Although we cannot taste, smell, or see music, we can perceive its presence as vibration and resonance through our skin, bones and organs. Reflect on what you observe to be the most important skill to develop for receiving the healing benefits and the power of sound…
I was blessed growing up in a house of music. My father was a natural, playing the piano, guitar, and singing without ever taking a lesson. My mother sang and danced by his side. Sound, vibration and movement surrounded me from my earliest childhood memories.
We used to gather at my ranch house near Burnet, Texas, with dozens of relatives. Every vacation and holiday was a celebration of singing, dancing and gaiety. My primary home in Oklahoma was also filled with music. I can’t remember a day when song did not pervade the space of every room. I have vivid memories of helping my dad install speakers in the walls, and then setting up our extensive stereo system together. He taught me how to edit, listen for changes, record, and fall in love with the gift of music. I held deep appreciation for all types of genres from the time I was a little girl, sitting on my father’s lap singing at the top of my lungs.
Dance was always present. My father would put on music and away we would go… whirling and swaying to the rhythms. If I didn’t have a partner, I still danced every night, surrounded by music and without criticism for my joy of movement.
I was very fortunate to have supportive parents who relished in my love of music, movement and magic, and I passed this on to my own four children. In utero, they listened not only to the natural rhythms of my heart, lungs and voice, but also to the music that was always present in my environment. Music has played almost non-stop in my house since they were born, filling the space with vibration, resonance, and ambiance. My four now grown children all danced in my womb, as I moved and taught through all four pregnancies. They all pursued music in different ways… percussion, saxophone, flute, guitar, piano, trumpet… and all have a great appreciation for music genres of many decades.
What is the most important skill to develop for receiving the healing benefits and the power of sound?
No skill needed… just encouragement and acceptance… every cell in the body is a sound receptor. All we have to do is be open to receive. It is through the natural encoded art of listening and receiving that we gain from the healing benefits and power of sound.
In Nia, we access many tools that use sound, and vibration to enhance our ability in delivering the Nia Music, Movement, and Magic promise. The art of listening, authentic movement, coding bars, cueing between 3 & 6, class format, form and freedom, the power of three, emotional energy, choice and manifestation, the power of silence and sound…studying the nuances of the instruments as they come and go. Dancing to the music ultimately becomes the avenue for delivering the promise.
As Ted Andrews writes in Sacred Sounds, all ancient societies “taught that rhythm could effect changes in physical states, melody could effect changes in emotional and mental states and harmony was capable of lifting the consciousness to spiritual awareness. Chants, mantras, prayers, songs, stories, music and speech must employ rhythm, melody and harmony to achieve union of body, mind, and spirit.”
Yes! This turns me on… the more I discover, the more I want to explore as a sensation scientist. The more I’m exposed to different genres of music, and different vibrations, the more open I become to the healing power of sound… singing, chanting, voicing, dancing to the natural rhythms encoded in my body… its all there. I’m ready to dive even deeper!