breathe easily
Cancer treatments in general
- cognition function
- lighten mood
- improve quality of life
- increase appetite so healthy diet can strengthen immune system
Conclusion
It is only within the last few years that I have come to know healing on a much deeper level than I have ever experienced in mind, emotions and body. My spirit is healing--and that is the greatest and most blessed healing of all.
When I allow my spirit to sing its own song, the rest of the orchestra of my life (including my body) resounds with magnificent melodies and soulful harmonies that let me experience the totality of being fully alive and connected to both heaven and earth. Sometimes the musical composition of my life changes key, or takes on a different tempo, which I now accept as various elements of the composition. Sometimes the events of the day are like unresolved chords that have me energetically sitting on the edge of my emotions, until that glorious moment when the chord is resolved.
Having been through a lifetime of traumatic surgeries, and various other emotional and physical traumas, I prefer the healing that comes from using sound and harmony to bring me back into alignment so that I can live from the ecstatic state of health and wellness.
My hope is that I can bring this message to others so that our lives may be in harmony with each other. The power of sound and harmonics can be used to improve the quality of your life, whatever your experience may be.
If you have found this article helpful in educating you
about healing options, or if you have comments, I would
love to hear from you. Please email
me. Thank you, and blessings on your healing. Amrita.
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Flatischler, Reinhard, THE FORGOTTEN POWER OF RHYTHM, LifeRhythm, August, 1992
Garfield, Laeh Maggie, SOUND MEDICINE: HEALING WITH MUSIC, VOICE AND SONG, Celestial Arts, September, 1987
Gardner, Kay, SOUNDING THE INNER LANDSCAPE: MUSIC AS MEDICINE, Element, April, 1997
Gardner-Gordon, Joy, THE HEALING VOICE: TRADITIONAL & CONTEMPORARY TONING, CHANTING & SINGING, The Crossing Press, March, 1993
Gass, Robert, et al, CHANTING: DISCOVERING SPIRIT IN SOUND, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing, April, 2000
Gaynor, Mitchell L., SOUNDS OF HEALING: A PHYSICIAN REVEALS THE THERAPEUTIC POWER OF SOUND AND MUSIC, Broadway Books, June, 1999
Gerber, Richard, VIBRATIONAL MEDICINE: NEW CHOICES FOR HEALING OURSELVES, Bear & Co. June, 1996
Gfeller, Kate E., et al., AN INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC THERAPY: THEORY AND PRACTICE, McGraw Hill College Division, November, 1998
Gimbel, Theo, FORM, SOUND, COLOUR AND HEALING, (C.W. Daniel and Company, November,1987
Goldman, Jonathan, HEALING SOUNDS: THE POWER OF HARMONICS, Element, October, 1996.
Goldman, Jonathan, THE LOST CHORD, Spirit Music, June, 1999
Godwin, Joscelyn, MUSIC, MYSTICISM AND MAGIC: A SOURCEBOOK, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986.
Godwin, Joscelyn, THE HARMONY OF THE SPHERES : A SOURCEBOOK OF THE PYTHAGOREAN TRADITION IN MUSIC, Inner Tradition International Ltd., March, 1993
Gouk, Penelope (Editor), MUSICAL HEALING IN CULTURAL CONTEXTS, Ashgate Publishing Company; February, 2000
Gutheil, Emil, MUSIC & YOUR EMOTIONS, Liveright, 1952
Halpern, Steven & Savary, Louis, SOUND HEALTH: THE MUSIC AND SOUNDS THAT MAKE US WHOLE, Harper & Row, 1985
Halpern, Steven, TUNING THE HUMAN INSTRUMENT: AN OWNERS MANUAL, Spectrum, 1980
Halpern, Steven & Savary, Louis, SOUND HEALTH: THE MUSIC AND SOUNDS THAT MAKE US WHOLE, Harper & Row, 1985
Hart, Mickey, DRUMMING AT THE EDGE OF MAGIC: A CELEBRATION OF PERCUSSION AND RHYTHM, Acid Test, December, 1989,
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Hordon, L., MUSIC AS MEDICINE: THE HISTORY OF MUSIC THERAPY, Ashgate Publishing Co., October, 1999
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Katsch, Shelley & Merle-Fishman, Carol, THE MUSIC WITHIN YOU, Barcelona Publications, January, 1985
Keyes, Laurel & Keyes, Elizabeth, TONING: THE CREATIVE POWER OF THE VOICE, DeVorss & Company, September, 1979
Lane, Deforia, Ph.D., MUSIC AS MEDICINE: DEFORIA LANE'S LIFE OF MUSIC, HEALING AND FAITH, Zondervan Publishing House, March 21, 2000
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Lingerman, Hal A., LIFE STREAMS : JOURNEYS INTO MEDITATION AND MUSIC, Theosophical Publishing House, April, 1998
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Maman, Fabien, RAISING HUMAN FREQUENCIES: THE WAY OF CHI AND THE SUBTLE BODIES, Tama-Do Press, 1997
Maman, Fabien, SOUND AND ACUPUNCTURE: THE BODY AS A HARP, Tama-Do Press, 1997
Maman, Fabien, THE ROLE OF MUSIC IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, Tama-Do Press, 1997
