there’s been a conversation between thomas and i in a comment box below filled with talk of… well, all kinds of things! one of the topics has been toning and the power of sounds. a few mentioned were ahhhhhh, oops, chk chk, mmmm, Huuu, Hmmm, and Haaa! Peggy Jentoft writes about Sound, and Toning
Music is used to still the mind and to incite passion. to commemorate triumph and mourn loss. to comfort and to anger. Whether tonal, melodic or rhythmic, music, sound, noise, vibration reaches the essential nature, touching the primitive mind and the advanced soul equally. Sound has been used in virtually every sacred tradition: to invoke changes in consciousness, and as an aid in healing . Those few which have not used music have often dramatically rejected it.
People and animals and even plants respond mentally and emotionally to vibrations of certain frequencies and rhythms. Some sounds please us, some don’t . Sound has been used to invoke changes in consciousness and
as an aid in healing in virtually every culture and spiritual path since the dawn of recorded history . “In the beginning there was the word ” Many spiritual teachings of ancient knowing teach that the instant of creation was sound .
Most of us have had the experience of being carried away by music or having a song or piece of music stir us in ways that have nothing to do with lyrics but with the effect of the vibration on our bodies minds and spirits. Some people issue warnings that certain sounds and music can do damage destroy character promote incivility whatever. I recall campaigns against Rock and roll and Rap music and there were objections to jazz as a dangerous force at one time too. On the other hand much music is promoted and used to create specific effects on the intellect or physical body or on the spirit. Even if you have never done anything that you associate with sound healing or music therapy if you have ever selected music to calm a child , excite a lover , or wake you up then you have practiced music therapy of sorts….
Most people who do vocal toning work intuitively . You can tone even if if you cannot hold a tune at all .This is about vibration rather than about musical perfection . You can tone for yourself even if you have no interest in doing it for others . You can simply and spontaneously create and allow whatever sound wants to come out to come out or choose mantra , sets of sounds or words
One grounds and opens the mouth and allows sound to come out . Many people start with the vowel sounds. Do not be concerned with doing it right, allow sound to come out open your throat for a full round tone Support your deep breath with in your diaphragm. You can often feel the vibration effecting the areas of your body and being that the sound resonates with. As you tone allow your body to resonate, feel the vibration of the tones throughout your body . most tones are held as long as possible though there are staccato and shorter tone forms as well. Do not be concerned with how long you can hold a tone or whether or not you are on pitch. start by trying to spend 5 or ten minutes a day toning . Many people find that this gives them both increased vitality and inner calm.
for those of you with busy lives on the go… i find the car and the shower to be wonderful places to open my mouth and let whatever sounds feel like flying out of my mouth…. fly out of my mouth!
comments:
all too often, i find all sorts of sounds coming out of my mouth when i’m in the car. they seem to coincide with me coming across nasty drivers. teeheehee
becky | Email | 04.27.04 – 2:59 pm | #
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There is nothing in this world which does not speak. Every thing and every being is continually calling out its nature, its character, its secret; the more the inner sense is open, the more capable it becomes of hearing the voice of all things. –Hazrat Inayat Khan
Monday afternoon, migration route on the Pacific coast, incoming tide, wind from the north, sun in my eyes, no humans in sight.
I am at the tideline in the midst of several thousand hungry sandpipers. After an hour of silent standing I am no more than a tall chunk of driftwood rooted in the sand listening to the chattering peeps creating a lovely melody over the roar of the surf. A long line of birds stay within a few feet of water’s edge, racing in and out with the waves stopping only to dip their long beak into the wet sand for tasty snack.
thomas | 04.27.04 – 9:01 pm | #
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Suddenly a large wave rushes in faster than scrambling legs can move and the flock rises as a single organism, a dark mass of flight curving into an astonishing flash of white belly then around again as a silhouette on the blue sky. Squadrons of twenty or so begin peeling off from the main group and circle back to the beach, spinning me with delight.
Soon the whole flock is again running to and fro chattering about this beautiful weather! and my, my, such a fine day of dining! and did you hear that piece of wood over there barking like a laughing seal? ? ?
-t-
thomas | 04.27.04 – 9:02 pm | #
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here in the hardwood forest of the southern highlands i am feeling the great leaf-out as a toning, how each new leaf cries out in wonder&awe at birth and all the young translucent leaves are singing…they have a night song, and a morning song, a rain song…the tulip-poplar leaves are being birthed up both sides of this valley, on this south-facing side about 500 feet higher than across on the north-facing side, like children racing to the top, and all the kinds of oakleaf babies are rolling up behind with their ancient olivey voices pealing, pealing, pealing each of us listening open just like a banana…
chris weaver | Email | 04.28.04 – 11:18 am | #
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yes, yes, dear weaver of truth,
trees mend us with a magnetic tone rooted through a branching spray of light.
and how perfect and good it is
to lift your voice in the shower
and on the road, giving shape
to the sounds of your soul.
and when you need
to hear the voice
of your beloved
whispering your true name
over and over
above and below
sit under your quiet tree
gently breathing your tones
listening to the subtle harmonics
resonating in the chambered flow
ahhhhhhhhh
huuu!
he-he-he-he
thomas | 04.29.04 – 2:56 pm | #
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morning rain.
young trees lean out over the creek, open eyes on the sky.
clouds visit the high ridgelines & touch each holding-out trunk & twig in the most personal sacral way.
now is the time when longing doesn’t last long!
acute teacher, precise pointer, slips in the heart’s door
trying to look like longing by half-concealing the menagerie of beings of fulfillment, a whole unruly party of elves & faeries under his robe.
far away across the water, the sound of a hand drum in the bow of a cedar dugout.
close at hand, blue garden girl’s toes kiss the ground in parting.
as somebody awake once said,
there’s no end to any of this.
chris weaver | Email | 04.30.04 – 9:56 am | #
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i love
days i feel so out of tune
i cringe to hear myself
if i just give up and let go
and let my voice be what it must
it hurts at first
but to my surprise
no matter how off key
it still finds resonance in the
uni*verse
karabrown | Email | 04.30.04 – 12:24 pm | #
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from http://www.wie.org/collective/
“The remarkable dance of birds in flight, the bonds between people and their pets, the creative synergy of a sports team in flow—these are but a few of the examples that this pioneering biologist uses to illustrate how social animals create fields of connection. In fact, Sheldrake argues, when a group field is created between people, then telepathy becomes a natural extension of our biological nature.”
ashley | Email | Homepage | 05.01.04 – 11:13 pm | #
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