Being Sung To, a Recipe for Healing

We are built to be sound-makers. Our sounds in infancy are our very first survival mechanism. We soon add other natural sounds to those first ones as we begin to explore our internal world and mimic the world around us. These natural utterances are repeated through lifetimes when they are honored in the home culture. Sadly, that is not often the case in Western cultures. Those of us whose voices were put down in school, home or elsewhere because they were “off-key,” harsh or just not melodic enough, especially when singing, can carry a lifetime of shame about our own natural expression. Those of us who have always been comfortable with our speaking/singing/yelling voices, can find a whole new world in singing to every part of our bodies.

For the last twelve years my bodywork practice has included chanting and sounding. Off and on during those years I have read books about these healing tools.  All useful but without the impact that my training in Sing the Body Electric’s Sonic Anatomy Tones has had for me. After a couple months of sporadic practice, I found myself incorporating this into my daily routine. That was a year and a half ago, and the effect of this everyday play has been profound. There are many moments where I feel like I am delivering a love song to whatever part of my body I’m focused on. This happens with individual tones, or a healing “tone-ic” of a combination of tones that I came up with for a specific purpose.  How healing a love song can be!

Repetition not only builds the muscle of comfort with your voice but transforms toning from a practice to an experience that energizes, builds self-confidence, and lifts your spirits. You are literally being sung to by your joyful, inner, playful self.

Caveat: finding your voice using these techniques can bring about profound changes not only in the way you view your “voice” (metaphorically, singingly) but the way you view other parts of you, upsetting your apple cart in unexpected and delicious ways.

SOUND at the root of our HUMANness: