Pleased to vocal tone you.Having promised myself to keep up with my blogging, I then went through a massive relocation from Surrey, to Selsey in West Sussex which started last August and finally completed on the 1st February! It was a long time to live from boxes and suitcases and we wondered if we would ever arrive, but we did, and we are here, Selsey (West Sussex) by the sea and loving it!
I have moved some of my courses to the beautiful Green Door Centre in Bosham, West Sussex, including the Sound Healing with the Voice Practitioner Training in connection with the College of Sound Healing, and this morning I went there to do a voice meditation taster session to introduce myself and my work and offer it out to those interested. We had a lovely group, some who had used the voice before as a healing and vibrational tool, and some that had not. A voice meditation session generally consists of 45-60 mins of gentle vocal toning, that is humming, or sounding vowel sounds from a place of non judgement of voice. It is not about singing, but rather seeing the voice as an honoured part of the self, that holds a special power to align the body with a parasympathetic nervous system response and the inner and the outer worlds, bringing about an easeful state of meditation or healing, depending on the context. Today we worked to connect the sound to the breath by focusing on soft and flexible abdominals, and then allowing the movement of the abdominals (and diaphragm) to instigate the vocal sound, rather than the mind, meaning that, the sound comes from a place of instinct, rather than left brain decision. We sent vocal vibration to our physical bodies and observed how the body consciousness has the ability to choose the pitch and tone, and guide the person to where it is needed. We sent healing tone around the group to each other, and out to the earth and the collectives. The reason for the heading of this blog, was because every time I work with a new group of people, it's only when we all begin to vocal tone without ego and mind, that the most pure of pure sounds emerge. Complete strangers begin to sound, listen, and respond to each other through pure tone. The harmonies, dissonances, sound waves, breaths begin to synchronise, and it's like we all get to know each other for who we really are, who we really sound, without the formalities, the conditioning, the "pleased to meet yous" and all the other stuff that comes out when we meet and talk to new people. Instead, with the vocal tone, people learn to express and communicate from a more authentic and vulnerable place, and here we all speak the same language. I hope to create a new monthly voice meditation session at the Green Door Centre, starting soon, and sound with more beautiful souls that present themselves. Such a pleasure. Allowing the Silence. Allowing the Authentic Self.One of the most important aspects of any sound healing session, whether a 1-2-1 therapeutic treatment or a group sound bath, is the SILENCE.
If you have ever had a sound session of any kind, and you have been successfully guided into that lovely alpha or even theta state, where you might experience a deepening of consciousness or perhaps an intense processing of thoughts, depending on how life is for you at that time, you will know that continuous and unrelenting sound is a nightmare! Sound must be balanced with silence to create the bliss. If you have been guided into that beautiful space of sensitivity, where you feel safe in your surroundings, you trust that your practitioner will ALLOW you to expand and deepen further with periods of silence amongst the sounds. A skilled sound practitioner will even find the silence around the sounds as they play, but at the very least, silence between the sounds offers the opportunity for the body to RECEIVE the vibrations that are no longer audible but can be felt gently rippling through the body. And that's it, in a nutshell. Healing is so often the ability to receive and allow gentle movement, movement of stagnant energy in the body, so that it might ground out through our feet, earth, just like an electric circuit (which of course we are, but I'll leave the Electric Body pioneer, Eillen Day McKusick to explain that in her wonderful books). However, sometimes it's hard to do this alone, which is why we might seek the assistance of a healing practitioner, someone who can encourage us into a state of allowance, of relaxation, of trust, and then administer sounds with the purest of intention for our wellbeing. A skilled practitioner will work with clear intention to guide a variety of frequencies and tones, moving energy where there is resistance, and balancing energy where there is volatility, but the silence is where the movement occurs, where the shift takes place. Where the person is guided to find their inner sanctuary, often a place where an individual might be afraid to go, for fear of having to face all that has been hidden away. But slowly, when a person can access this inner sanctuary, when they can acknowledge the thoughts that pass through the mind to be processed and released without worry and judgment that they are not doing it right, THEN they can start to come home and RECONNECT WITH THEIR TRUE SELF, with the inner voice, with the authentic self, whatever you want to call it. The sound guides us to the silence, and there we find and face our true essence in its raw glory, it may be happy, sad, grumpy, angry, tired, desperate, and all the frequencies under the sun, BUT whatever that might look like, that part is free from conditioning, and we can say; THIS IS ME. THIS IS WHAT I AM FEELING AND I MAKE NO APOLOGY. THIS IS WHAT I NEED. IN THIS PLACE, I AM FREE TO HEAR ME. FROM THIS PLACE, I CAN BEGIN TO RECONNECT WITH ALL THAT I AM. Finding that inner sanctuary, facing our raw energy, and listening to OUR SOUND, is healing. Continued healing comes from building strength to live from that place of peaceful authenticity, without entrainment to others and their ideas. I am often asked what is the 'authentic voice', and other than the most simple hum, free from genre, I would answer that the authentic voice is attained when we are at one with our true self. It's something that comes from regular practice of silence and gentle vocalising. Try spending some time each day, however small, in silence. Just sit and be. Don't try to meditate or do anything. Notice what you hear externally and then gradually notice what you hear internally. If a plethora of voices and things to do run through your mind, notice them. Whose voice is it? What images are presented? What is really on your mind? What are you afraid of? Spend some time in silence considering what comes up. Ask yourself, who you are trying to please and why. There are no right or wrong answers, just consider. Bring your attention to your breath. Notice your in and out breaths. Notice every breath. As your breath deepens, on the exhale, gently and VERY QUIETLY begin to hum. Only hum, that's all that's needed. Do this for a minute or so, or longer if you have time. Try this every day, even just for a few minutes. Try writing down your experiences. See what happens. 21st August 2023 |
AuthorMy journey through Healing Sound and Voice. Archives
April 2024
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