The Power of the Voice Recent research into the quantum nature of the universe supports long held beliefs in the healing power of the human voice, says Teya Skae.

Did you know that the human voice is a mirror of our inner universe? Our voice reveals our moods, fears, intentions, hopes, tensions, thoughts, and desires - in effect, it reflects who we truly are. The sound of the voice can tell us more about a person than words alone can ever communicate.

There are those who believe our voice not only reflects our state of mind, moods and emotions, but also see it as an expression of our soul. One such person is Karina Schelde, a Danish-born, professionally trained singer turned sound/voice therapist, who has been pioneering her knowledge of sound in healing workshops around the world since 1985. Her book, Soul Voice, is a practical and transformational resource that provides effective exercises based on her own method which teaches us how to use our voice to heal and empower ourselves. All our issues first arise in our subconscious mind which will always disrupt our energy flow as a result. When our energy flow is disrupted we experience feelings and tension. It is our feelings that influence the

biochemical/molecular structures in our body, and when we find a way to release emotional blocks in the subconscious, we naturally experience liberation and promote self healing as a result. Using our voice allows us to directly access the powerful, stored, but often suppressed and denied, feelings in our body and energy field. How does this happen? Very simply, that sound has a powerful ability to break through barriers, through crystallisations of thought forms and belief systems and thus penetrate the subconscious mind and release these blockages, even physical blockages.

According to Schelde, "Everything that has happened to you in your life culminates in the tone and the pitch of your voice and 80 per cent of what we say is delivered by the tone of the voice." So the tone of our voice is more important than the actual words we use to communicate. Words may lie, but the tone reflects our true intention, whether it is expressed or suppressed. Far more than the face even, the voice reveals our character and personality. Our voice remembers what we have forgotten through conscious or unconscious suppression of our painful memories and experiences.

This is because our emotions are contained in the vibration of our voice. When we listen to a person's voice it may attract, repel, manipulate or give us a feeling of release or excitement and we respond to it on an intuitive, emotional level. The voice tells us where we are at, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Sound shapes the universe as sound is a vibration, a frequency, and we now know from quantum physics that the whole universe is made up of vibrational fields of energy. It follows, then, that everything in the universe is made up of vibrations including our physical bodies. What is sound? Sound is a vibration, a specific frequency.

As Pythagoras said, "A stone is frozen music". This very wise teacher who lived in ancient Greece (c. 580-500 BC) knew how to work with sound. He taught his students how certain musical chords and melodies produced definite responses within the human organism. He demonstrated that the right sequence of sounds, played musically on an instrument, could change behaviour patterns and accelerate the healing process.

What Pythagoras taught some 2500 years ago has struck a note of resonance with some exciting recent research.

According to CBC News of Friday, March 9, 2007 (http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/03/09/science-nervessound-20070309.html#skip300x250), our nerves do not transmit electricity as we were taught to believe; they in fact transmit sound. The report quotes findings from a team of Copenhagen University researchers who argue that biology and medical textbooks which say nerves relay electrical impulses from the brain to the rest of the body are incorrect.

"For us as physicists, this cannot be the explanation," says Thomas Heimburg, an associate professor at the university's Niels Bohr Institute. "The physical laws of thermodynamics tell us that electrical impulses must produce heat as they travel along the nerve, but experiments find that no such heat is produced." Heimburg, an expert in biophysics who received his PhD from the Max Planck Institute in Goettingen, Germany - where biologists and physicists often work together in a rare arrangement - developed the theory with Copenhagen University's Andrew Jackson, an expert in theoretical physics.

According to the traditional explanation of molecular biology, an electrical pulse is sent from one end of the nerve to the other with the help of electrically charged salts that pass through ion channels and a membrane that sheathes (protects) the nerves. That membrane is made up of lipids and proteins. Heimburg and Jackson explain that sound propagation is a much more likely explanation. Although sound waves usually weaken as they spread out, a medium with the right physical properties could create a special kind of sound pulse or "soliton" that can propagate without spreading or losing strength. The physicists say because the nerve membrane is made of a material similar to olive oil that can change from liquid to solid through temperature variations, they can freeze and propagate the solitons.

In summary, this research suggests we transmit sound, not electrical impulses, as a means of communicating with our organs and glands. Yet, this is not an entirely new body of evidence. In the 1960s, a Swiss scientist Dr Hans Jenny, demonstrated how sound shapes matter.

