Hello and welcome to a new episode of the Awaken Together podcast.
I'm Kat.
I'm Jen.
And in today's episode, we're talking all things sound healing.
How utilizing the sense of sound can clear energetic blockages, connect you with your
inner voice, and help heal the collective at large.
Sounds great.
Yes.
Oh, you're so, you're so cute.
So to give you a little description if sound healing is new to you, sound healing is also
known as sonotherapy and it allows the body and mind to regain their full vitality by
restoring their natural frequencies.
And this involves applying different frequencies and therapeutic sounds around the body by
singing or using tools like tuning forks, crystal bowls, drums, flutes, bells, gongs,
and rattles.
Yes.
And so if you have never had like a spiritual experience, I really think sounds a really
cool avenue to explore.
It was where I definitely had some of my first moments where I was like, I think this existence
might be more than what I perceive.
I recently watched a documentary called The Sound of Creation that was on Gaia and they
mentioned a couple of fun facts that like really stuck with me.
One of them being that the ear to brain connection is actually three times more than the connection
of the eyes to the brain.
So that was one of them.
The other one is that sound is the very first sense that the fetus creates.
And then from that sense of sound and that perceptiveness to vibration, the whole fetus
continues to grow and develop.
So clearly there is a higher link to sound and its benefit for our physical bodies.
Absolutely, and we're going to get a little nerdy with you to start.
So my science people, I hope you'll be happy for this.
We're going to talk about brain waves for a moment to really help like hammer this in.
So there are four types of brain wave patterns that we experience on a daily basis.
There are beta, alpha, theta, and delta.
Betas are usual waking state of alertness and beta waves, the brain is in concentration
in activity mode and it runs in a low level of stress, like a healthy level.
And then alpha waves occur when the brain is running at a slightly lower activity level.
The brain's in a meditative pre-sleep trance like state of consciousness.
Third, theta waves, they occur when we're in deep REM sleep.
This is when your brain processes and basically decides what to remember or store in your
greater knowledge bank.
Theta waves are the lowest level of brain activity, which occur when the brain powers
down allowing physical healing and growth to take place.
And for example, during a yoga practice, we want the brain to be balanced somewhere in
between beta and alpha, ending in a really blissful alpha state during Shavasana.
Because it's here that the brain increases its production of dopamine, which is the feel
good happiness hormone.
And sound healing really helps regulate the brain waves to encourage an alpha state wave
pattern so that we can relax more fully.
Love it.
And yeah, I think there's been able to be a lot more profound study on sound in general
because now we can see like how it affects the brain and body like so much more.
So I think that you're starting to see a lot more accessibility to different sound methods.
I explore YouTube all the time for this stuff.
I've been falling asleep with Delta waves and finding that I like sleep so much better
when I have that just on in the background.
And it's really wild that our brain responds to the frequency so different and what that
looks like and how our whole body is functioning and running.
The first thing we want to delve into is going to be sound baths.
So this is something that if you Google in your area, you might be able to find some
people that that host sound bath meditations.
The very first one I ever went to would have been when I was still living in Florida early
on in my spiritual journey.
And I just remember this teacher having about five crystal bowls and she started chiming
them at the end of a yoga class.
And I was blown away because there was so much physical sensation in my body from the
vibration of sound that I had no problem meditating, which was just an epiphany for me because
I had never experienced that sort of calm.
And having those sound bowls, a lot of times you'll feel them like bounce in between your,
it feels as though they're bouncing between your ears.
It's like it clears out all of my excessive thoughts and that sensory input for me, especially
probably with my fact I'm neurodivergent and have like the ADHD diagnosis, that extra sensory
input was life changing and definitely helped me meditate deeper than I had before.
Yeah, I've had a really profound experience at a gong bath myself.
And the only real difference between a gong bath and a sound bath is that a gong bath has
a gong and it usually has some other tools as well.
This one had all the tools I referenced before rattles, gong, crystal bowl, tuning forks,
like you name it.
It was there.
It was, if you're in Denver, it was at this studio called Samadhi, which is one of the
like staple studios that's been in Denver for a really long time here.
And it was with this teacher who is very experienced.
His name is Gary.
I'm going to blank on his last name.
I think it's Apparel or Apparel or something like that, but he's absolutely wonderful and
really a magician when it comes to sound.
And so at the beginning of class, we got to come and pick some crystals that we could
lay on our chakras for the meditation.
And I remember I chose one and I put it on my third eye center and then laid down, got
really comfy on my mat with bolsters and blankets and blocks and just kind of settled in for
the experience.
This is my first official sound bath experience, so I didn't really know what to expect.
And he started and time just flew by.
I started seeing visuals.
Like first it started out really subtly with some ripples.
Like if you throw a pebble into a pond and you see that like ripple out, I was seeing
that with my eyes closed.
And I've shared here on the podcast before that I'm very clairvoyant.
So that's the sense that comes through for me energetically the most.
I see things with my eyes closed.
