The alternate way of understanding our thought processes is called Embodied Cognition. Recent findings demonstrate that our bodies and the environment around us are essential in our cognition and play a vital part in our thinking and decision-making processes.
It's not the disembodied representations in our brain, the back-and-forth firing of countless neurons that alone produce our thoughts, but the indivisible interplay of our bodies and the ecosystems surrounding and containing us - that is where thought resides.
The job description for the brain has changed; instead of having to represent information about the external world and use that knowledge to output commands, the brain is now part of a broader system that encompasses perception and action. The role of the body has been promoted - significantly.
EC researchers Dr. Sabrina Golonka and Leeds UK colleague Andrew Wilson "advocate an ecosystem-like approach that treats even the most sophisticated cognitive tasks as a product of how our brains and bodies have evolved with our environments." The brain does not generate our behavior in a vacuum. Instead, human actions result from the real-time interplay and cooperation of the brain, body, nervous system, and the surrounding environment. How so?
Have you ever knocked an object off your kitchen counter and instantly reacted - moving your hand to precisely the right spot, and caught the item - to your surprise? How does this work? Reflexes, some say. What exactly does that mean? This example is a case of our body acting without the brain's involvement - Embodied Cognition. You move spontaneously and make a smooth catch, almost miraculously.
EC advocates say that our bodies, through perception and action, can often replace the need for the brain and its intricate mental gyrations. An example of EC frequently used to describe it involves a baseball outfielder's actions in catching a fly ball.
How does the player move at the crack of the bat and get to exactly the right place just in time to catch the ball? One approach would be for the brain to do a complicated calculation taking into account the speed and direction of the ball, the forces acting on it - the math and physics calculations approach - and then predict where to intersect the ball as it comes to the nearest point to the outfielder.
According to Golonka, the baseball player does not do the math or run in a straight line to the catch. Instead, the player keeps his eyes on the ball and runs in a curved path, thus making the ball's curved motion appear straight. The outfielder can easily track the ball to the correct endpoint. The player uses his brain - but only as part of the action; he uses his perception - to process the visual input and physical cues like his running speed to solve the task.
These EC breakthroughs in Psychology are fine, but we are interested in Alternative Healing - specifically Sound Healing for me. How can sound be used to do powerful healing and growth? Further, how might Sound Healing work?
Embodied Cognition's findings show the body's power to understand itself and its environment - and to act autonomously - even think. Our bodies have far more potential than previously understood. In a related manner, sound energy does not interact only with our ears and our brains through the sense of hearing. Instead, in our holistic view, sound interacts with the body, brain, intellect, emotions, and subtle energy systems.
Sound, in the form of particular select frequencies OR special music, can perform myriad wonders on us. Sound heals on multiple levels: appropriate frequencies stimulate cell regeneration; sound has been used to increase intelligence and memory; sound can influence our mental and emotional aspects. Perhaps in its most remarkable healing modality - sound activates the mind to power the body to heal itself. Healing chemicals are produced, and the immune system goes into hyperdrive. Fast, natural healing and regeneration occur; toxins are eliminated, pathogens are destroyed, energy is unblocked, and proper health and wellness are restored.
It has been well documented that specific sound frequencies can entrain your brain waves to a targeted state, inducing a specific mental condition. Unique frequencies produce Alpha brain waves, which Bulgarian psychiatrist Lozanov has shown to enhance learning and memory retention greatly.
Sound energy can interact with the body in many ways - sound energy changes physical states. Sound is absorbed through our skin; we feel vibrations in our bones, organs, and nervous system (Even a deaf person has these experiences.) Remember that the body now has far higher capabilities than it once thought. Just as the immune system fights off infection, the body uses powerful tools to heal itself.
Sound can help activate this self-healing ability - one of the most assertive alternative healing modalities. Sound energy can clear blockages in the subtle energy system – the fine energy blueprint of the physical body. Chakras and meridians are cleared with unique sounds absorbed into meridians by traveling down the base of tuning forks on acupressure points.
Sound, especially music, can profoundly affect our emotional states. Think of a favorite song or a Mozart Symphony and their emotional impact; movies are much more enjoyable with their soundtracks. Tones following the spiral pattern of the Fibonacci series quicken our energy and Souls. Ancients considered this a direct path to heaven.
Science is finally catching up with healers old and new; the body has many overlooked powers. It can think, heal itself, and intuitively evaluate its surroundings. Not only is sound ever present in the environment, but sound has the unique property of interacting with us on all levels.
The ancient Shaman understood the symbiotic and synergistic effects of addressing the holistic being as he activated healing through sound (chants, drums, etc.). Modern Sound Healers employ these old techniques alongside the latest discoveries with excellent results.
Tune in!