MoonDragon's Alternative Health Information Mind & Emotion Therapies SOUND THERAPY
The therapeutic potential of sound was first recognized by health care providers in the late 19th century. Sound vibrates in waves at different frequencies and is said to influence both the emotions and certain physiological functions such as heart rate and breathing. Even sounds at frequencies beyond the range of the human ear can have an impact. Practitioners use various approaches and work with the voice or with electronic or musical instruments to generate sound waves that, they claim, restore balance to the body and promote self-healing. Sound therapies are available throughout the West, and also in Japan.
Buddhist monks and Indian yogis have a long tradition of chanting to induce an altered physical and mental state, and the use of drumbeats to rouse soldiers before a fight is common to many cultures. Medical interest in sound first arose in 1896, when American health care providers found that different types of music could stimulate blood flow and increase mental clarity.
Machines using sound waves as a form of therapy were developed in the 1950s and 1960s. The UK osteopath Dr. Peter Manners evolved cymatics therapy, which is most commonly used in the US. French ear specialists Drs. Guy Berard and Alfred Tomatis pioneered auditory integration training (AT) and the Tomatis method respectively, both of which are attracting interest in the UK, US, and Europe. Another technique, physioacoustic methodology (PAM), was developed in Finland in the early 1990s, and is now gaining ground in Europe. Chanting is common to many cultures, and techniques such as Mongolian "overtone" chanting, introduced by practitioner Jill Purce in the UK, are gaining popularity in the West, particularly in New Age circles.
CONSULTING A PRACTITIONER
Sound travels as waves of pressure, each oscillating at its own frequency, or pitch, transmitted to the brain via the auditory nerve. In theory, auditory messages may also affect the autonomic nervous system, which regulates organs and body functions. Some practitioners claim that, like sound waves, internal organs and cells vibrate at specific frequencies, and any disruption is symptomatic of disease. Sound therapy aims to restore disturbed inner rhythms to their natural state with the use of sound waves. Practitioners use a number of approaches.
CYMATICS
A machine transmits sound waves through the skin to a specific body area. This is said to cause body cells to vibrate at an optimum, healthy resonance.
In cymatics therapy a machine is placed over the part of the body to be treated - here, the liver area - and set to a frequency matching that of cells in a healthy body.
AIT & THE TOMATIS METHOD
The machines aim to retrain patients who may find it hard to process certain sound frequencies, such as autistics and dyslexics, to hear and listen properly. You listen to music that emphasizes particular frequencies, forcing the brain to hear and process them afresh.
AIT equipment is connected to a CD player and the patient listens to electronically filtered music that is made softer or louder to isolate difficult sound frequencies. Children with conditions such as dyslexia or autism may benefit from AIT.
PHYSIOACOUSTIC METHODOLOGY (PAM)
Computer-generated sound waves, played through speakers in a special chair in which you sit, are claimed to lower blood pressure and reduce muscle tension.
CHANTING
You are taught to use tones in your voice to create a pure sound, said to induce a meditational state. Treatments usually involves weekly hour-long sessions and runs for several months. Chanting may be taught at weekend or evening workshops.
Chanting practitioners teach their patients to produce elongated vowel sounds that are said to resonate through the entire body and induce a state of physical and emotional well-being.
EVIDENCE & RESEARCH
Pilot studies of AIT and the Tomatis method suggest they may help treat behavioral problems. However, no convincing clinical studies validate the claims for the vibration of body cells or the therapeutic effects of sound on organs and body tissues.
CONVENTIONAL MEDICAL OPINION
Various body tissues absorb and reflect sound waves differently - conventional medicine makes use of this in prenatal ultrasound scans. However, most conventional practitioners are skeptical about the idea of "tuning in" to cellular vibrations to treat patients.
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