When you hear the word “sound healing,” it can sound pretty woo-woo and New Age-y (right up there with crystals). But, like so many other healing practices and meditation techniques, there is some scientific evidence to back it up.
The idea behind it is that everything—even things that look solid —is made up of vibrational energy frequencies. When it comes to humans, this includes our brains and bodies. When a person hears calming sounds, like those produced by Tibetan singing bowls, tuning forks, and gongs, it triggers their own vibrational frequencies to promote healing. It’s a type of resonance known as sympathetic resonance.
“The human body and mind are created from sound,” says Buathon Thienarrom, a Thai wellness practitioner who uses sound therapy to treat pain, stress, and anxiety. “Everything that sounds has a frequency, and the frequencies can affect your body, from cellular level up.”
According to ancient Eastern teachings, the universe is made up of vibrating sound, or OM and AUM, which is why many people who practice this form of therapy use these mantras to help relieve their ailments. Other popular sound healing tools include tuning forks, Himalayan singing bowls, and crystal bowls. Research on these instruments has found that they can relieve muscle and bone pain, increase circulation, reduce blood pressure, and strengthen the immune system.
Sound therapy can also help with stress and sleep problems. It can shift a stressed state to a more relaxed, parasympathetic one (also known as the rest and digest mode). This means your body is less active, which helps with digestion, metabolism, and blood flow. It can also stimulate the production of nitric oxide, a vasodilator that improves blood flow and cell efficiency—all of which boost your health.
It’s also believed that sound can change your brainwave patterns to bring you back into a healthy alpha, theta, and delta states—the same types of brain waves associated with deep sleep, daydreaming, and creativity. This is another reason why some people say they feel amazingly refreshed and calm after a sound healing session.
While some researchers have studied the effects of music as medicine, there’s much more to learn about how sound can heal. For now, experts are encouraging people to experiment with self-healing through sound. A great place to start is by listening to calming music or trying a group sound therapy session at a local studio.
You can find these sessions on meetup or through a Google search, where practitioners will play various instruments to allow you to “bathe in the sounds.” If groups aren’t your thing, there are plenty of videos on YouTube.
Just keep in mind that the benefits of sound healing are only as effective as the intention of your heart and mind. Keeping these in mind, you can be sure to get the most out of your sound healing experience. Sound Healing benefits