25/01/2022
How is it that participation in a sound bath can yield all the health benefits sound practitioners describe?
When sound reaches the ear it undergoes a process called auditory transduction. This describes the remarkable process in which physical sound waves from the environment are converted into electrical impulses to be interpreted by the brain. Once received by the brain via the cochlear nerve, the sound information travels down 2 pathways simultaneously. One pathway takes the sound information to parts of the brain for *conscious* perception, so we hear, respond with speech, memory and conscious thoughts and actions. The other pathway leads to *unconscious* processing via the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).
Once sound reaches the ANS, the sound information can travel down one of 2 channels and this is where the beauty of the sound bath experience lies. Our day-to-day lives keep one of these channels, the Sympathetic Nervous system (often referred to as fight-or-flight mode), on the go during waking hours. We are ready and waiting for an emergency to strike and so our heart rates are raised, blood vessels constricted (causing arterial pressure to increase), our digestive system slowed down, our livers release more glucose (so the body gets a quick energy boost in response to danger) and our breathing speeds up. Daily experiences ranging from crossing a road to a baby’s cry to stress at work will keep this system active. During a sound bath you are immersed in long, sustained and soothing sounds and this is where something MAGICAL happens. Your brain actively disengages from the sympathetic nervous system and engages the opposing parasympathetic nervous system, commonly referred to as the rest-and-digest system, via the often talked about (by sound practitioners at least) vagus nerve. The vagus nerve, when stimulated, will have the opposing effect to the stress response described above.
Once activated, the vagus nerve will slow breathing, lower the heart rate, dilate blood vessels (causing a decrease in blood pressure), stimulate digestion, affect mood and support immune response. You will enter into a state of bodily repair. A range of neurotransmitters and beneficial hormones are released to support the repair process. The vagus nerve can be stimulated in other ways too such as breath work and meditation so you don’t have to rely on a sound practitioner to support your way back to good physical and mental health.
Interestingly, listening to “normal” music, including classical, will not serve to disengage the fight-or-flight system, though both the fight-and-flight and rest-and-digest systems will be active and competing with one another. This is because music follows melodies and structures, it allows our minds to anticipate the music and our engagement with it will differ as it will activate our memory, emotions and can elicit a response so the fight-or-flight system needs to remain on stand-by, though we may feel calmed.
To be continued…….
