Breaking Wave- photo by Andrew Schmidt

A little while ago I was feeling tired and spacey so I decided to take a break and go on the vibroacoustic table in my living room for a while. What a ride! I listened to the entire CD Winds of Devotion by Carlos Nakai and Nawang Khechog, a beautiful meditative blend of Native American and Tibetan flute music and chanting. There are some other great musicians on there too including David Darling, Peter Kater and the late Geoffrey Gordon.

I was in a pretty dreamy state- literally, experiencing snippets of dreams but not sleeping- for quite a while. Then I began feeling some low level anxiety, seemingly unconnected with any actual events or projections- just an awareness of the feeling. My heart rate picked up a bit and I hung out with it, still relaxing into the waves of musical vibration moving through my body, while being curious about what was happening.

Eventually a memory came forth of a frightening experience I had when I was very sick a few years ago. I had a terrible respiratory infection and woke up one night with a high fever and horrible coughing fit. I got up to use the bathroom and was hallucinating- I couldn't find the light and thought there was an animal in the bathtub. I began screaming for my boyfriend, Henry, who was sleeping on the other side of the house because I was so sick. I was in a state of terror, screaming, crying and coughing, unable to make sense of any of it.

The memory faded and my anxiety dissipated. I slipped back into the calm rhythmic entrainment of the music. When it was over I got up feeling clear, calm, balanced, energized and happy.

I don't know exactly what that was about- perhaps a thread of the trauma that was still in my body which the music released. I do know that the illness was very traumatic and I was the sickest I have ever been in my adult life. Ever since, whenever I thought about it or talked about it, I would get triggered emotionally- except that now I don't feel triggered by it at all. I feel a very calm detachment from it for perhaps the first time.

MUSIC

Music is silence,
music is mountain,
music is freedom,
music is universal,
music is heart,
music is bridge,
music is temple,
music is teacher,
music is path,
path to compassion, love, forgiveness, wisdom,
spirituality, freedom,
joy, happiness, divinity,
and inner-peace.

~Nawang Khechog~

I just spent an hour on a sound table listening to the album Pagan Saints by Flesh & Bone, a beautiful collaboration between Peter Kater & David Darling. I say listening- which I was, but you must understand that "listening", on a sound table, means not only hearing the music with your ears but experiencing it as a vibrotactile sensation as the music resonates through the whole body. In this moment I am enjoying the resulting quietness of my being. My mind has slowed down. I feel calm and present to my Self.

The experience of vibroacoustic therapy is, in and of itself, both profound and incredibly enjoyable. The vibrations of the music pulsing through the body drop you into a deep state of relaxation very quickly. Different music obviously has very different effects- some music will take you far away and you lose all bodily awareness and sense of time and place very quickly. Other music will be a more kinesthetic experience and you may be very present to the physical sensation of the musical rhythms and vibrations.

Vibroacoustic sound therapy affects the bioenergetic system on all levels. Intention can be a huge factor as well. The sound is delivered to the body not just through the ears but also (and primarily) through skin and bone conduction (tissue conduction). Given that the body is composed of 60-70% water, which is one of the best conductors of sound, there is a powerful somatic response. I have facilitated and observed hundreds of vibroacoustic sound healing sessions and the first response typically happens within 45- 90 seconds. The body of the person on the table seems to suddenly sink in as they let go and relax effortlessly. Remember, the music is literally massaging every cell in the body so this goes much deeper than physical touch.

Physical touch is a powerful complement to this therapy however. When the first wave of sound hits it can potentially be disconcerting or disorienting especially for someone who has never experienced it before. When the therapist and client together are joined in an intention, the work is that much more powerful and a light touch may be all that is needed to reassure the person on the table that they are in a safe space. There is also a synergistic blend of sound and energy that occurs with hands-on work that enhances and deepens the whole experience.

I have been feeling distracted by technology lately- too much time on the computer and the phone. I find it compelling and somewhat addictive but not always pleasant. Meanwhile I have so many tools at my fingertips that I can use to create more peace in my life and have been asking myself lately why I do not use them more. Today I decided when I got home, before I did anything else, to just lie down on the sound table for a while. What a shift! My mind feels more clear, more focused and on some level less frantic, although I don't think of myself as frantic.

I feel like now I can sit and just enjoy being, instead of doing, doing, doing and chasing after the instant gratification of the technology I have at my fingertips.