The Power of Sound

Sounds can evoke powerful emotions. A song can evoke heart felt tears. The chirping of a bird can make us smile. The sound of waves can soothe us. A honk of a car can bring us to attention. This morning on my back porch, I played Pharrell Williams Happy song on my mobile, picked up my shih tzu, Charlie, and started dancing. While he didn't understand the point of it, I was having a grand time.

In tonight's meditation class, we played around with sound. As we sat on our cushions, we chanted Om. Each part of the sound including the silence that follows has always brought me to a still place as if time didn't exist. During the start of meditation, I strike the singing bowl. Years ago, a friend led meditation classes at work. When she tapped the bowl with her wooden stick, it felt like everything funneled to one single place between my third eye, my third eye chakra. I would instantly get sucked into this void, if only for a moment, with no thoughts. At the end of tonight's class, I invited everyone to close their eyes as they went into a journey of sound. On the carpeted baby blue floor, I laid two singing bowls, tingshas, and a crystal bowl, tuned to the heart chakra. I started with striking one bowl, slowly laying in the next. I added an additional sound by rimming a singing bowl and then started rimming the crystal bowl. We sat in sound for almost ten minutes. At the end, some of the students indicated the sense of calm that overcame them.

Water with John Lennon's Imagine. Courtesy of
http://www.masaru-emoto.net/english/water-crystal.html

Dr. Masaru Emoto's book, The Hidden Messages in Water, reveals the world of sound through the perspective of water. Play for water upbeat, happy songs, and the water forms beautiful crystal shapes. Speak harshly to the water and watch it form into misshaped dull forms. The water literally transformed based on sound. (www.masaru-emoto.net)

How does that effect you? Depending on your body size (weight and height), you are approximately 60% water. "According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%." (Source: http://water.usgs.gov) Half of you is made of water. 

When the moon is full, the gravitational pull effects the tides. The ground is also changed, but we cannot witness it as we can with water. Have you ever heard someone say "it's the full moon," when referencing people's odd behaviours and angry outbursts? We are moved by water. We are driven by sound.

How we speak with one another can greatly alter our moods. Sometimes, it isn't even the words we say, but the way we say them. Maybe we should all sing Happy, dance a little, and speak with tender voices. 

Suggested sound for this week: Tibetan Singing Bowls Meditation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5dU6serXkg