Elements of Sound

All that exists creates sound. The tiniest elements of everything on this planet move, vibrate, and therefore create resonance and sound. This powerful force has the ability to heal and create or confuse and destroy. Once we understand what sound is for us, we have the ability to influence our internal and external environments.

 "Music is wholly about listening…. to our inner selves and the outer world.”

Music is an attempt to arrange sounds and silences. It comes from our innate desire to express and it can evoke a range of emotions from ecstasy to anger. 

Sound & Meditation

      Meditation is awareness – being in the moment of any given time.
         As we follow the breath sound stimulates awareness.
             A Sound Meditation allows us to reach abstract states of consciousness.

Sample of Sound Meditation from River's cd "Tibetan Bowl Meditation"

Meditation and the Brain 

The brain is an electrochemical organ. During normal daily activities the brain operates at a frequency of 14-30 Hertz (cycles of sound per second).  In deep states of meditation the brain functions at 4-7 Hertz (Hz).

States of Consciousness   &  Brainwave Frequencies

30-100 Hz - Gamma Waves  -  self awareness, psychic abilities, higher insight
14-30 Hz - Beta  Waves  -  waking state, alert
8-13 Hz - Alpha Waves  -   daydreaming, creative, relaxed
4-8 Hz - Theta Waves  -  dreaming, hypnotic, meditative
0.5-4 Hz - Delta Waves  -  unconscious, asleep, deep sleep            

The Brain and Sound

Due to the physical Law of Entrainment* an external rhythm will automatically override your internal rhythms (heartbeat, breath, etc). Therefore, music with a certain frequency can entrain the body to relax.

Brainwave entrainment, also known as "brainwave synchronization" is concerned with this naturally occurring phenomenon.  In Brainwave entrainment, an external stimulus is applied (such as singing bowls, drumming, chanting or even staring at a fire) that changes the dominant EEG frequency of the brain.

Binaural beats is a kind of brainwave entrainment that is achieved when two tones close in frequency generate a subsonic pulse that is produced by the DIFFERENCE of the two frequencies (e.g. 100 Hz and 110 Hz produce a binaural beat of 10 Hz). Brainwave synchronization with binaural beats is said to help 'synchronize the two hemispheres of the brain'.
 

Meditation and Sound Therapy

Some scientists say that the brain receives up to 80% of its energy through the ears.  Therefore by creating an external sound that resonates with a Theta Brainwave, we can stimulate the brain into a meditative state.

Resonance refers to the phenomenon whereby one vibrating entity such as a tuning fork, musical tone or noise, will cause a second entity to begin vibrating at the same frequency.

Resonance has been used traditionally for centuries. Buddhist practices use singing bowls to support meditation, trance induction and prayer. Native American traditions include chanting and drumming for similar purposes. Today these practices along with other traditions and new research are employed worldwide for meditation, relaxation, healthcare, personal well-being and religious practice.
 

To sample River's Tibetan Bowl Meditation cd visit http://www.therelaxationcompany.com/cd7104.html

* As described by Itzhah Bentov in Stalking the Wild Pendulum (Dutton, 1977)

INTERESTING FACTS

  • The sound vibrations of Earth’s electromagnetic field, deep space, and people in deep meditative states all resonate at a frequency of approximately 7.8 Hz. We normally function at Beta state, approximately 12-16 Hz.

  • Our brains receive up to 80% of its energy through the ears.

  • Musicians were originally shamans, physicians, healers, and priestesses/priests.

  • The use of gongs and bells has been traced back 4,000 years in Asia Minor. The oldest record of drums date back 8,000 years.

  • Playing or listening to a steady beat has a regulating effect on the biological functioning of the body.

  • We remember 20% of what we hear, 40% of what we see and hear, and 80% of what we do