Harmonic Balancing Sound Therapy: You Are Great

You are Great

When I first began my work as a sound therapist in 1996, I was struck by one observation that frankly amazed me: people are great. Let me describe what I mean by great – here are a few dictionary definitions that explain it nicely: 1.Remarkable or outstanding in magnitude, degree or extent. 2. Superior in quality or character; noble.

Each person I treated with sound (through the introduction of the pure tones of tuning forks) revealed this greatness once their surface “noise” was entrained to harmony. I was so impressed that I would come home from my practice and say to my husband, “I can’t believe it! All the people I worked with today are truly great! People are great!”

You see, previous to this direct experience of greatness, I had believed the lie that said we were imperfect sinners that had fallen from grace. Not consciously, mind you, but I came to see that this was an assumption, a judgment, that had somehow wound its way into my perceptions of what it meant to be human – I assumed we were all fundamentally flawed. And I realized that this assumption was at the very foundation of our culture.

Yet here I was, hearing a very whole harmony in every single individual who found their way to my table. It was truly a revelation to see that people were far more incredible and beautiful and powerful than what I had been led to believe.

I started using tuning forks on impulse, having seen them in a catalog at a time I was reading a stack of books on the use of color and sound in healing. They came with simple instructions saying that the notes in the octave, C, D, E, etc., resonated with the chakras, (the major energy centers that run along the spine) and so I began integrating them into my massage therapy practice.

I discovered that if I listened closely as I passed the vibrating fork above the body, I could detect, in certain areas, dissonances playing around the outside of the note and if I kept introducing the fork, the discord would harmonize.

What would then emerge would be the underlying tone, clear, strong and bright. Once I had gone through and harmonized every chakra, released all of the surface static, what was beneath was that wholeness, that contented connectivity that everyone was searching for. That underlying harmony is there, all the time, in everyone: we just can’t hear it because we are carrying around what I call simply, “noise”.

When we self-refer; that is, when we think of ourselves, this is the aspect of self we tend to resonate with – the things that are “wrong”. These pockets of static can represent an area of physical trauma, unexpressed and repressed emotions, incorrect thinking, poor diet, low self esteem, and more. Remarkably, the combination of the recognition of these dissonances and the introduction of sound supports the body in releasing them, allowing the energy that was tied up in maintaining them to return to and integrate with the rest of the system.

So often we define ourselves by our pain, by our unworthiness, by our problems. Listen to most people speak and you will hear that they are speaking of and from those places of noise – about the problems in their relationships, the difficulties with their finances, the pain they feel in their bodies. They are resonating with their discord, their imbalance. Rarely do we find individuals who are resonating with their peace, balance, and wholeness – yet that experience is available to all of us, all the time.

Of course, accessing it is not that simple. Meditation, yoga, tai chi, tantra – these are all practices one can engage in to align one’s awareness with that shimmering, harmonious presence, but if there is too much pain, too much noise, maintaining a focused awareness is next to impossible.

This is one of the reasons why I like therapeutic sound applications, and why sound is being called “the medicine of the future”: simply put, sound harmonizes discord. Discord gives rise to disease, or the breakdown of order within the system. Orderly tones, such as the ones produced by tuning forks, or crystal bowls, penetrate the body and support order within all of the systems.

In addition, there are technological innovations that use sound to change brainwave states, allowing us to access the frames of mind usually only accessible to experienced meditators, helping us to experience the profound peace and relaxation that allows the immune system to function optimally, and the sense of personal limitation as defined by our problems, to drop away.

We can use our own voice as sound therapy as well. Practice being aware of when you are resonating with your limitations, when you are speaking negatively of yourself and your life situation. Then, remind yourself that there is harmony within the discord, and see if you can allow your awareness to drop into the harmony instead. Enlist a friend or partner to help you to remember. (My husband and I do this with each other – we gently call attention to when the other is being self-limiting, and it has been very helpful).

You are great, powerful, noble, and brilliant, and it isn’t anything you have to earn, or do – it’s who you are, it’s what it means to be human. The first step to getting there is to realize you are already there, and that you are worthy of being there.

Eileen McKusick is a freelance writer on issues of health and wellness and the originator of Harmonic Balancing Sound Therapy with a practice in Lamoille County, Vermont. She welcomes your feedback and can be reached at emckusick@earthlink.net  or 802.730.4371