And there was another point where the frequency picked up and I was flying, zooming in between
tunnels and around these tubes.
And there was another point where everything just stopped and I saw this little girl's
face and I'm like, what is happening?
Once it was, once it ended, I couldn't wait to talk about the experience with my friends
and my partner who had come with me.
And the first thing I asked was, what did everyone see just wanting to nerd out and
connect on that?
And they were like, oh, I saw some ripples.
I was like, yeah, me too.
But like what else?
And that was really it.
And I swear to God, I had a psychedelic experience completely sober.
And that's the power that sound has.
Absolutely.
And so I also had a very similar like, whoa moment, like beyond just the physical senses.
I in teacher training, we learned about all the different chakra points and we learned
that there is a root sound that can vibrate for each of the main energy centers.
And so we were doing this group chanting of Lam, Ram, just like working our way up.
And we probably did it for like 30 minutes and I had a full out of body experience.
I remember, I remember opening my eyes and I was just in this purple space and it didn't
matter if my eyes were open.
My eyes were closed.
I was just in this.
I could barely feel my body.
I felt it was a beautiful feeling.
This purple was so vivid and so beautiful.
And when we got called out of that meditation, I was like, okay, like that was a real game
changer.
Like what is this existence?
That was my takeaway.
So yeah.
So cool.
And yeah, it has been proven that the different chakras are linked with different frequencies.
This is something that you can look up.
They have lots of charts if you literally Google chakras and their frequencies and it
will tell you the different notes associated with each one of them and then the different
frequencies in numeric form.
Yeah.
And they have sound bowls that actually will stay in tune to those frequencies.
So if you know you have a chakra that is especially troublesome for you, you can take like they
have quizzes online where you can look at that, or maybe you get that kind of input
from going to an energy practitioner.
But yeah, if you focus on that frequency, you can often get that energy wheel working
a little bit stronger.
Absolutely.
And another big place that you can experience sound healing is music shows, festivals, experiencing
music live.
There's something really special that happens when you can even just close your eyes or
even close your ears and just feel the sound waves vibrating around you.
It's a full body experience and there's something really, really special that happens.
For me, I get the thought of when the bass drops and everyone's charging up for the moment,
start hopping around and going crazy and just thinking about tea kettle and releasing all
of its steam, it's just that moment of celebration and ecstasy and joy.
And everyone's cheering at the top of their lungs and it just feels like a sea of unity,
having this communal experience of celebrating sound and life, making your own sound, celebrating
in the sounds that you're all hearing and just feeling like a hug of the energy waves
around you.
Yeah.
I have not yet had the chance to go to a full blown music festival.
I know Kat will drag me one of these days.
We're changing that soon.
Very soon.
But it's funny, I reflect back.
I grew up in the Christian church.
That was my upbringing.
I was in church three to four days a week.
I even dated two musicians from the church at different points.
And it's just funny because I think really my link to church for so long and one of the
reasons that it just felt like such a special space for me, even amidst a lot of the things
that I've had to definitely unlearn and heal from.
But the music at church and singing with an entire group, I remember I used to get goosebumps
all the time.
I would feel really deeply connected, almost like I could draw a line to all of the people
in the space.
I remember that so vividly.
So there was definitely an element where the music and coming together really mattered
and really felt like it was coming from a higher source or just a higher sense of connection.
I think that's what kept me in that space for so long without really doing a lot of
reflection on some of the other components, to be honest.
Yeah.
Chanting is a really, really powerful way to connect with yourself, with God, goddess,
universe, whatever you'd like to call it, and each other.
So we see that in the ways that we shared, but we also see it in studies that have been
done.
Yeah.
So a few things to go into.
I think that there, I learned a lot of these in teacher training, but the science is definitely
there and there's a lot of different ways you can look into this, but they have really
been able to study the significance of our voice and how the words that we say and speak
actually can make a really profound difference on how things form.
So one of the biggest studies that we talked about in yoga teacher training was the study
of water, where they would speak to water in this beautiful way or even sing to it as
it was freezing and it would form these very beautiful symmetrical patterns that had all
this complexity to it versus when they yelled at the water as it was freezing, it would
create these really rough patterns and just no symmetry to it.
They've also been able to replicate that study with rice, where they took a jar of rice that,
they took three jars of rice, one that was left alone, one that was spoken to positively
and one that was spoken to negatively, the one that was isolated and the one that was
spoke to negatively molded, didn't have any growth versus you saw this beautiful fermenting
in life being established by the one that was spoke to positively and they've been able
to replicate that study over and over again.
I think as an energy healer and someone that's worked with many people and their energy bodies,
I think one of the biggest things I feel most consistently is people's throat space being
smaller than some of the other energy centers in their body.
That's me.
Because it's like so, our culture, it's tricky to use your voice because there can be a lot
of ramifications from speaking certain things.
Shame.
Yeah.
I think there's a lot of shame behind, yeah, you probably have a story where your voice
at one point ended up not being heard or being taken the wrong way.
