Coming Full Circle With Sound Healing
There are moments in life when you stumble upon something that feels both brand new and ancient at the same time. That’s exactly how sound healing has felt to me, like a language my soul already knew, but my body was just remembering.
The first time I laid down for a sound bath, I thought I was just going to listen to some bowls, chimes, maybe a gong or two. What I didn’t expect was the way those vibrations moved through my entire being. It was as if the sound by-passed my busy mind, and spoke directly to my heart and nervous system. I felt my shoulders drop, my jaw relax, and my breath deepen. By the time the last sound faded into silence, I knew I had experienced something profound. That day marked the beginning of my love for sound.
Why Sound Matters to Me
Over the years, sound has become more than just a tool for me it has become a soothing healer, a guide, and in many ways, a teacher. When life feels overcharged, I head to one of my sound elements, maybe even just tuning a fork or a bowl. When I’m seeking clarity, I find it in the expansive resonance of sitting with other elements for a bit longer. Going even deeper, I may meditate with my Shruti box while vocally adding a chant. The Shruti box is the newest member of my sound elements and it quickly carries me back to a place of stillness, deeper listening and presence.
What I love so much about sound is that it doesn’t demand anything from us. It doesn’t ask us to figure it out or to be anything other than what we are in the moment. Fun fact, sound works through resonance, meaning its vibrations move through the body and energy field so even if you can’t hear it with your ears, you can still feel and receive its effects. Sound creates space for us to rest, release, and reset. That’s why I love it, because it meets us exactly where we are and gently ushers us back to balance.
The Journey Back to Sound School
My sound journey started during the pandemic. That time provided me with an opportunity to dig in and to start exploring my curiosity with sound. I attended an online training program with the Sound Healing Academy, where I completed my first certification, an experience that sparked my deep passion (and yes, a bit of an addiction!) for exploring the many different sound instruments. I began working with sound and sharing it with others individually and in my group “FLOW” sessions. But, the program I was most excited about was in person, right in my back yard and I had a calling to deepen my knowledge. Life, as it often does, had kept me busy in other directions for a while, I pressed pause on that part of my journey. But the call of sound never left me. It kept showing up in my own healing practice, also in the way I supported others, and in the quiet knowing that this was part of my purpose.
Going back to finish what I started feels like coming full circle, not just for the training or the instruments, but for honoring that deep inner pull I’ve felt for a while. It’s about stepping more fully into learning and saying yes to what inspires me. For me, this wasn’t just about another certification, it was a commitment to myself, to a broader purpose and to be better at holding space for others through the medicine of sound. In January of this year, I finally made the time and commitment to myself to attend the Sound Wise School of Harmonic Therapy in Lancaster, PA, where I had the privilege of learning more from some of the best. Now that I’ve completed the program, I’m more excited than ever to share this work with others.
The Benefits of Sound Healing
What makes sound healing so powerful is that it works on so many levels at once:
Physical: Vibrations can help relax muscles, reduce tension, and support the body’s natural healing processes.
Mental: Sound helps quiet the mind, reducing stress and anxiety, and inviting clarity.
Emotional: The resonance of sound often unlocks emotions we’ve been holding, creating space for release and balance.
Energetic: Sound helps clear blockages in the body’s energy system, bringing harmony and flow.
Spiritual: Many people experience a sense of connection, peace, or insight during sound journeys, as if tuning into something larger than themselves.
What I love most is that you don’t have to do anything for it to work. You simply allow yourself to receive, and the sound does the rest.
Science Confirms What We Feel
One of the beautiful things about sound healing is that it’s not just mystical, while it is ancient it’s also scientific. Physics tells us that everything in existence is energy, vibrating at a frequency. From the cells in our body to the chair we sit on, everything is made of moving particles. When sound waves travel through the air, or through our bodies, they don’t just reach our ears, they create vibrations that interact beneficially with every cell in our body.
Research has shown that certain frequencies can shift brainwave states, calm the nervous system, and even help the body heal. Think of it as resonance, when one vibration influences another. Just as a tuning fork can cause another tuning fork to hum without touching it, sound frequencies can help bring the body back into balance.
Sound in Everyday Life & Medicine
We’re already using sound and vibration in ways we don’t always think about:
Ultrasound technology: Doctors use high-frequency sound waves to create images inside the body and to break up kidney stones.
Music therapy: Hospitals and care centers use music to reduce stress, manage pain, and improve mental health.
Vibrational therapy: Sound waves are used in physical therapy and rehabilitation to stimulate circulation and promote healing in tissues.
Noise-canceling technology: Based on the principle of sound waves canceling each other out, this everyday tool shows us how frequency interacts in powerful ways.
Brainwave entrainment: Specific sound frequencies (like binaural beats) are used to encourage relaxation, meditation, and focus.
These are just a few examples of how sound isn’t just something we hear, it’s something we use for healing and well-being every day.
Coming Home Through Sound
For me, sound healing has been a journey of remembering who I am way beneath the noise of the world. Each tone, each vibration, impacts another part of myself. And, I look forward to refining my skills and also deepening my journey on this path.
Sound brings me home to myself, and I believe it does the same for anyone who’s open to receiving it.
So, as I step more into the next phase of my journey with sound, I do so with gratitude for the teachers, the deepening, the instruments, the vibrations, and for the inspiration of sound itself. And I can’t wait to share more of that journey with you.
Stay well and be happy!
XO Donna