Take Charge of Your Sonic Intake

by Erica Longdon, author of Vibrational Sound Healing

Did you know that you are living reincarnation? Well, you are, indeed. What a gift! You are a community of 50 trillion cells. Furthermore, you lose approximately 300 million cells every minute, that’s 50-70 billion cells each day. However, the wonderful news is that you constantly renew them. You are a living super generator.

Your cells have their own in-built instructions from your DNA, but they are also listening to you and the world around you 24/7. If we are what we eat, it is also true to say that we are what we hear. The vibrations and sounds we ingest carry huge potential to benefit or negatively impact our renewal processes. In modern times, we are very familiar with the concept of dietary vitamins to improve, adjust, and augment our health. That message is everywhere in the media and in the drug store:

“Lacking sunshine? Well, take vitamin D.”

“Boost your immune system with vitamin C with added zinc.”

“Energy levels low? Check your vitamin B12 consumption.”

By comparison, when did you last see the following commercials?

“Boost your sonic vitamin B by taking deeper breaths. 30,000 breaths a day to optimize your wellbeing.”

“Lift your life and mood with enhanced sonic vitamin L. Laughter really is the best medicine.”

“Retune your body and emotions with nourishing sonic vitamin F. A multi-vitamin of frequencies for every organ of the body.”

As humans we have the power and awareness to take charge of our sonic intake and maximize it to our benefit. Let’s start with something simple and yet ubiquitous, your thoughts.

Your thoughts are sonic vibrations of your own creation and cannot be ignored by your body. How do you talk to yourself and your body? Do you praise your body for the miracle it is as it negotiates your way through another day? Or do you pick out its faults and pains, bemoaning your shortcomings? If you did that to a child or other protégé in your charge, would you expect them to perform well? If they were unwell, would you berate them or ignore their discomfort? No, you would try to find a way to help them feel better. You might also comfort them or encourage them to rest or offer restorative medicine. Please do that for yourself.

A very effective remedy when your body systems are out of synch or harmony is to administer copious amounts of sonic vitamin A, affirmations. Think of your body like an orchestra. When all the instruments are playing their part and in tune the result is glorious. But if the strings are out of tune, or the drums mistimed, it will sound distressing. Distress is a cry for help. So, it is your duty to conduct yourself back to harmony. By all means take some allopathic medicine to relieve immediate symptoms and discomfort, but then go beyond to respond to and remedy the source.

People often say: “I tried affirmations, but they didn’t work for me.” To which I would reply: “How did you administer them?” The key to effective sound healing is intention. In fact, the formula: “sound + intention = holistic resonance or harmony” underlies most sonic vitamins. If you say the affirmations in your head while your deep belief is that they don’t work, then your affirmations might have a slight effect but are unlikely to produce much in the way of improvement. However, if you engage the power of your heart and love (which is the most powerful force in the universe), then great things can be achieved. It has been measured that the electromagnetic force of the heart is 5,000 times that of the brain. It’s a no-brainer. Use your heart to send the affirmation. Feel it. As I state in Vibrational Sound Healing:

“Healing requires feeling.”

Even when you are well, affirm each day:

“Every cell in my body is doing its best to be the best it can be, right now. I am deeply grateful.”

Dr. Masaru Emoto’s famous work with water amply demonstrates the effect of words and intention.

He subjected water to words like “well done!” and “you fool!” The water was then frozen, and a slice taken to examine under a microscope. Without exception, the positive words produced spectacularly beautiful crystals, while the negative admonition resulted in distorted and misshapen creations. When he took the work further, he was able to demonstrate that the process can be reversed. Samples of toxic water and water that had been exposed to loud noise or violent language were prayed over and spoken to with encouragement and love. When re-examined, the crystals had changed to coherent and pleasant crystalline shapes.

The human body is approximately 60-70% water, so imagine the power of sonic vitamin A, affirmations!

Now, having examined the power of thought vibration, let’s get physical!

When most people think of sound healing, they think of gongs, singing bowls, tuning forks, drums, or didgeridoos.

