This month's sound healing is from a live meditation concert. I use my voice along with a schruti box to create simple sustained tones and harmonies. This is not a song so much as it is a study in tones and consciousness. "Studium" or "study" is the word that came to my mind as I felt the energy of the music come through me during the concert. So I began by placing that word into the notes that were coming through me. The other tangible words given to me by Spirit given to me as I sang were "in vida" or "in life".

For those who are interested, the schruti box is a common instrument in parts of India. It is used to accompany devotional chanting. The one I am using is a modern version tuned in a non-equal temperament of the common 12 tone Western European scale. I chose to use it on open 5ths that tend to create additional over and under tones within the human body.

I'm often asked why I don't use poems or regular texts of some sort in my sound healings. It is true that words convey a depth of meaning and symbolism beyond what the music might convey. But words also ensnare us into our own thinking process.

Simply put, I find that using music with words slows down and sometimes stops us from making the deeper shifts we are ready to make in our lives. This is because when we are listening to music with words in a language that we understand, we are engaging our brain to decipher and interpret the sounds of that language. Because it is a language that we comprehend, our brain also processes the information that the text is bringing to us. As we understand the words, we decide whether we agree or disagree with the sentiments and ideas expressed through those words.