The Voice of Sound Healing and Music Therapy
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ound healing, sound medicine and music therapy offer a range of techniques and models for supporting the healing of the body, mind and spirit. Sound healers sometimes use singing bowls. The vibration of the bowls allows the body and mind to relax and release blocks to the flow of energy through the chakras and meridians, promoting prevention and healing of dis-ease. It is a receptive technique, where your job is to relax and let the sounds flow through you. Some people go on journeys meeting guides, while others report a relaxing and softening musical meditation and sound massage. I engage the healer’s voice, singing in an empathic, intuitively guided vocal improvisation. As a singer and composer, the melodies are beautiful to listen to. Many sound experts say that the voice is the most important of all the healing instruments available to us. We all have one, naturally. For non-singers, you may find that through expressive vocal work, your singing voice can open up! Common vocal sound healing techniques are toning into the chakras and chanting with spiritual texts. I am exploring and developing other techniques, too, for tapping the voice’s healing potential with a small group of eager learners. This is an interactive, experiential adventure for those wanting to dig a bit deeper. Music therapy draws from these resources and adds its own. Using rhythmic and sometimes melodic instruments, non-musicians may find a voice for feelings
Sri Chinmoy Answers
Question: What is the difference between prayer and meditation? SRI CHINMOY: The difference between prayer and meditation is this: when we pray, we feel that our existence is a one-pointed flame soaring upward. When we meditate, we throw ourselves into a vast expanse, into an infinite sea of peace, or we welcome the infinite Vast into us. When we pray, we talk and God listens. When we meditate, God talks and we listen. When we pray, we go up to God; when we meditate, God comes down to us. Ultimately they are the same. The highest prayer was uttered by the Saviour Christ: “Let Thy Will be done.” This prayer is also the beginning of meditation. When prayer stops its journey, meditation begins. Meditation is like going to the bottom of the sea, where everything is calm and tranquil. On the surface of the sea there may be a multitude of waves, but the sea is not affected below. In its deepest depths, the sea is all silent. When we start meditating, first we try to
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which are hidden away. Engagement in creating music stimulates the brain’s elasticity, tying together selfexpression, emotion, communication, coordination, creativity, and focus into whole brain-whole person activity. It can unlock unconscious, unresolved emotions that can gently surface for acknowledgement and release. This work is often interactive and enhances self-expression and whole brain thinking. Research shows music therapy is invaluable for people with a wide range of special challenges, such as autism, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, mental illnesses, strokes and a whole range of developmental disorders. Pamela Holm is a Registered Psychotherapist, Music Therapist Accredited, and Sound Healing intuitive. For information on workshops and concerts go to www.DeepSoulSinging.com or email DeepSoulSinging@gmail.com
SELF-DISCOVERY through
MEDITATION Free Ongoing Classes Relaxation, concentration & meditation Developing calmness, confidence & poise S Creating a life of inspiration & happiness S S
Sri Chinmoy
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reach our own true existence—that is to say, the bottom of the sea. Then, when the waves come from the outside world, we are not affected. Fear, doubt, worry and all the earthly turmoils just wash away, because inside us is solid peace. Thoughts cannot touch us, because our mind is all peace, all silence, all oneness. This is meditation. Visit www.srichinmoylibrary.com for further writings by Sri Chinmoy.
November 2015