We can get a lot of pushback on wanting to actually say what we're meaning, what we're
thinking, but our throat and our words, they create a vibration for our body and especially
when we get used to using our voice with intention and making sure that what we're speaking is
actually adding to someone's experience, not taking away and we use our words for good,
not for bad.
I think there is definitely a way to state something that's hard without having to do
it in such a harsh way because I do think the words that we speak matter because our
body listens to that, not just in the tightening that comes with saying something difficult,
but also there's a vibration component when we're speaking our truth as well.
Absolutely.
When you think about it, the voice is the vehicle in which your inner world becomes
external, in which you're able to bring your magic from inside, all of the thoughts and
feelings and emotions and energy really from yourself and you're able to share that.
It's a really incredible and beautiful tool that I don't think we necessarily think of
it that way a lot of the time.
Then the other study that I thought was so cool that if you have not ever watched this,
I highly recommend going on a deep dive, but they've been able to play with these plates
that they can vibrate at different frequencies and they've been able to put sand on those
plates and practice the patterns that develop at different frequencies within those little
sand particles.
What they have determined is the higher frequency that they shake the plate, the more evolved
these shapes and patterns come out.
If you see them, it is these beautiful shapes.
They're not just a little fun arrangement.
There is something really, really profound there that I think you can tap into in a lot
of ways and as you meditate more and you see these patterns and shapes evolve, even looking
at mandalas and just this, the beautiful sacred geometry, I think we can see that there's
these beautiful shapes within nature that consistently pop up.
I think those shapes, when you look at some of the patterns that are created by different
sound and vibration, it looks similar to some of the patterns we see in nature.
I think sound in itself, yeah, higher realm, higher connection, connection to the universe,
definitely worth exploring.
Absolutely.
And every frequency that is known can be found in nature.
And that I think is so special because nature is so wise and so intuitive and all knowing
that it just creates naturally all the things that we're able to hear.
And one way that I've been taught the sound of the universe is om.
That's what we learn in yoga teacher training.
And when we all chant om together, basically without even saying it, we're all connecting
to the sound of the universe, which is universal, speaks no language, and it's just a sound
that we can all get behind.
And that creates a lot of soothing, relaxing sensations.
Yeah.
And thinking about my plants at home, it's something I love to practice.
You were just sharing, Jen, about speaking sweet nothings and seeing how they flourish.
And we have 32 plants in our house.
I mean, it could be a full-time job just speaking sweetly to all of that.
Someone's got to do it.
I'm just kidding.
But it is fun to see and to put that extra level of care and love into living things.
Yep, absolutely.
And yeah, when we were doing our cacao ceremony at the retreat, I was speaking love to the
cacao.
I told everyone in the kitchen, while you cook, just our words have such an impact and
are a form of sound.
I think remembering that will help you bring some intention back into that space.
I wrote the quote from Tesla.
If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.
I love it.
It's such a good one.
And Tesla, wow, I'm impressed.
So then kind of on the flip side, we wanted to end with silence because silence, it's
the polarity of sound, right?
It's kind of the inverse, the opposite.
And it's super important to create space for a silent vortex, especially as an integration
space after listening to sound.
You might, if you listen to loud music like me, hear a ringing in your ears afterwards,
tinnitus, which, you know, that's why it's also important to have the silence to kind
of let that settle down and give your ears a little bit of a break.
Dead time allows you as a practitioner to absorb the therapeutic effects of sound.
And really, it's just as important as sound itself.
Sometimes we play music constantly in order to avoid silence when really silence is such
an important portal to really just open up our perspective to what might be lying underneath
the surface that we've been distracting from.
Yeah.
And if silence is difficult for you, I definitely have had a journey with that.
I think that was the top thing I avoided and had to work on and develop in my practice.
Yeah, playing around with ways to get out energy first, or yeah, even working through
a sound bath and then ending in silence, doing some kind of added sensory input or a way
to get rid of excess energy will allow you to sit in that silence better.
So don't think that you're abnormal for not being able to just sit and drop into silence
right away.
Like using some of these practices to build on each other to lead up to a more silent
practice is definitely a good system to play with.
We hope this episode was interesting for you.
We'd also love to learn about your relationship with sound and music.
You can find us on Instagram at Awaken Together podcast or our Instagram pages, Katarina O'Erikson
and Sons Full Wellness.
And just like we did last season, we are going to be hosting an end of season two event for
you.
The last episode of the season is going to be next Friday and then on Sunday the 19th,
we are going to be offering a summer solstice event free to all of our listeners.
To sign up for that, go to SonsFullWellness.com and look under the events.
It's a free sign up, but just so you receive the Zoom link to enter, we're going to be
doing some yoga.
We're going to be guiding you through intention settings for the summer.
And then we're also going to leave open space to discuss anything you want to bring up for
season two.
This is also where you can chime in and give suggestions for what you want out of season
three.
Once again, thank you guys for all your support.
Yes, and we hope to see you there.
We will see you next time.
Bye.