Working with sound can be as simple as humming right now to extend and regulate your breath and perhaps soothe away a headache. Or it can be a complex lifetime practice. Here are some simple steps to get you started.

Keep in mind that if pain is meant to alert you to something you've neglected, singing won't make it stop.

Find a quiet spot where you won't be disturbed (or have someone read this to you until you get the hang of it), close your eyes, and bring yourself into a comfortable, strong, and upright seated posture. Do this by reaching both hands under your buttocks and locating the two bony protrusions on the underside of the pelvis. Make sure you feel those sitting bones making contact with the floor. You might enlist the help of a pillow underneath to help you sit upright. Next, imagine your tailbone as a heavy anchor pulling straight down. As the tail pulls downward, roll your shoulders up toward the ears and then down behind you and as you do, lift the breastbone. Have the sense that your chin is parallel to the floor (no tipping the head backward or forward) and your neck is in line with the rest of your spine.

Inhale, visualizing the breath moving from your tailbone all the way up to the crown, and back down from crown to tail as you exhale. Make the exhalation longer than the inhalation. Keeping your spine upright, practice breathing this way for a bit.

Take the next deep breath in and hum on the exhalation. Listen into the sound. Don't try to "send" the breath anyplace in particular, and let yourself be surprised by what happens. When stray thoughts enter your mind, do your best not to judge them as frustrating, stupid, or brilliant. Knowing they are just thoughts will make the thinking less seductive, so you'll be able to focus on your sound.

Spend at least one or two sessions just sitting and humming before you try toning using open-vowel sounds. In his book The Mozart Effect, Don Campbell suggests starting off by using a high "ee" sound for acute pain, an "ah" to evoke relaxation, and an "oh" or "om" to resonate in the upper body and affect muscle tension and brain waves.

See for yourself where your sound wants to take you in form, pitch, and volume, and note where in your body the sound seems to "land." The sound may draw your attention to where energy has been blocked. Sound that tingles in your feet might be telling you to stand up for yourself, or it may just represent energy moving. If you are willing to sit with your sound for long periods — particularly coupled with a wholesome lifestyle and another spiritual practice such as yoga or tai chi — you'll learn to tell the difference soon enough.

There are all kinds of special sounds or mantras to choose from, including those Michelle Kopper Seymour enlisted while giving birth, which ask for the grace to distinguish between illusion and reality, darkness and light, limitation and liberation. Mantras like hers, from the Vedic texts known as the Upanishads, are said to derive power from the generations of sages who have repeated them. Mantric phrases also draw resonance from being chanted time and again with intent. How often do we complain to ourselves or others of being tired or frazzled, for instance? Walking around with a mantra like that has an impact. Experiment and you will learn what works best for you — keeping in mind that your reaction may change between now and the next time you sit down to chant. It's also good to remember that a mantra that works for your best friend might give you a huge headache.