Sound Healing is the use of sounds and vibrations to induce positive medical or spiritual effects. Do mind that Sound Healing — sometimes also called Sound Bathing — is not the same as Music Therapy, the latter recognized as the scientific and evidence-based use of music.
In any case, the types of sounds and vibrations used in Sound Healing are incredibly diverse and may originate from Singing Bowls, voice, Guided Meditation, any musical instrument, nature sounds, chanting, reciting mantras, and whatnot.
Depending on the sound healer and the type of sounds used, it’s claimed that Sound Healing can alleviate stress and anxiety, boosts the immune system, combats mental health issues, activates the listener’s body’s self-healing mechanisms, balances the Chakras, diminishes pain sensations, improves one’s meditation practice, expulses evil or negative energies, and/or enables expanded states of consciousness for trauma healing or spiritual growth.
One of the ways Sound Healing seems to work is its ability to activate the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) which is responsible for our autonomous “rest and digest” calm-down response. In fact, The PNS typically tries to maintain, relax, or reduce the body’s activities and creates a “state of calm.” Think of regulating autonomous bodily functions such as blood pressure, breathing, blood flow, and heart rate.
Additionally, it’s thought that Sound Healing can trigger so-called “entrainment,” which involves the synchronization of organisms to an external perceived rhythm such as music or dance. As such, the sounds used would stimulate the brain to fall in sync with the calming and relaxing sound frequencies. Moreover, cell tissues in our body may also be entrained by sounds and would subsequently relax and/or heal.