Becoming a sound healer doesn’t necessarily have a single meaning. Sound is being utilized and studied in many different therapeutic and even medical endeavors for emotional, mental, spiritual and physical wellbeing. For example, researchers at MIT have explored the potential of using gamma frequencies to cure Alzheimer’s Disease. Many of the clients that come to us for training are already skilled practitioners of yoga, reiki, acupuncture, and various psychotherapeutic methodologies, looking to integrate sound into their own practice. There are also students who took our classes, and developed their own methodologies, such as Eileen McKusick and her world-renowned work with tuning forks. There are also those who come to work with us just wanting to incorporate sound into their own life, or lead simple sound baths. There is no single expression of sound healing or being a sound healer, though in each case there is responsibility you hold in relationship with your clients in a professional practice.
At Sunreed Instruments and Sunreed Center, we define sound healing as the intentional use of sound to create a vibrational environment which becomes a catalyst for healing in the mental, emotional, or spiritual aspects of our being. Clarifying the intentional use of sound takes experience, because at the core of becoming a sound healer, is understanding the very nature of inner healing.
Zacciah discusses this concept very clearly in the following YouTube video.
We stress the point of these next three paragraphs a lot for people interested in this work. Without a clear understanding of healing (of the process of self-realization and the release of suffering) it is difficult to use sound intentionally to guide another to that end. This is why at the core of our teachings are fundamental principles on the very nature of healing and consciousness. Sound works as a gateway, attenuator, or quickener in the meditative process, cutting through our thinking mind, and giving greater access to spaciousness and catharsis. Though, the inner work of transformation must still be done and understood within oneself, with or without sound. Sound is not a magic pill, that instantly grants us the understanding needed to live a more peaceful life. It is not enough just to play a crystal bowl and expect results. Sound may help, though it is with our own intention and awareness that we change, and gain the understanding needed to step into inner peace. It is simple to play a drum, though difficult to become intimately familiar with the mental and energetic movements that take place as the mind opens to its own inner spaciousness. This takes experience, and a fine tuning of perception.
To start the path of becoming a sound healer, one key resource are the many spiritual traditions worldwide, such as the Quero of Peru, or Buddhists of Tibet, who kindly offer the world clear guidance for understanding the process of inner healing. Zacciah as well offers clear guidance for this path in his courses. It is important to seek the larger questions, such as the nature of our inner minds, who we are, what is consciousness, why we are here, and what is our relationship to the Whole. With this, you can begin to become intimate with attention and intention based meditative skills, clarifying your perception. All of this may be done alongside of the use of a drum, rattle or crystal bowl. As your practice deepens, so will your understanding of the use of sound and how sound interacts with consciousness. Over time as you understand this path of healing within yourself, and embody it’s concepts, then you may begin to feel comfortable offering sound to others as an effective tool to be used in their own lives. Taking our courses will also help clarify your understanding, as Zacciah leads you through the use of different instruments, and their various applications in a therapeutic sound healing practice. We are currently offering a 4 class Certificate Of Training program, The Foundations Of Sound Healing. Visit our trainings to learn more.
The basic path of a sound healer then is to understand the path of healing. From there a person can incorporate inner coherent states with the expression of sound, and utilize the principle of entrainment to help others. Equipped with your inner knowing, your meditative toolbox, and sound, you have the potential to helps others quicken their experience of healing.
We can break down being a "sound healer" into three different levels:
The first, is using harmonious and intentional sound to move energy and bring about a state of peace and tranquility. This is often the function of a sound bath. This first stage, is just playing harmonious and calming instruments for others, and letting the sound naturally relax them into a state of tranquility. It is offering people a bit of relief in their life, and a space to just relax safely. Doing this basic level of sound work does not need much training, because the main focus is just the tranquility of the sound itself, and having clients connect to the sound in a relaxed way. Many describe this type of playing as intuitive, as the "sound healer" is just intuitively moving from one instrument to the next, as they feel is needed for the coherence of the environment. Many people are offering sound baths, through connecting with Yoga studios, Meditative businesses, Gyms or just offering them to their friends and family.
The second, is aligning with coherent states within, and then expressing that coherence through sound, allowing others to entrain to coherence within themselves. This second level of sound healing requires knowledge of the path of healing, and knowing the meaning of being healed within. This is not only utilizing the power of sound, but your own inner state to support others. This is a foundational aspect of the work we do with sound.
The third, is both aligning with coherence within, and as well using meditative and therapeutic tools to further support a client coming into wellness. This means that a practitioner is fully using the principle of entrainment and sound for the benefit of a client, and as well coupling those principles with a powerful meditative or therapeutic practice. This could mean guided meditation, or many other forms of therapeutic or energetic work such as massage, reiki, acupuncture, therapy, etc.
Do you need a Certificate to do this work?
We offer a certificate of completion for our training. This is something you can show if someone wants to know where you trained. However, a certificate of completion is largely unnecessary in the sound healing world. There is no state sanctioned governing board for sound healing that certifies sound healing across the United States; there is no certification like there is for acupuncturists, or psychologists, or doctors. There are many sound healing teaching businesses which may make it seem like you are getting certified, but state certification does not yet exist for sound healing. Training has less to do with a certificate, and more to do with you getting the key principles that with allow you to work with sound effectively.
Zacciah discusses key concepts and questions in becoming a sound healer
