Soul Sounds

Soul Sounds

“We connect to the world through the sound: the chatter of people, the hum of the traffic, the whisper of touch, the percussion of a heartbeat.”
- Caro Ness  - A Space for Silence  

I’m having some absolutely amazing adventures with sound at the moment and just wanted to share my excitement with you.

This week I read an article that suggested that our nerves communicate by sound rather than electricity.  This correlates with the profound experiences of sound I have witnessed with clients with chronic illnesses such as MS and Cancer.  Release from pain and tension becomes available when our nervous systems are soothed and nourished by experiences of sonic relaxation.  The caress of beautiful music goes way deeper than the skin, massaging our inner awareness and giving space for our body systems to breathe, rejuvenate and rebalance.  Author Caro Ness describes her experience of our sessions in this beautiful poem:

Sound Therapy

Lie back on your bed, and close your eyes,

Time to shut out the world, re-energise.

Watch your breath, yes, contemplate,

What it is to be still, then meditate.

Now the therapy begins and the sound starts to grow,

And you’re washed in pure music from your head to your toe.

A brush on a gong that reverberates,

And every bone in your body melts and disintegrates…

The melodious tone of a singing bowl,

That speaks to the mind, the heart, the soul.

A chord on marimba, some notes on the flute,

Arpeggios played on the sitar or lute.

Unaccompanied chants, a roll on a snare drum,

A tip from a rain stick so your sinews hum.

Your body is washed with a beautiful noise,

That gives you a feeling of well-being and poise,

A thrum of unique notes that creates a beautiful sound,

That is loving and giving and very profound.

Caro Ness


 

There is in every ancient civilisation, a deep acknowledgement of the healing power of sound. The indigenous peoples of the earth have a profound understanding of the way in which sound connects every living being.  In the film The Weeping Camel modern day Mongolians use this ancient understanding to heal the relationship between a mother camel and her calf.  Early hospitals in ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt and Persia all used music for the treatment of illness.  Traditional Chinese Medicine, first documented in 440BCE, still uses vocal tones as part of their diagnosis and treatment.  In both the Middle East and India we find advanced systems in which pieces of music (Makams/Raags) were prescribed to be played at specific times of the day to assist with different conditions.  Centuries later Western composers would debate the effect of different musical modes and intervals on the emotional states of their listeners - something which modern day marketers put to full effect.

In our cells, we know and remember that sound is the essence of our existence and that we hum and vibrate at the frequencies of our longings, dreams, emotions, thoughts and visions.  Sound has the capacity to shake and remake us, to reconnect and regenerate every nerve in our body and to enable us to communicate radiantly and radically in the world.

This means when we fine tune the instrument of our expression, our voice - our whole world begins to change.  The ancients across all cultures understood that each individual was a microcosm of the whole, so when just one person reclaims their voice, we are all liberated by their expanded presence.   In recent workshops and sessions, I’ve been honoured to witness lions and lionnesses reclaiming their roar and enjoying all the subtle nuances of their expression.

It's a beautiful thing when you know exactly when to purr and when to roar.... Nikki King

We become so creative and courageous when we Roar for those things which matter to us.   The Commons have Roared a NO to military action against Syria this week and inspirational campaigners are roaring against fracking across the UK.

I shall be roaring for WaterAid with 800 singers at Sing for Water at the Thames Festival this month. I’ve done a virtual busk and will be busking at a mainline station very soon - it's so amazing to see what happens when I get in action for my passion and let the sound current take me where it will.  Please do throw some pennies in my virtual bucket! :)

Thank you so much for listening
I look forward to singing and sharing sound magic with you soon!
Wishing you a super soulful sonic September.