Alternative
Medicines - Sound Healing and Music Therapy
by
Mike Hussey
Music and sound healing is
not a new concept. Cultures throughout the world have
used music to empower, energize, heal and soothe the body,
mind and spirit since time immemorial. It is no accident
that Apollo, the Greek god who is credited as being the
father of medicine, is also the father of music and the
inventor of the lyre.
Music and healing are part of each other, and current
research is pointing to that more and more. Recent studies
have shown that music can slow down and help balance brain
waves, reduce tension and stress by affecting endorphin
levels, reduce physical tension by changing the vibrational
frequency of cells, and even evoke feelings of love and
inner peace.
Of course, if music can slow down your body's rhythms
and effect soothing, peace and healing, it can also have
the opposite effect. A well-chosen set of music can help
energize you and prepare you to work hard and be creative.
Studies have also shown that athletes working out and
practicing to music use more energy, stretch themselves
further and burn more calories than those who work without
music.
There's a great deal of information available now about
music and healing. Sound healing, music therapy, and the
power of sound to effect changes in the mind, body and
spirit are becoming more and more accepted. It's sometimes
difficult to tell how much is true and how much is marketing
hype.
I became interested in the healing power of music as a
by-product of trying to produce the most beautiful music
possible. Years back, Leonard Bernstein invited me to
perform as concertmaster in the world premiere his production
of Mass. While there, he invited me along to speak with
management and producers in the recording industry. I
learned from them, to my surprise, that the violin, the
instrument that I consider the most beautiful and evocative
of any, was not considered by the recording industry to
be a marketable sound - that people would not buy recordings
that featured the violin.
That piece of news amazed me. To me, the violin is the
most beautiful, evocative and versatile instrument ever
created. In the hands of a skilled musician, the violin
can gloat, laugh, exult or cry. It can express nearly
any emotion that humans can feel in their hearts and souls.
I challenged myself then to produce works of music that
presented the violin as I know it - the evocative and
expressive voice of the soul.
That was the beginning of my own music label and catalog,
LiSem Enterprises. As it grew, I began to hear from those
who work in the fields of healing, both the traditional
hospitals and doctors' offices, and those working in CAM
(complementary and alternative medicine), telling me that
they were using my music in their practices, to enhance
meditation, focus awareness and evoke emotions.
Perhaps the most potent, powerful story that I heard was
that of a teenage boy diagnosed with schizophrenia who
did not speak at all, but who, while listening to my CD
Fragrance of a Dream, looked up and said, "This music
is so beautiful it breaks your heart."
Those stories and touches from others led me to begin
exploring the world of healing with sound and music, and
what I find both amazes me and confirms my own belief
that music is one of the most potent healing tools the
world has ever possessed. I am still very much a student,
a pilgrim on a quest to learn all that I can about the
ways that different tones, vibrations and sounds can affect
the body and attune with the emotions and the spiritual.
It is a wonderful journey, and one that I intend to share
with as many people as I can. As a beginning of that sharing,
here are some things that I have learned, and that I believe
about how music helps to heal and regenerate the body.
1. Your body will heal itself if you give it the right
tools. I believe that some music can help your body to
heal by helping it to realign its balance. At the same
time, it is far too early in the research for anyone to
tell you which musical selections will heal a specific
medical condition. I would be irresponsible if I recommended
that music replace other more traditional forms of healing
and therapy. Music is a complementary way to give your
body the tools that it needs to help itself heal.
2. One of the most important and effective things that
you can do for your body is to help it relax into a meditative
state. There is a great deal of research to support that
a state of meditative calm inspires your body and your
mind to renew itself.
3. Sound is one of the best tools for inspiring the meditative
state in which your body is receptive to healing and renewal
- but it is important to choose your music carefully.
Some music - classical music in particular - seems to
go there instinctively, but most music was not designed
to relax you.
We are barely beginning to understand the ways that music
affects us and effects healing in us. The research is
exciting and ongoing, and I spend a great deal of time
working with different bodies of healers in various fields
to aid this research in all the ways that I can.
I incorporate what I have learned into the production
of the titles and arrangements chosen for every new LiSem
Catalog release in the hopes that this wonderful gift
that I was given, the gift of making music, can become
a gift to others - one that helps heal and refresh and
renew, and in the process becomes part of a positive change
in the world.
MORE
INFORMATION
This article first appeared
in the American Chronicle. Their website can be found
at www.americanchronicle.com
Music without words means leaving behind the mind. And leaving behind the mind is meditation.
Meditation returns you to the source. And the source of all is sound. — Kabir
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