Sound healing meditations with Tru Sound

Pain is the body's way of telling us there is an imbalance in the body.

Sound therapy and meditation is being studied as alternative options to relieving pain. When combined, these modalities can have magical effects.

One theory why is that sound works through the vibrational tactile effects on the whole body. Sound could stimulate touch fibres that affect pain perception.

According to the Australian College of Sound Therapy, sound healing instruments generate sound waves. Each molecule in the body absorbs a small amount of energy from these waves and then passes the wave on to the next molecule. When molecules are hit by sound waves close to their inherent frequency they will oscillate or strongly 'resonate'.

The oscillation, or resonance, of molecules, triggered by the sound vibrations cause alternating compression and relaxation of cells. It is like a form of massage at a cellular level deep within the tissue.

When the cell is compressed it loses some of its fluid, along with waste products and toxins. As the pressure relaxes, fresh nutrients are drawn into the cell and hormones within the tissue are also stimulated by this oscillation effect that will improve blood flow to the area for many hours. In this way, regeneration and repair mechanisms are stimulated.

So sink back and relax into this meditation, allowing your pain to be released on the sound waves as they flow throughout your body.

Namaste.

------------------

For even more sound healing magic, follow me on:

Join me in this 'call to prayer' meditation for an abundance of love for yourself and others. Inspired by the great Louise Hay, this is one of her prayers designed to guide you inwards and create a change in your internal consciousness to expand our capacity to love ourselves and invite love into our lives.

As Louise emphasises, our relationships are mirrors of ourselves. What we attract always mirrors either qualities we have or beliefs we have about relationships.

Living with greater, expansive love and compassion for yourself and others will invite more gratitude, happiness and fulfilment into your life.

Namaste.

------------------

For even more sound healing magic, follow me on:

Feeling anxious, caught up in the pace, out of control?

Let's pause and breathe together so that we can reconnect the mind back with the body, slow down the heart rate and refocus the thoughts.

10 mins of conscious breathwork encourages the body to shift from a sympathetic ('stressed') state to a parasympathetic ('relaxed') state, leaving your body, mind and soul reconnected with one another so that you can be present throughout the rest of your day.

This meditation is a great one to do even before you 'feel stressed' as it will assist with pulling you away from your upper limit and train the body to take less time to sink into a parasympathetic state.

Namaste.

------------------

For even more sound healing magic, follow me on:

Embrace the start of a new year by taking a moment to 'stop, revive and survive'.

In other words, let’s take a few minutes together to hit pause on your day to check in with yourself, become aware of how you’re feeling and clear your mind so you can emerge feeling refreshed, refocused and grounded.

Intention for this meditation: "I am grounded and connected to my soul and being"

Namaste.

---------------

For even more sound healing magic, follow me on:

Its been a while between podcasts, so here is something a little extra special ~ a meditation to assist with relieving stress.

Too often we can get caught up in the momentum of our day to day, without stopping to pause to reconnect to our body mind and shed any unnecessary energy we are carrying.

In this meditation, I guide you through a meditation to assist with relieving any feelings of stress and heaviness from your day.

To ensure you are fully connected and present in the moment, before you begin, repeat this intention to yourself 3 times:

“I have fun in all that I do. I enjoy life. I am full and complete from within.”

Allow the intention of the meditation to resonate inwards, seeing the words floating within your mind’s eye. Then lay back, relax and let your mind be guided by the visualisation and sounds of the crystal bowls.

Namaste.

-----------

For those times when it feels like life is moving on without you, or you're a rat running on a wheel in a laboratory, or its July already and you don't know where the last 6 months has gone... its time to catch your breath.  Take a moment.  Reconnect with the present.  Focus on grounding yourself. Allow your body, mind and soul to pause and reconnect with your roots, ground yourself down like an anchor to stop any feelings of flight or anxiety.  Sink back into your soul and way of being so that when you reopen your eyes, you feel calm, in control and living in the moment.  Most of all, in this process afford yourself some compassion, for in this moment you are practising reconnection back to your true self so that you can be the best version of yourself, for you and others.

In this meditation, I focus on the first 3 chakras - muladhara - to provide security and movement away from your basic survival instincts, svadhistana - to provide you with fluidity and feel enlivened by social and self connection, and manipura - to give you the confidence to live according to your true self in each and every moment.

Lay back, relax and let your mind drift through the harmony of the bowls.

Namaste.

-----------

If you're feeling like your heart and soul need a little bit of extra love today, then pop your headphones in, snuggle up on your couch, close your eyes and press play on this meditation.  

In this meditation, I play through the 3 crystal bowls that speak to your muladhara (root), manipura (solar plexus) and anahata (heart) chakras.  For good measure, I also play the bowl for the vishuddha (throat) chakra so that once your soul feels soothed, you're ready to speak your truth!

Lay back, relax and let your mind drift through the harmony of the bowls.

Namaste.

