Daily Times

Noise pollution is a general threat to health and wellness. On a beautiful October morning, my walk began wonderfully in a scenic park, but something went quite wrong. After 20 minutes, I felt my blood pressure shoot up, accompanied by pressure on my right ear and temple. I thought it was a panic attack and I set out for an unbeaten track into the middle of the park. Within a few seconds, I felt recovered. What I had suffered was noise pollution. The park track ran along a road with buzzing traffic. I had not realised the intensity of vibrations that had reached beyond the inner ear.

Noise pollution is a general threat to health and wellness, whether the exposure is long or short term. The body’s stress response is, thus, triggered, which can become one of the major causes of chronic stress. A study by Cornell University showed that those working in noisy office environments have also been found to be less cognitively motivated and have higher stress levels. So do we, who live in over-polluted cities.

Sounds can vary and play a big role in our experience of pleasant and unpleasant emotions. It is important to sensitise ourselves to differentiate between healing and harmful sounds.

Sound has also been used as a healing tool for centuries. Sounds are audio frequencies that are measurable energy fields and are defined as vibrations or waves of air molecules oscillating as a result of the back-and-forth movement of an object. What we seem to call our voice are really vibrations that the eardrum interprets and recognises as sound.

Research shows that certain vibrations from sound waves bring balance at the cellular level in our bodies. The universe is a grand symphony of harmony. The singing of the birds, the humming of the bees, the clamouring of raindrops, fluttering of the leaves, all are music to our souls and have great healing power. As William Shakespeare said, “The Earth has music for those who listen.”

Sound healing focuses on theta brain wave frequencies that induce relaxation and calmness. The vibrations impact our nervous system. It stimulates relaxation reflex and inhibits pain response. This is based on the idea that all human body organs work at a certain healthy frequency. Diseases are caused when certain tissues stop vibrating at this healthy frequency. In order to reach optimum health, sound vibrations can be used to restore the balance for organs to function at their rhythmic frequency.

Duke University and the University of North Carolina have added programs using sound therapy for the treatment of cancer. The results are astounding. Zidrunas Japertas, owner of a bee therapy centre in Lithuania, cured his back pain with the sound of bees. This is a unique therapy to cure high blood pressure, joint pains, back pain and even ease breathing with just the energy created by wing flapping sound vibrations. Alexandros Papachristoforou, a biologist at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, is studying bees. He says, “Researchers tend to look at visual communication or chemical communication. They don’t pay much attention to sound. The hum in a hive is generated by the bees shivering their wings and abdomen as they go about their work in the colony. Although bees lack ears, the hum is believed to be very important to the co-ordination of hive activity, because bees often modify wax comb to be a better conductor of vibration.”

My exposure to sound healing via Tibetan singing bowls, an ancient technique dating back to 2500 years ago, was intriguing. Tibetan bowls are an alloy of seven metals, beaten to a certain structure to create a high resonance of vibrations. These vibrations trigger a relaxation response in patients and stimulate the immune system. The medical director of the Deepak Chopra Centre in California, Dr David Simon, found that the sound from Tibetan Singing Bowls, as well as chanting, are chemically metabolised into “endogenous opiates,” that act on the body as internal painkillers and healing agents. Endogenous opiates are endorphins that are primarily produced in the brain and circulate widely throughout all organ systems.

Chanting the sound of “OM” or “HU” have been practised by centuries. Buddhists use OM sound and Sufis chant HU. Chanting is now being used as therapy for autoimmune disorders. Scientists say that these sounds create electrical heat in the body. The sound of “HU” is said to pass the heart centre and create a new being.

Caution: Pacemaker users should refrain from sound therapy

The writer is a wellness and yoga expert