It is a wonderful experience to have a treatment with the instruments of sound healing, either from a practitioner or self-administered. They can project fine-tuned frequencies to work on bones, muscles, the endocrine system, and the body’s auric field and energy systems. The ancients used to say that if you were gonged for ten consecutive days you could be cured of anything!

But you don’t have to own any of those, you have your own instrument and you have been playing it since you drew your first breath: Your voice, your most powerful ally. Not only can you vocalize affirmations, but you can access the wisdom and power of chant and mantra. That’s a great way to take sonic vitamin C, chanting.

Any form of singing is uplifting, whether solo or in unison in a choir. However, many people feel shamed about their voice and would shrink from participating, using phrases like “only fit for the shower” or “I’m tone deaf”. If there is any shame, it is that so many feel like this about their voice.

In sound healing the voice is for connecting and entrainment – that is, bringing incoherent systems into coherence and harmony. Sound healing is entrainment not entertainment. So never be ashamed or reticent to use your own voice. If you are still uncertain, pick one note that seems comfortable for you and chant a mantra on that one note. In fact, this is an excellent way to learn a mantra as you will not have to concentrate on pitch and tunes.

Mantras, one of the sonic M vitamins, along with humming and music, work as sound healing tools because of the formation of the words, which are often in ancient language like Sanskrit. The reason ancient language is preferred is the effect of the shape of the mouth and the action of the tongue that is required to speak these words. There are 84 meridians in the roof of the mouth. These are points of stimuli which can be stimulated by singing or saying sacred words, a form of oral reflexology. These sensitive points translate into instructions to the hypothalamus to produce chemicals (neurotransmitters) that influence sleep, hunger, thirst, and body temperature.

A mantra is a much more complex concept than a mere chant because it is a tool to unite sound, body, mind, and soul in a deeply philosophical or spiritual experience.

One lovely mantra that works beautifully on one note is the Sanskrit mantra OM MANI PADME HUM.

Like an infinity mirror there are many depths of translation for this, but the simplest to understand is: the jewel of the lotus resides in my heart. Om invokes the creator. Mani, the jewel, is the divine which dwells in Padme, the heart. Hum represents our individual spark of divine consciousness. It provides a way to connect to your divinity and understand that you are a radiant spark of the divine.

If you would like to try this sonic vitamin M, find yourself a quiet place and turn off any electronic devices so that you will not be disturbed.

• Sit in a way that allows your spine to be straight so that you can breathe fully into your abdomen to take in the maximum sonic vitamin B, breath. Observe your breathing for a while until you feel calm and centered.
• Think about what you would like to achieve in this session. You are connecting to your divinity. Do you wish to send sonic intention and healing out to someone or a planetary situation?
• Before you begin your chant, focus on the words and perhaps experiment with a single note to find the one that is comfortable for you in your vocal range.
• Start repeating the mantra silently. In the case of OM MANI PADME HUM, give two beats to OM, one beat each to MAH/NI, PAD/ME, and four beats to HUM. Get comfortable with the rhythm.
• Bring your mantra out into a vocal repetition and continue as long as you wish. I would suggest no more than five minutes if you are new to the practice. At the end, slowly lessen your volume until the mantra becomes internal again. Release it when you choose and sit in silence. How do you feel?

Silence, sonic vitamin S, brings its own blessing. The importance of silence in our cacophonous world cannot be underestimated.

“Silence is God’s first language.”

—St John of the Cross

“Everything else is a poor translation.”

—Thomas Keating

In silence we find our gratitude. In gratitude we find our grace.

In Vibrational Sound Healing you will find many other sonic vitamins to explore. As with dietary vitamins you may find yourself more drawn to some than others to meet your requirements, and later switch to another sonic supplement to your daily wellness.

Treating yourself to a daily sonic vitamin is a practice that can greatly enrich your life, bringing peace where there is stress, and help you to detach from the dramas of life. When you find your own note, your place in the symphony of life, you will come into holistic resonance and become your own healer. When you find your harmony, you allow sound health.