Quieting the Mind Through Sound Healing

It has frequently surprised students when I suggest that sound healing is as much, if not more, about quieting the mind and listening as it is about making sounds. Many of us can make sounds, but we access the sounds that have the ability to heal from the well of our silence.

To intuitively sense what sound your body needs at any given moment, arises from your ability to listen to and sense your body without being distracted by exte
al sounds. The sound emerges freely, when you are not encumbered by predetermined ideas about what you think that sound should be or judgments about the quality of the sound. Sound flows freely from a quiet mind.

Fortunately, if you are curious about sound healing, sound itself can help you focus and quiet your mind. Consider this very simple exercise:

1. Begin by sighing out loud from high to low. Do this about three times until your body is relaxed.
2. Sigh out loud again, only this time land on a sound that feels like home and hold it. Make this sound for about one minute, breathing between each sounding.
3. Sit quietly for one minute and notice what is happening in your body.

Repeat this exercise landing on a new sound that feels comfortable for you to make. Hold this sound for about one minute and notice for one minute. Do your best to observe without analyzing or attempting to figure anything out.

For example, you might notice that you feel warm all over or in a particular area of your body. You might see light, or feel energized or at peace. Give yourself permission to simply notice without needing to give it any meaning.

Most of us speak within a range of three to four different pitches or sounds. When we are relaxed, these sounds can be anything from soothing to invigorating. These sounds are easy and fun to make. And you can immediately feel the effects of what sound healing can do for you.

By giving your mind the job of observing, it has something to do. It is engaged in a focused manner with a single job, which helps to quiet the mind.

To make the exercise more interesting, try extending the amount of time that you sing a single sound. Sing it for two or even three minutes. Then be still and observe quietly for the same amount of time.

It is fairly common to really enjoy the quiet and inner stillness after you have been sounding, so the sounds, in a sense, carry you to inner peace and a desire for inner quiet. Plus you will have just bathed yourself in some of your most favored and healing sounds.