Nada Brahma – the World is Sound
In the most different cultures, the effect of sound is reflected in the life of mankind. For example in the Indian art of healing, gongs and sounds play a major role for more than 5000 years. It is believed that every human being is the result of sound and has his/her own individual sound – being sound itself. If one is in harmony, in unison, with oneself and their surroundings, one can shape one’s life freely, with love and with joy.
What actually is sound?
Sound is more than just a part of music. It is one of the three basic elements, in addition to rhythm and melody. Purely physically, sound is a vibration, an audible signal, which is transmitted by acoustic waves. The acoustic wave spreads through a reciprocating movement, where gases, liquids or solid bodies are required. For example, if you take a singing bowl and tap it gently, it begins to vibrate and the air in its immediate environment starts moving. You can well observe it, if water is filled into a singing bowl. Water conducts sound faster than air, and as our body consists of more than 80% of liquid, one can easily imagine how the sound of a tapped singing bowl flows through the body.
The Western method of sound massage was developed in 1984 by Peter Hess as holistic relaxation method. Gradually different sound methods emerged, which found their application in different fields of work, such as counseling, therapy, wellness and prevention.
In a sound massage with singing bowls, which will be described in more detail below, we use the air and the body to transmit the sound. The acoustic signal is picked up by the ears and at the same time directly via the body as a vibro-tactile stimulation, and is being passed on to the brain for processing.
The sound of a singing bowl depends on the composition of material, the manufacturing process, as well as on shape, radius and height of the bowl. That is why singing bowls have different effects.
The sound massage, which was developed in the 80s, where therapy bowls with different sounds and enriched with various metals are used, is now successfully applied as holistic method for deep relaxation, as well as support in difficult learning and life stages.
Through continuous research and practice, the different sound methods are permanently further developed and their effectiveness is being verified in scientific studies.
What happens during a sound massage
For a sound massage singing bowls are put on or near the clothed body and gently struck. If you drop a stone into the water, then circles are forming, the so-called concentric waves. Every molecule of water is thereby set in motion. During a sound massage something similar happens in the body. The harmonious sounds are received through hearing and are usually felt as calm and soothing. If the bowls are put on the body, the waves are transmitted which produce a slight vibration. The gentle sound vibrations travel through the body fluids, tissues, muscles and tendons, bones, body cavities and organs and stimulate the entire body. “Blockades” can smoothly be dissolved.
Due to an atmosphere of safety, the self-healing forces of the body and soul are intensified and the basic trust is activated. This allows the body awareness to improve and the creativity and self-confidence be strengthened.
The Peter Hess – sound methods are aiming to strengthen the healthy and well-functioning human being.
The focus is always directed to the whole human being with their own skills and knowledge, even if these resources are not accessible to him/her in some situations. Pace, intensity and direction during the sound sittings always happen in agreement to the needs of the patient.
Our motto is: less is more!
It is not so much a question of a purposeful action than rather to accompany the patient attentively and lovingly on his individual way.
The instrument singing bowl
The Eastern cultures and the Himalayan region are considered as the origin of the singing bowls. They were originally used for storage of food or offerings. There are countless different forms and sizes of bowls, which are made of different materials. Best known are the bronze bowls.
Manufacturing
The therapy bowls especially developed by Peter Hess are manufactured of a high-quality bronze and enriched with other metals.
From the alloy a thick plate is molded, the blank workpiece. Gradually a singing bowl is wrought from the blank workpiece. During this process, up to 100 times it is brought to glow in the fire. About six craftsmen accompany the forging process. The desired hardness of the singing bowl is achieved by special forging techniques. It receives the good sound through repeated annealing and quenching. Then the bowl is scraped out by hand, whereby the bowl gets cleaned and receives its glossy surface.
For the preparation of a plate of about 2 kg more than 30 hours of work are needed and about five people who are involved at the same time in the manufacturing process. Finally, a thin layer of mustard oil or coconut oil is applied to the surface of the singing bowl as protection. Thereafter, they are only handled with gloves.
At the end, the therapy singing bowls run through a quality control to ensure excellent audio quality and oscillation behaviour.
The sound is a medium that reaches people on their different levels. This fact can particularly be a great help for the elderly in changing life situations or for people with dementia who can no longer communicate verbally.
Dementias are diverse and run multifaceted. Although the cognitive abilities of those involved are declining, the emotional needs like security, belonging and esteem remain. Since sounds work on the whole body, they can favourably influence an imbalance on the increasingly important emotional level. Sound has accompanied us from the beginning of human life. Already prenatal memories, such as the voice of our mother, but also vibrations are familiar sensations. They can be felt at all levels and so they reach the person for sure – somewhere.
Everyone is unique in their kind, capabilities and their own rate of learning and development. No matter where someone stands in his/her physical or mental development, he/she will be picked up right there.
Someone who is working intensively with the sound methods and gets accompanied by the rich overtones of the singing bowls, is more relaxed, gets energy and can face the everyday challenges confidently and joyfully.
All people, regardless of age and origin, can quickly get familiar with the sounds of singing bowls. Usually children are at once fascinated by the “golden bowls”, with which one can make exciting experiments, whereas adults enjoy the time of doing nothing, of not having to worry about anything, but simply just to be, to perceive and to enjoy. Everything else happens all by itself.
“Problems are solutions in work clothes”
Problems in interpersonal relationships can arise i. a, when all persons involved do not speak the same language. To the educator / teacher / supervisor is only the instrument of language available, to the sound pedagogue the instrument of the singing bowl, which may allow a state of relaxation in difficult situations. Relaxation is an important prerequisite for learning and development. A time to pause, to withdraw, in order to dedicate oneself again with full energy to the everyday life.
With the sounds of the singing bowl a wonderful method has been developed to achieve exactly this.
Happiness
Still to be able to marvel,
To enthuse,
To dare,
To open foreign doors,
To enter new spaces – even within us.
To enjoy the day,
To celebrate the moment,
To touch the sky,
To rest within oneself. To smile.
To meet each other. To be alone.
To find peace,
In us and around us.
To love and to be loved.
Jochen Mariss
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