Dr Jenny placed sand granules onto a metal plate and then played a few bars of notes from composers such as Mozart and Bach. The sand granules formed constant shapes to the vibration of the sound and extraordinary patterns were observed. Dr Jenny then went further with his observation, saying that sound has a direct influence on our human biology and thus influences our health. This is because every cell in our body has its own vibrational frequency. Human cells are composed of atoms and molecules that resonate according to their mutual harmonies. Many cells together form tissues and organs that are part of a biological system. This system then vibrates according to new harmonies. So, from this research, we can say that sound sculpts us. All our tissues, organs, bones and cells are made up of sound. We are held together by sound as each part of our body has its own sonic frequencies which travel and pulsate like a wave, in an inhalation and exhalation of breath.

In practical terms then, this school of thought suggests any part of the person that is out of balance, whether it manifests as headaches or back pain, weight problems or fatigue, emotional, mental or spiritual problems, can respond to healing with sound.

Scientist Fabien Maman has done extensive research in music and sound and has proven that the voice has the ability to bring us into what he calls our "crystal clear self". In Hindu tradition, all things have their own hidden and secret sound. It teaches that our voice is as unique as our fingerprints. Our voice has a soul print that we have been trying to come into contact with since birth.

As emotions affect our body's chemical structure, we are called to learn how to balance our emotional body by using our own voice as a self healing modality. Dissonant sounds, for example, are an excellent conductor for bringing us into contact with the emotional body, as well as releasing any false beliefs and negative programming. When we expand our vocal range, we are also expanding our view of life and we are transcending our self imposed limiting beliefs about our true Self.

The human voice is one of the most powerful tools available to humankind. Every word we speak carries the tone of our sound as an instrument of communication and self healing. Understanding how to tune and use this instrument effectively shifts not only our own consciousness, but also that of those who receive (hear) our sounds.

Sound healing is an ancient healing tool. Sound has the ability to penetrate the cells of the body, the conscious and the unconscious mind, the seen and the unseen. It can travel across space and time. Sound is powerful, yet gentle and effective, and has the power to correct any condition, because it is a vibration. "There is a longing in human beings today to fully open up the throat chakra," says Karina Schelde, "to communicate the truth and come into mastery of self expression. There is a cry, a call deep within our hearts that wants to be heard. There is a longing for the liberation of the voice and soul - in this way rediscovering the grandeur of who we truly are - a force of the highest vibration and creation."

She supports what many psychologists say, that the emotional shutdowns we carry in the throat are huge. Our grief and anger for example, that are not expressed, cause illnesses and blockages. If we are able to release these powerful emotions by using our voice, we are, in fact, releasing that pain and blockage in our body.

As a clinical kinesiologist, I work with people who have chronic back pain, hip, neck and shoulder injuries. I felt inspired to use Schelde's Soul Voice process on a client who has lived with ongoing hip problems for over 20 years. Guiding her to release only the sounds that felt natural and effortless to her and using my own voice along with her, she went into a form of wailing just as if she were a little girl of five left all alone in the darkness of the forest. It was incredible to witness how this woman's voice, normally so controlled and poised, took her to the core of her hip pain.

The intense suppressed grief that her inner child had held for all these years was the key to finally releasing this emotional block causing pain and muscle tension in her hip. After some minutes of integration, she felt a distinct adjustment take place within her pelvic region and the pain subsided. Some people might see this as a miracle; I would see it as accessing our truth with the power of our own voice.

In essence, sound is a powerful tool for healing and transformation, and it is much more powerful and effective when each of us uses our own voice instead of to just listening to CDs alone. When we use our own voice, we are accessing our direct source of power, our suppressed emotions and the essence of our soul. This happens a lot more quickly than listening to music or someone else's voice, as our voice contains everything about us. Using other people's voices or sounds, as therapeutic as they may be, would not have the same organic effect. Our voice reflects all parts of our being, including our soul. For this reason, it is a priceless tool for anyone who wants to experience their true self and live an inspired life. Using our voice in this way makes us better at communicating, clearer, happier, more alive and more present in our life. It touches us in places we haven't visited before, as the voice also contains our untapped potential.

Our voice is our natural source of power and liberation because it helps us to remember and recognise our true nature in the struggle of our human experience. Our voice longs to be explored with trust, love and acceptance of what we are here to experience in our life.

In Wellness!
Teya Skae Kinesiologist/Nutritionist/Lecturer
M.A., B.A., ATMS. AKA Dip Health Sciences Dip Clinical Nutrition

References:
Karina Schelde, Soul Voice, Steele Robers Ltd Publishers. New Zealand. 2006 Richard Gerber, MD Vibrational Medicine, Bear & Company, Rochester, Vermont, 2001. 3rd Edition