-----------

Introducing the gong: a powerful meditation enhancer

Gongs have been an integral part of sound healing with their first use originating about 4,000 years ago.  The deep, rich sounds produced when a gong is hit produce strong vibrations that can put the brain into a meditation pattern within one minute.

Gongs, like crystal sound bowls, allow your brain to relax into an alpha-dominant or theta-dominant brainwave state - aka the meditation state when you are a passive observer of your thoughts and surroundings without attachment.

This state allows you to achieve a higher level of creative thinking as you detach yourself from the ‘rats and mice’ noise from your day.

When used in combination with the bowls, the deep reverberations from the gong can help to deepen and enhance the already immersive vibrations that seduce you into this state… plus it’s a pretty awesome instrument!!

In this meditation I focus solely on the gong and creating continuous rumblings (like thunder) so that you can experience the 'growl' of the vibrations and powerful energy behind the gong.  Definitely experiencing the sound and vibrations from the gong in person takes sound therapy to a whole new level.

Enjoy the gong thunder!

-----------

I think the idea that we have 5 (or even 6!) senses is sometimes overlooked.  If you have the privilege of sight, we sometimes rely on this more than our other senses.  For example, have you ever been having a conversation with someone and for some reason you have stopped listening to what they are saying and can only focus on their hand movements and gestures?  All of a sudden, you've blocked out the noise you were listening to and are primarily watching what is happening.  This doesn't mean that you don't hear the sound, rather that you've just adjusted your presence in that moment to block out the sound and be informed by what you see.

This is can be both a great skill (and a necessary one given the amount of stimuli around us) but can also be a disservice to our ability to be present in each and every moment.

This meditation guides you to engage with each of your senses so that you can tap into what they are telling you in that moment.  This is a great skill that you can use when you feel like you are getting 'lost' in a situation and need to bring yourself back to your body.

Something I like to do when I feel like I'm too stuck in my head, which is blocking my ability to listen, is to push my thumb and pointer finger together and make little circles.  I then focus on the sensation of what this touch feels like, noticing whether the movement has friction or is smooth.  I find this helps me to drop out of my head, into my body, by engaging with my other senses, then allowing me to be more present in that moment.

Enjoy exploring your full sensory abundance.

-----------

Do this meditation when your mind feels full or overwhelmed!

The first time I sat down to do this meditation, I struggled to put 'words to paper'.  My mind was racing with thoughts and ideas, I was so carried away by them I couldn't think clearly enough to craft some restoring language to encourage winding down and connection (or rather disconnection) with the mind.  Clearly I needed to do this meditation myself!!

This mediation continues your journey towards building your mindfulness muscle by focusing your awareness on your mind, teaching you how to separate yourself from all the 'business' that may be going on inside your head.

When turning your awareness to your mind, you can be easily swept away with the thoughts flowing in and out of your mind.  These thoughts can invoke emotions and then you’re riding along that emotional wave, stuck in these thoughts.

When developing an awareness of the mind, it is important to acknowledge that the voice that you hear inside your head is simply a voice.  It is not one that you have to listen to, rather it is your mind’s way of processing the external environment around you.  You have a choice whether you listen to these words or not.

The words, particularly the negative ones, do not need to define you.  Once you create a disconnect between the words in your head and how you respond, this gives you greater awareness and control of your reactions.

Let this mediation be one that allows you to let go of the thoughts in your head and sink back into your soul observing the outside world.  After a while the thoughts will just become words in your head, not controllers of your emotions or actions, allowing you to literally rise above the noise in your head and connect with your higher purpose.  

Doing this will allow you to feel more clear minded enabling you to make quicker decisions and take action, as well as allowing you to live more freely in the present moment, without being coloured or distracted by your own thoughts.

Enjoy exploring your mind's soundscape.

-----------

If we silence all the inner voices, outer noises and become aware of our personal filters which we overlay on top of the present moment, only then can we listen with an open mind to another person, what is happening around us, and ourselves.  When this is achieved, we are fully conscious in the present moment.

The increasingly noisy environment in which most of us find ourselves is stumping our ability to listen with a conscious and active attitude.  Our brains get overwhelmed by a bombardment of stimuli and it is sometimes easier to simply 'shut down' and ignore what is happening around us (for example - play on our phone and ignore the world outside of it).  However by doing this, we enter into a prison of our own making in which we deny ourselves the connection with healing and soothing sounds, as well as the inability to 'live in the present moment'.

With mental health being brought into the spotlight following the pressure cooker of covid lockdowns, 'mindfulness', as a concept, has become super trendy.  That said, there is minimal material out there to help you understand and practice how to be mindful on a day to day basis.

Many people equate mindfulness with meditation, but meditating is only one way of practising mindfulness.  Mindfulness practice in conjunction with sound healing can be used for dramatic results (luckily for you, this meditation does this!).

Mindfulness can be described as being fully aware of everything, both inside and outside, of your body, without passing judgment on anything you are observing.   Being 'fully aware' requires us to remove ourselves from all distraction (no phone, tv, computer etc - sitting by yourself away from others), sit quietly, begin to detach from our thoughts, connect with the breath, and then notice the world both outside, and inside of yourself.