Marks, Kate, CIRCLE OF SONG: SONGS CHANTS AND DANCES FOR RITUAL AND CELEBRATION, Full Circle Press, April, 1993
Mathieu, W.A. & Sell, Emily (Editor), THE LISTENING BOOK: DISCOVERING YOUR OWN MUSIC, Shambhala, June, 1991
Mathieu, W.A., HARMONIC EXPERIENCE : TONAL HARMONY FROM ITS NATURAL ORIGINS TO ITS MODERN EXPRESSION, Inner Traditions International Ltd., September, 1977
Mathieu, W.A., THE MUSICAL LIFE : REFLECTIONS ON WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO LIVE IT, Shambhala Publications, May, 1994
McClellan, Randall, THE HEALING FORCES OF MUSIC: HISTORY, THEORY & PRACTICE, Element, 1988
McNiff, Shaun, ART AS MEDICINE CREATING A THERAPY OF THE IMAGINATION, Shambala Publications, October, 1992
Merle-Fishman, Carol & Katsch, Shelley, THE MUSIC WITHIN YOU, Barcelona Publications, January, 1985
Newham, Paul, THE HEALING VOICE : HOW TO USE THE POWER OF YOUR VOICE TO BRING HARMONY INTO YOUR LIFE , Element, August, 1999
Newham, Paul, THE HEALING VOICE: USING THE POWER OF SOUND & SONG TO TRANSFORM MIND & BODY, 1999
Ortiz, Ph.D., John M., THE TAO OF MUSIC: SOUND PSYCHOLOGY, Samuel Weiser, October, 1997
Pierce, John R., THE SCIENCE OF MUSICAL SOUND, W.H. Freeman & Company, May, 1992
Redmond, Layne, WHEN THE DRUMMERS WERE WOMEN : A SPIRITUAL HISTORY OF RHYTHM, Crown Publishing, June, 1997
Retallack, Dorothy, THE SOUND OF MUSIC AND PLANTS, DeVorss, 1973 Ruud, Even, MUSIC AND HEALTH, MMB Music, June, 1986
Samuels, Mike & Lane, Mary R., CREATIVE HEALING: HOW ANYONE CAN USE ART, WRITING, MUSIC & DANCE TO HEAL BODY & SOUL, Harper San Francisco, March, 1998
Savary, Louis M. & Bonny, Helen L., MUSIC AND YOUR MIND: LISTENING WITH A NEW CONSCIOUSNESS. Tallman Co., August, 1998
General Complementary and
Alternative Medicine Internet References
Acupuncturists
& Oriental Medicine
American Academy of Medical Acupuncture
5820 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 500
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone: 800-521-2262
Web Site: www.medicalacupuncture.org
American Association of Oriental Medicine
433 Front Street
Catasauqua, PA 18032
Phone: 610-266-1433
Fax: 610-264-2768
Email: aaoml@aol.com
Web Site: http://www.aaom.org
Traditional Acupuncture Institute
10227 Wincopin Circle Suite 100
Columbia, MD 21044-3422
Phone: (301) 596-6006
Art and Writing Therapy
American Chiropractic Association
1701 Clarendon Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22209
Phone: 703-276-8800
Fax: 703-243-2593
Email: lperialas@amerchiro.org
Web Site: www.amerchiro.org
Association for Network Chiropractic Care
444 Main Street
Longmont, Colorado 80501
Phone 303-678-8101
Fax 303-678-8089
Email: info@associationfornetworkcare.com
Website: www.associationfornetworkcare.com Complementary
& Alternative Medicine
American College for Advancement in Medicine
P.O. Box 3427
Laguna Hills, CA 92654
Phone: 714-583-7666
Fax: 714-455-9679
Email: acam@acam.org
Web Site: www.acam.org
American Health Alternatives
P.O. Box 9375
Missoula, MT 59807
Phone: 406-543-2912
Fax: 406-543-6154
Email: AHAltern@aol.com
Web Site: www.educaid.org/~amhealth/index.html
Cancer Cure Foundation
P.O. Box 3782
Thousand Oaks, CA 91359
Phone: (800) 282-2873 (Toll-free) (805) 381-0191 (Local)
Fax: (805) 381-0191
E-mail: cure@cancure.org
Web Site: www.cancure.org/
Center for Alternative Medicine in Research
in Cancer
University of Texas Health Science Center
P.O. Box 20186, #434
Houston, TX 77225
Email: utcam@chprd.sph.uth.tmc.edu
Web Site: www.sph.uth.tmc.edu/utcam/
Commonweal Cancer Project
P.O. Box 316
Bolinas, CA 94924
Phone: 415-868-0970
Fax: 415-868-2230
Web Site: www.commonwealhealth.org
Equinox Press
144 St. Johns Place
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Phone: 718-636-4433
Web Site: www.ralphmoss.com
Health Resources, Inc.
564 Locust Street
Conway, AR 72032
Phone: 800-949-0090 / 501-329-5272
Fax: 501-329-5272
Email: moreinfo@thehealthresource.com
Web Site: www.thehealthresource.com
Institute for Health and Healing Library
Planetree Library/Health Resource Center
2040 Webster Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone: 415-923-3680 / 415-923-3681
Fax:: 415-673-2629
Web Site: www.planetree.org
National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative
Medicine
P.O. Box 8218
Silver Spring, MD 20907-8218
Phone: 888-644-6226
Fax: 301-495-4957
Email: oam-info@altmed.od.nih.gov
Web Site: www.altmed.od.nih.gov/
The Oasis of Hope Cancer Treatment Center
PO BOX 439045
San Ysidro, CA 92143
Phone: 1-888-500-HOPE
Email: health@oasisofhope.com
Web Site: www.contrerashospital.com/
People Against Cancer
604 East Street
P.O. Box 10
Otho, IA 50569
Phone: 515-972-4444
Fax: 515-972-4415
Email: nocancer@ix.netcom.com
Web Site: www.dodgenet.com/nocancer/
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