Sound Frequency
Everything in the universe is in constant vibration. Therefore, everything in the universe produces “sound”. Even though we may not be able to hear all these sounds does not mean they are not there! As the range of human hearing is limited to quite a narrow range, between around 16Hz – 16,000Hz for most adults, young children can hear up to and beyond 20,000Hz. Just like there is a band of visible light that we can perceive, there is a frequency range of “audible sound”. Everywhere there is sound as everywhere and from everything comes frequency, energy, and vibration! It is even theorized that the creation of the universe and this reality came through sound, this is called the “big bang” theory. This is an interesting theory from modern science considering that many cultures have historically associated the creation of the universe with sound in their stories, myths and legends. In these stories or legends, typically the sound is produced by gods, goddesses or mythical creatures singing, speaking, or playing instruments. Along with many ancient culture’s stories, on how reality came to be through sound, there has been various writings from past cultures that have survived that indicate there was extensive knowledge of the healing power of sound. From China, India, Greece, Egypt, Rome, Tibet, and others.
Aside from the ancient’s appreciation for sound, nature itself revolves around sound, frequency, vibration and particularly rhythm. Everything in nature is in a rhythm from the orbiting of planets around stars giving us a day and night cycle and seasons, down to electrons in an atom. The cycles and rhythms of nature are independent but also interdependent and without rhythm there would be no life!
Periodic rhythm: the activity of something occurring in cycles is necessary for stability. Broken or erratic rhythms are disruptive and highly problematic because they disturb the consistency necessary for interdependence and balance. In nature periodic rhythms are everywhere.
- Rhythm = the pulse of life
- Nature could not exist without it
- Erratic rhythms = disharmony
Periodic rhythms are also integral to the function of the human body. For our bodies to be completely healthy our internal systems must be in state of balance. For example, a consistent and steady heartbeat is necessary for health and vitality, an arrythmia or broken rhythm in our heartbeat is associated with ill-health. Blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, digestion, and the production of hormones and neurotransmitters must all be in balance for the human body to be healthy and for you to feel well. These systems are interdependent and when the rhythm in one change it affects the others. Correct balance of all systems in the body is known as homeostasis. When we are in homeostasis our body maintains health as its natural tendency is to heal and repair.
The French physiologist Claude Bernard reasoned that “In a state of harmony our cells, organs, hormones and other biochemical factors work together to maintain healthy defenses against disease and proper functioning of all our broader biological systems - the cardiovascular, endocrine, lymphatic and immune”1.
Walter B Cannon the man who coined the term “fight or flight” also reasoned that the human organism remains healthy through a self-regulating system of balance that stabilizes our internal environment, including our blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature and our blood sugar levels1.
Sound frequency and vibration can assist in restoring and maintaining homeostasis in many ways. Sound has many features and can have an amazing influence on our bodies and our minds, it can stimulate and support healing on many levels.
The HiddenMind investigative & corrective sound protocol uses special sound frequencies and affirmations to promote healing by restoring and maintaining homeostasis therefore stimulating the natural self-healing power of the body. The sounds we use in our therapy from the HiddenMind Healing Sounds albums are from special instruments, all recorded in high quality. Such as Tibetan bowls (also known as singing bowls), gongs, bells, ting-sha’s, and chimes which produce solfeggio frequencies from the range of 396Hz – 852Hz. There are also 14 verbal affirmations associated with the meridians of the body that are designed to aid correction of specific emotional imbalances. There are another 4 affirmations designed to promote blood circulation and healing in the muscles, nerves, tendons, and other tissue of the body.
There are also tracks specifically for children. These are Tibetan bowls for children and 14 meridian affirmations for children which are much shorter and simpler than the adult affirmations. Also featured are tracks with voice frequency in ascending and descending scales.
There are various mechanisms through which sound frequencies and vibration affect our bodies and our minds which stimulate and promote healing, and therefore can be used therapeutically. One such mechanism is entrainment. For example, Tibetan bowls produce overtones that have the effect of a binaural beat frequency which can entrain a person’s brain waves and change them to a different state. By changing a person’s brain wave state to theta or delta, healing and regeneration are stimulated. “Theta brain wave states are considered a bridge between conscious and unconscious processes, rarely traveled routes to profound self-understanding and physical regeneration”2. In shamanic rituals these brain wave states classically were achieved through practices like drumming and chanting. Read our Energy Fields Article for more information on brain wave states.
