USING SOUND FOR GROUNDING
When your body is in an activated state, feeling on guard or overwhelmed, tuning your attention to sound can be a way to safety. When a person has anxiety or PTSD, their thoughts can get spun up into rumination of fears about the future or replaying pains from the past, activating a Sympathetic Nervous System response or engaging our Flight or Fight system.
What we want to do here is get out of thinking and re orient your attention to the body, to the present moment when you are safe.
Sound is used across the globe as a communicator, birds communicate their threat, their love, their attraction through sound. There are two primary elements to consider here - the construction of the sound (harmonics and frequency) and the psychological effects (jarring or relaxing).
Ancient communities across the globe have used sound in their healing practices, a drum or rattle is an integral part of celebrations to healing practices.
It turns out, science supports the importance of sound too.
Studies suggest that exposure to certain sound frequencies can induce relaxation responses, leading to a shift towards parasympathetic nervous system dominance, turning down that cortisol-led fight response. This is essential for healing from Anxiety and PTSD.
Tools For Grounding
Using a Rattle For Grounding
Indigenous Roots: Rattles have been integral to indigenous rituals for centuries. The rhythmic sound of rattles is believed to cleanse and ground spaces, to clear out unhelpful spirits or to cleans a body or space of negativity. Rattles are also used for relaxation or bringing in a trance state. Scientific Insight: The repetitive sound of a rattle aligns with the brain's natural tendency to synchronize with rhythmic stimuli, this can potentially promote relaxation and parasympathetic activation. Find your own beat or rhythm while holding a rattle or pay along with recorded music.
Listening to Music for Grounding:
Harmonic Resonance: Some believe that music tuned to 432 Hz, carries harmonic resonance that aligns with natural vibrations. This, in turn, is thought to induce a sense of relaxation, grounding and connection. Other options include singing bowls, tuning forks and more explored in Jonathan Goldman’s Healing Sounds.
Singing and Humming as Grounding Techniques:
Grounding To The Internal Vibration: The act of singing or humming creates internal vibrations within the body. This can stimulate the vagus nerve, a key player in the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and stress reduction. Cultural Traditions: Various cultures incorporate communal singing or humming in rituals and communal gatherings for connection and soothing.. Joseph Rael ‘Beautiful Painted Rainbow’ of the Ute-Tewa tradition works with what he calls the Five Vibrations:
Sound Result
AH Washing, to cleanse
AYE Relativity, to understand our relationship to all things
EEE Clarity, to get in touch with the divine intelligence
OH Innocence and curiosity
OOO That which is lifting us, God’s presence
In the exploration of tools for Grounding, Sound is a fundamental companion. From the rhythmic power of rattles to the harmonic allure of 432 Hz music and the internal vibrations of singing or humming, sound therapy offers diverse pathways to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and induce relaxation and grounding. We recognize and honor the wisdom of past generations in their use of sound for healing and reducing stress.