I was talking to a friend, and she mentioned that her daughter left the medical establishment and is now pursuing the "healing arts," including: "Sound Therapy." You may ask, what is "sound therapy," well, I looked it up this a.m --- "Sound Therapy uses sound, music and specialist instruments played in therapeutic ways, combined with deep self-reflection techniques to improve health and wellbeing."
"The therapeutic sound and sound therapy techniques are delivered using tonal and rhythmic instruments and voice. The tonal instruments used are Himalayan and crystal singing bowls, gongs and tuning forks. The vocal techniques are toning (the singing of one tone – usually using a vowel sound), overtoning (a technique where more than one tone is sung simultaneously) or mantra (the chanting of Sanskrit words). A practitioner of Holistic Voice Therapy or Group Voice Therapy may also use ‘Vocal Processing Techniques’ which combine movement, breath and visualisation as well as voice. A therapeutic rhythm treatment/session is given using frame drum and therapeutic percussion comprises rainsticks, shakers, chimes and other percussion tools delivered in a specific order to maximize the therapeutic process."
"Information gathered over the last 20 years has informed us that certain instruments seem to effect a person in different ways."
"Information gathered over the last 20 years has informed us that certain instruments seem to effect a person in different ways."
And then there's this... "It is now widely accepted that most illness is stress related." Hard to prove, hard to disprove. I do think I have spent much of my life trying to "de-stress," meditating, running, walking, talking, listening to and playing music.
No doubt getting in a room with other musicians and playing music has "healed" me. So yeah, gongs, crystals, tuning forks, chanting, singing, drumming (try a drum circle sometime if you want to let it all go), can all be heavy medicine. I believe that music and r&r can "save your life." Play guitar like Keith Richards, just don't try to live like the man.
I'd also recommend listening to pretty much any kind music, Jazz, Classical, World Music, (although I think listening to extreme Death Metal and extremely loud, raucous Punk Rock actually tries to increase the stress, but maybe it's just a alternative, alternative medicine?)
Pick your poison wisely. From experience I can testify that listening to The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones can be pure pleasure. Listen to a Jerry Garcia or a Neil Young guitar improvisation and tell me that isn't a goddam miracle cure! Or check out "The Rain Song" on Houses of the Holy and tell me that isn't better than Penicillin.
So yeah, I have been experimenting with Sound Therapy for most of my life. We happen to have a large Tibetan Singing Bowl in our living room, (a gift from a friend), and we do ring that thing just about every morning. Better Living with Vibrations!