Good Vibrations Follow an Ancient Tradition
continued
The human ear can hear sound vibrations between 20 and 20,000 cycles per second. But our entire body perceives sound through skin and bone conduction. Every cell absorbs and emits sound. Most bowls vibrate within the range of 8 to 12 Hz, which happens to be the frequency of Alpha brain waves created during deep meditation. A person can achieve the effect of meditation by giving in to the sound.
Some physicians are integrating holistic use of sound into modern medicine. Mitchell Gaynor, M.D., of the Strang-Cornell Cancer Prevention Center, has written a new book, Sounds of Healing, and uses the crystal bowls with his cancer patients.
Bowls are designed to resonate to seven basic "chakras," or centers of electromagnetic activity within the body. Thus, you could choose a bowl based on the area of your body that needs the most rebalancing (see Table 1). Each chakra is associated with a specific note on the musical scale and a specific color, since both light and sound are forms of energy or vibration.
| Chakra | Property | Body Part | Note/Color |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Root (base of the spine) | C Red |
| 2 |
|
Sacrum (lower abdomen) | D Orange |
| 3 |
|
Navel (solar plexus) | E Yellow |
| 4 |
|
Heart | F Green |
| 5 |
|
Throat | G Blue |
| 6 |
|
Third eye (mid-brow) | A Indigo |
| 7 |
|
Crown (top of head) | B Violet |
A caution is that all chakras are closely interrelated. In other words, a communication block (chakra 5) could hurt career development (chakra 3).
