5 Senses - Hearing
Exploring the Power of Sensory Practices in Yoga
After the success on my last post about sensory exploration and how to find an anchor during your meditation and yoga practice today we will explore ‘hearing’. I have opened a big debate about this in different Facebook groups and explore the use of sounds in yoga practices and whether playing music or any other sounds is actually better or worse.
After experiencing with different techniques here are my views on it and how can you use sound on your practices.
Hearing.
The power of sound has been used during many years to heal and to treat all kinds of illness. Sound, its effects on emotions, its therapeutic strength and above all, its support in the spiritual path have always been manifested by ancient cultures and civilisations of all parts of the world. Sound can affect us in many ways, producing reactions of 4 different types in us: physiological, psychological, cognitive and behavioural.
We are made of approximately 70% water in our bodies and vibrations directly affect our minds and bodies.
So lets dip into this hearing experience and explore how we can use sound and which types of sounds in our practices to create and anchor during our meditation.
““Everything is Vibration,
Everything is Frequency -
Hum along””
There are many sounds and many techniques to introduce anchors in our practices.
Mantras: using our words and the sound of our own voice is probably the most easiest and oldest techniques used. Create your own mantras and explore the sound of your own voice is a great way to create this anchor and discover the power of your voice.
Breathing: listen to your own breath, flow with it, explore it and get lost into the beautiful sound of the breath. I use this technique in most of my days and it helps me to focus and reconnect with myself.
Music: explore different types of instruments and bits. Any instrument can play a big impact in your body and mind. Explore with different ones and even consider the option of starting to play an instrument. I have started with my shamanic drum and I love it in my yin practices.
Nature sounds: use the 4 elements of nature and find yours. Water, Air, Fire and earth. I love water, is actually my element and I use it in all my practices.
Animals: birds, jungle, savannah or even nocturnal animals. Discover what awakens in you when you use different types of animals during your practices. Birds and jungle sounds are for me, the go to ones.
Silence: yes you read well, the sound of silence is one of the most powerful practices on your mat. Explore this concept and discover how comforting it is to just sit in silence.
Vibrations: singing bowls, chimes, bells and frequencies are incredible for our health and healing. There are so many and I would recommend you to experiment with them. Here a list of some of the most used.
174 Hz: It is a natural anaesthetic, it reduces or eliminates energy, physical and karmic pain, giving the organs a sense of security and love, motivating them to give their best.
285 Hz: Modifies the fields of energy and organic restoration, allowing cell rejuvenation and the healing of wounds and tissues damaged in a physical, emotional or karmic way.
396 Hz: It releases the negative and traumas, transcending guilt and fear, to realise objectives and aspirations. It creates a very strong energy field.
417 Hz: Eliminates problematic situations and facilitates positive change, releasing confusion and ordering the mind. Eliminate negative emotional patterns.
528 Hz: It allows transformations and miracles, frees from sadness and resentment, expands the heart to feel pure love, radiating healing in the body. It is the frequency used by genetic engineers and biochemists to repair the structures of broken DNA.
639 Hz: Promotes love and unity, connection and interpersonal relationships, synchronises the interior between intuitive and rational mind, conscious and subconscious.
741 Hz: Awakens intuition and enlightenment, produces mental cleansing, cell detoxification and problem solving.
852 Hz: Allows connection with spiritual consciousness, cleansing and organising flows of thought. Activates the pineal gland.
963 Hz: It helps to return to true nature, unity, connecting with light and spirit, returning the systems to the original state of perfection. When applied to a cell, it activates its illumination and transforms it to a higher level.
My favourite practices
Yin&Reset: When I want to calm my nervous system, I use the sound of water. Water is my element and is where I feel myself at home. Find your element, and use it on your sound meditations.
Waterfalls, rainy days, thunderstorms, river flows, ocean streams, etc…
Yin&Boost: Flutes and piano sounds, have something that inspire me and help to pop my mood. Every time I need a bit of a boost in my life, I play sounds with flutes and pianos.
Lumirä and Ludovico Einaudi are my favourite
Yin&Sleep: I have been suffering with insomnia since I started with my menopause and I have used frequencies a lot during my sleepless nights.
- 174 Hz is the frequency that works best for me, since it is the lowest of the tones and works as a natural anaesthetic, helping the body to feel relaxed, clears the mind and gives a feeling of general well-being to enter a state of serenity that causes a deep rest.
I have experimented that through pleasant and higher sounds, my mental noise disappears. The incessant flow of thoughts focusses on sounds through curiosity, surprise and the feeling of rest.
Active-minded people will follow each sound with curiosity and surprise. Those with a calm mind will enjoy the landscape. Through exploring hearing, you will experience living the present moment through sound and that is one of its great benefits.
For me, sounds of nature not only improve how I feel, but also my physical health, as well as it contributes to my emotional well-being. They help to reduce irritation, anger and even sadness. One of its greatest influences is on stress. Listening to them promotes calm and induces a state of relaxation.
Silence is also something you have to explore in your daily life. Let me insist in the important of Silence and stillness. They help us get in touch and process our emotions, decreasing the level of ramblings (usually focussed on possible threats or negative thoughts) and giving the brain a rest.
Spend time in nature, listening to natural sounds and the connection with nature seems to have similar benefits to the use of sound baths. In Japan, the forest bath or shinrin-yoku consists of spending time in a forest, away from technology and the city and enjoying the sensory experience that the forest offers, either walking or simply sitting.
So lets connect with nature in your daily basis and explore your hearing in any place you are.