Vibration is another mechanism through which sound promotes healing. We hear not only through our ear but also our skin and in fact through our whole body, as the human body is made up of mostly water at over 70% and water conducts sound 4 to 5 times faster than air. Sound vibrations are picked up by the ear and interestingly the vagus nerve attaches to the outer and inner eardrum, this nerve travel through our abdominal cavity as it regulates all the major organs. The vagus nerve is associated with our parasympathetic nervous system which when active puts our body into a calm, relaxed, restful and regenerative state. Therefore, sound vibration is not only affecting our eardrums but our whole body and influences how our bodies change from a stressed state (sympathetic nervous system active) to a relaxed and regenerative state (parasympathetic nervous system active) and vice versa3. A significant portion of our nervous system is dedicated to sensing and processing vibration, apparently as much as the full posterior half of the spinal cord4.
Vibroacoustics is a term that refers to when vibration is put through the body in a therapeutic setting. This can be achieved by using special chairs or beds but can also be achieved simply by placing Tibetan bowls on the body and striking them. However even playing sounds from a speaker exposes the body to vibration. The body holds emotional events in cellular memory, vibration has the effect of disengaging resonant patterns that fixate in the body. Vibration changes the bio-electrical signature of emotional imprints5. Furthermore, when the body is exposed to certain vibrations, powerful emotional information, in the form of musical vibrations gets processed in the part of the brain where our most deep-seated emotional programs reside4.
Another mechanism of sound for influencing healing comes from guided imagery and affirmations. By combining sound frequencies with guided imagery or affirmations you can influence the healing power of the body and modulate the immune system. There is much interesting research showing the influences of mantra’s, affirmations, and guided imagery on the body. To put this into perspective human beings are mostly water and when a sound frequency or vibration travels through water it will create organized geometric patterns or disorganized patterns depending on the frequency. Any sound we produce reverberates through us potentially affecting structures in the body.
Looking at the organizing abilities of sound and the destructive qualities of sound frequency further demonstrates how sound, frequency and vibration affect the body. In medicine there are already well-established applications for sound frequency which are based on the use of ultrasound and infrasound.
Regarding how sound is used in healing consider that every part of our body is in vibration and has a resonant frequency. By projecting the correct resonant frequency to whatever part of the body is vibrating out of ease and out of harmony balance may be restored. There are really two approaches, one may be having more of an influence that the other or it can be both. One frequency may strengthen the healthy frequency of an organ, another may disturb the field of an invading pathogen, this can even be the same frequency6. Resonant frequencies may charge the energy of failing cells6 and cells in the body have receptors that respond to energetic signals, vibration, and frequency not just physical molecules according to cell biologist Bruce Lipton7. Conversely, with enough sound energy, which is called amplitude, sound or resonant frequency may be used to kill bacteria, viruses, and various pathogens. As enough amplitude can cause them to shatter like glass6.
Ultimately sound frequency and vibration have many features and interact with the body and mind in countless way and there can be used in many ways for healing purposes. HiddenMind therapists know that Intention + Frequency = Correction/Healing, this is a simple but powerful formula that we apply. If you would like to experience this in our clinics, please contact us.
“Healing can be achieved by restoring the normal vibratory frequency of the disharmonious and therefore diseased part of the body.” - Mitchell Gaynor M.D.
References
- Mitchell L. Gaynor; The Healing Power of Sound: Recovery from Life-Threatening Illness using Sound, Voice and Music. Shambhala publications, Colorado (1999) p53
- Mitchell L. Gaynor; The Healing Power of Sound: Recovery from Life-Threatening Illness using Sound, Voice and Music. Shambhala publications, Colorado (1999) p74
- Joshua Leeds; The Power of Sound: How to be Healthy and Productive Using Music and Sound. Healing Arts Press, Rochester (2010) p35
- Joshua Leeds; The Power of Sound: How to be Healthy and Productive Using Music and Sound. Healing Arts Press, Rochester (2010) p190
- Joshua Leeds; The Power of Sound: How to be Healthy and Productive Using Music and Sound. Healing Arts Press, Rochester (2010) p189
- Jonathan Goldman: The Seven Secrets of Sound Healing. Hay House, London (2017) p12
- Bruce Lipton; Biology of belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, and Miracles. New York, Hay house (2005)