In this meditation, I begin your mindfulness journey by encouraging you to connect with the external sounds, being those heard through your ears.  The point is to listen to external sounds in such a way that it opens up the door for you to travel inwards, into yourself.  Once you are aware of what the external sounds are, then you can distinguish them from your internal sounds, ie those occurring inside your physical and energetic body, being the sacred inner music that is unique to each individual.  Connecting with your internal sounds allows you to become aware of your inner self, true nature and purpose, thereby re-establishing a connection with your true divine self allowing you to live a fuller, more purposeful life that is true to you.

Enjoy exploring your external soundscape.

-----------

This meditation provides a full bodied chakra opening using all 7 of the crystal bowls.  

If you have listened to episodes 1 and 2, you will be familiar with these 7 crystal bowls and each of the energetic centres (chakras) they speak to.  This mediation uses all 7 crystal bowls to create a meditation that allows you to simply lull away into the melodic sounds of the bowls, giving you the opportunity to surrender into a restorative state where you can truly absorb and connect with the power of their vibrational resonance.

Simply get comfy, close your eyes and let the meditation restore your wellbeing.

Hello fellow meditators! 

I had some feedback on the last episode that the volume was a little soft for those that were listening to the meditation while travelling and surrounded by background noise.  I have edited the track to increase the volume to counter this.

I hope you enjoy and thank you for your feedback!

Namaste.

-------

When I was studying to become a yoga teacher, one of my teachers explained that doing 45 mins of yoga nidra equates to 2 - 3 hours of REM sleep.  She then guided us through a 45 mins yoga nidra journey and I awoke feeling astounded at how I easily slipped into a relaxed, meditative state for an extended period of time, especially knowing that at that time I struggled to meditate for even just 10 mins.  I was equally amazed at how revitalised I felt after a session like this.  I knew then that yoga nidra is a powerful meditation technique that must definitely be shared widely and has become one of the core techniques I use to guide my students into each of my sound healing meditations.

In short, yoga nidra is a practice of yogic sleep that will guide you to a state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleeping, where you are awake listening to the sound of my voice, yet completely relaxed and drifting away.

To amplify the effects of this meditation, before you start, I recommend you lay down, make yourself extremely comfortable and before you hit play, take 5 deep belly breaths (inhale for a count of 5, exhale for a count of 5).  As you are breathing, connect with how the breath feels in your body and then perform a quick body scan by moving your awareness from the tips of your toes through to the crown (top) of your head.  

Doing this short exercise prior to the meditation will help guide you into a deeper meditative state as it proactively signals to the body that you wish to engage your parasympathetic system, which will promote the release of your relaxation hormones and slow the body down.  The body scan then prepares you for this meditation during which I will guide your awareness to specific body parts as you drift deeper into your yogic sleep.

When I was studying to become a yoga teacher, one of my teachers explained that doing 45 mins of yoga nidra equates to 2 - 3 hours of REM sleep.  She then guided us through a 45 mins yoga nidra journey and I awoke feeling astounded at how I easily slipped into a relaxed, meditative state for an extended period of time, especially knowing that at that time I struggled to meditate for even just 10 mins.  I was equally amazed at how revitalised I felt after a session like this.  I knew then that yoga nidra is a powerful meditation technique that must definitely be shared widely and has become one of the core techniques I use to guide my students into each of my sound healing meditations.

In short, yoga nidra is a practice of yogic sleep that will guide you to a state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleeping, where you are awake listening to the sound of my voice, yet completely relaxed and drifting away.

To amplify the effects of this meditation, before you start, I recommend you lay down, make yourself extremely comfortable and before you hit play, take 5 deep belly breaths (inhale for a count of 5, exhale for a count of 5).  As you are breathing, connect with how the breath feels in your body and then perform a quick body scan by moving your awareness from the tips of your toes through to the crown (top) of your head.  

Doing this short exercise prior to the meditation will help guide you into a deeper meditative state as it proactively signals to the body that you wish to engage your parasympathetic system, which will promote the release of your relaxation hormones and slow the body down.  The body scan then prepares you for this meditation during which I will guide your awareness to specific body parts as you drift deeper into your yogic sleep.

This is an introduction to your first 3 chakras (or energetic centres), what they are, their location and their corresponding musical note played by the crystal bowls that predominantly feature in this podcast. 

If you're new to sound healing, this is a great way to connect with not only the location of your first 3 chakras, but also to identify with the sound wave that connects to each of them.  Once you are able to identify with the sounds and their specific resonance, you will be able to more easily recognise those sounds in future meditations, which in turn will allow you to improve your connection with the sound waves and assist with actively releasing any stagnation or energetic blocks that are occurring in these chakras.  

The chakras explored in this meditation are:

1. Muladhara (or root) chakra - musical note C
2. Svadhisthana (or sacral) chakra - musical note D
3. Manipura (or solar plexus) chakra - musical note E