Yes......and no......and well, maybe a bit.
Whilst it's true that the yoga and meditation crowd have adopted binaural beats as a digital sound wave method of heightening their higher conscious experiences', it is also true that many practitioners of sound therapy, scientists, neurologists and rehabilitation centres also consider it's effectiveness seriously enough to implement it into their line of work.
Sound Healing
Ok so let's be honest here, when you hear the words 'sound healing' are you thinking ancient knowledge with scientifically backed health benefits? or are you thinking baggy pants and singing bowls?
It's ok to have preconceptions about something unknown, we all do it, but let's see if after reading this article you may change your mind...
To be clear about one of the biggest misconceptions, sound healing isn't a modern fad, it's actually the oldest known form of healing there is. The ancient Egyptians can attest to this through their hieroglyphs from the sacred temples which show the 'sistra' percussion instrument, a metal rattle-like instrument that made high frequency sounds. The ancient Egyptians also used their voices to sing resonant vowel sounds as a form of healing and it's been theorised that the pyramids themselves were not just fancy tombs for their Gods but actually sound healing temples built with specific frequencies in their different chambers. Dr. Abd’ el Hakim Awyan stated that the sarcophagi were used as beds to lay on inside the pyramids chambers to absorb the ambient sound for healing purposes. Ancient Greece and Rome were also well versed in sound and music therapy with Pythagorus, Plato and Aristotle all having embodied it in their work and theories. So, new it is not!
Next misconception please..... here you go.
Sound therapy involves listening to music or sounds which relaxes you and make you feel better. Half right I suppose with regards to the listening to sounds and yes it's true that music definitely has uplifting mood effects, but this isn't what the basis of sound healing is built on. Here's the science, buckle up!
Music and sounds (that's all kind - nature, voices, instruments, electronic devices etc) are frequencies which describe the pitch or tone, expressed in Hertz (Hz). The biochemist Glen Rein tested the theory of the effect that ancient frequencies had on DNA by recording its absorption uptake of ultra violet light when exposed to different frequencies. He concluded that certain types of frequency did positively effect the uptake by 5 to 9% but he also discovered that certain sounds negatively impacted the uptake. Rein’s research supported the theory that certain frequencies do have serious effects, for better or worse, on health and well-being.
More science I hear you cry!
Thanks to the German physicist Winfried Otto Schumann, we now know that the earths resonant frequency ranges between 7.86 Hz to 8 Hz, coined as the 'Schumann Resonance'. He determined that this frequency was, in essence, the Earth’s heartbeat.
Later, Herbert Konig continued this study path by comparing EEG levels of brain activity to the earths electromagnetic fields. He found a connection from the Schumann resonance to the five brainwave states delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma - our daily naturally occurring brain states from sleeping to learning. For a much deeper dive into this, click here https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26785376/
So what are these special frequencies that hold the power to healing our bodies?
They are called Solfeggio frequencies and they date back to a 9th Century Benedictine Monk called Guido d’Arezzo, who used these frequencies with the earliest example of the Solfeggio scale in his Hymn to St. John the Baptist or Ut queant laxis.
The Solfeggio scale consists of the following frequencies:
396Hz - 417Hz - 528Hz - 639Hz - 741Hz - 852Hz
with 3 additional frequencies added later
174Hz - 285Hz - 963Hz
What makes these specific frequencies so important?
There are countless references and science backed theories as to the health impacting properties of each of these frequencies on the body and mind. To summarise a vast field of study, the Solfeggio frequencies coincide with the energy centers of our physical bodies, the Fibonacci sequence, the Schumann Resonance and quantum physics.
All frequencies can be felt and heard (when in range of our hearing) by our body on a cellular level and thanks to your body being made of up to 70% water, this makes our bodies an excellent conductor for the vibrations of sound (water is 5 times more conductive than air for sound). So, by absorbing and conducting external sound energy, our bodies energetic centres are being stimulated and brought back into resonance for optimal flow of energy and a state of wellness. This practice of energy entrainment has been applied throughout history by many different cultures, religions and civilisations. The method of sound delivery has changed in some but not all of these sectors and thanks to the array of technology at our finger tips, we can now offer the best of both words in combining instruments, our voices and digital sound waves (binaural beats) to transmit these sounds to the recipient.
When our bodies are in full energetic flow we feel our absolute best - mentally, physically and emotionally.
Stay tuned for the next blog which will be looking at activating the different brain states in more depth.
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