Health and the Sound of Music

"Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak," wrote William Congreve in 1697. Except for the remarkable insight which poets seem to share, little could he have known that three hundred years later medical research would prove his words to be more than simply poetic phrase.

I heard a physician on a radio program quote a survey which r eported that when pre-operative patients listened to music instead of enduring the silence (?) of hospital conditions, the necessary medication was reduced by fifty percent! The survey went on to report that following operations the patients felt better, recovered faster, and were able to return home sooner!

Perhaps the traditional hush of the hospital atmosphere has for years been counter productive.

The human being responds to every kind of sound in the universe, audible or inaudible. Those sounds, live or reproduced in any manner, include:

The human voice---spoken, sung, whispered, etc.

Nature---sounds of animals, elements (water, fire,

earth)

Mechanical---machinery, certain musical instruments

Music---of whatever kind appeals to you

Ultra-sounds---Those sounds beyond the range of the

human auditory system such as radio

and TV sound waves, and ultra-sound

treatments of various kinds, to which

you unconsciously respond.

"Divine" sounds---a special frequency, conveying

sounds from higher dimensions to

to your extrasensory receiving

mechanisms, to which you may

respond either consciously or

unconsciously.

To most of the above sounds, you respond according to the nature of your personal likes and dislikes, and to some degree according to your karma and your aspirations.

Check in next week to see ways to use Sound and its Principles for Healing.