Music, sounds, and vibrations can deeply influence our body, mind, and psyche – healing and harmonizing them. These sensations and processes are also very pleasant and uplifting.
Healing and Harmonizing Music Therapy
Music therapy is often associated in the public mind with the idea of systematic work with people with various types of disabilities, psychotherapy, etc., which is of course a very broad and fruitful field, often connected with clinical or academic levels.
The approach that is closest to me personally and that I have been applying for many years in music creation, concerts, and music therapy, is somewhat different from standard music therapy and consists mainly of a return to the original role and power of music itself as one of the deepest, most effective, and most uplifting means for every person. And the main and essential element in this concept is for me the truly inspired MUSIC, arising and flowing in a deep and natural connection between the player and the listener – using a wide range of classical and special musical instruments.
If the musician becomes the "instrument" and lets the music flow through them via higher and finer inspiration, they can, in my experience, gradually activate the full potential of music as a healing and harmonizing medium with full intensity and a wide range of positive effects.
Therefore, this type of music-harmonizing therapy is not limited to people with various types of disabilities but is suitable for everyone – as the much-desired and needed pause in our hectic flow of days, cleansing, healing, and illuminating our inner space at its various levels, recharging with new creative energy, and also opening up to what is deepest within us and what transcends us. Such music therapy and healing music can then become a very effective and comprehensive means for regular harmonization, regeneration, and development of deeper inspiration for everyone – and my direct experiences and feedback from countless individual clients and participants in our seminars or concerts repeatedly confirm this.
Resonance Therapy
Within this music therapy, I also use other effective methods such as resonance (vibration) therapy and expressive music therapy.
Resonance therapy uses the previously mentioned fact that music is also tangible physical energy. If we compare our entire organism to a complex and intricate musical instrument with countless strings and connections, we can admit that this "instrument" can very easily and often become "out of tune" due to everyday stress, tension, and excessive activities (and indeed it does). The good news, however, is that our organism also has an almost miraculous ability to retune itself and regenerate down to the cellular level – if exposed to a sufficiently intense source of special harmonizing vibrations. For this purpose, I use not only instruments like Tibetan bowls, therapeutic gongs, monochords, etc., but especially a large special resonance therapy bed, which is one of the most effective and intense instruments for comprehensive sound therapy.
It is a very unique instrument through which the beneficial and healing effects of sound vibrations influence the entire organism and psyche of a person. Thanks to this instrument, sound and vibrations are perceived not only by the ears but by the entire surface of the body, gradually filling the entire inner space and mind and also opening deeper and higher dimensions of perception.
The basic principle of the resonance bed is a 50 – 80 string monochord (strings tuned to the same tone, including deep bass strings), placed on the underside of the bed. It is delicately played by the therapist and the lying client perceives how these intense harmonic vibrations gradually fill their body and mind. The perception of sound vibrations, besides their healing and harmonizing effects, is also an extraordinary inner experience.
The effects of this type of therapy are not just abstract – for example, it has been recorded that patients who had the opportunity for daily therapy on this bed achieved up to three times faster recovery after major surgery than under normal circumstances. No wonder – this type of therapy penetrates down to the cellular level, where the entire organism is gradually retuned to optimal constellations.
Experiences and feedback from my clients show that the resonance bed also significantly helps to release physical and psychological tensions and alleviate physical discomfort, supports faster overall regeneration, and strengthens the immune system. It is a very effective means for reducing daily stress and eliminating inner blocks. Moreover, it induces a positive state of mind, joy, and overall inner well-being. And it is also an ideal prelude and preparation for the subsequent above-mentioned music therapy in all its depth and breadth.
It is also clear here that the depth and healing abilities of the resonance bed depend not only on the sensitive approach of the therapist but to a large extent also on the quality of the instrument itself – not every instrument has this power and healing abilities. Personally, I know only one or two specialized manufacturers in all of Europe whose instruments truly have these abilities.
Other Possibilities
Another very frequently used approach in my practice is expressive music therapy – the ability to express and reflect one's feelings and inner state through playing selected musical instruments, whether solo or in the form of joint playing or dialogue. Besides the possibility of relaxing expression of one's feelings and inner states through music, there is often also inspiring creative joy in connection with beautifully sounding musical instruments.
All this can take place in the form of individual music therapy (for this purpose I use my own special music therapy studio, where, in addition to the necessary environment and atmosphere, dozens of various musical instruments are available) or in the form of courses and seminars that we lead both at home and worldwide. Some of them (for example, Savita Yoga) combine the therapeutic abilities of music with selected yoga and transpersonal techniques.
The Story of Mrs. Vlasta
Mrs. Vlasta was not experiencing the best period – her father and brother had recently died, and she was also troubled by mild digestive issues and headaches. She came to music therapy in my studio several times. I felt that she was filled with deep sadness and mild depression and additionally burdened by the mentioned psychosomatic issues. She did not need to talk and analyze all of this too much, she came rather with the hope of touching something deeper, soothing, bringing the possibility of calm, peace, and reconciliation with the flow of life – which ordinary thinking or sharing these things had not been able to bring her so far. After a small introductory chat, I always invited her first to the resonance bed. As she always described it to me later, it was for her the gate to complete immersion and submersion in the "waves of a beautiful and deep sea". She felt herself diving deeper and deeper and at the same time gradually perceiving her feelings and memories from another, higher perspective. And after some time, there were only uplifting and omnipresent vibrations left, pleasantly filling her and carrying her in many unknown directions. The therapy on the bed always lasted about half an hour, and with each visit, Mrs. Vlasta looked forward to it more and more. She ended it with a feeling of deep physical and mental relaxation, and according to her words, the feelings of headaches and abdominal pain always significantly decreased for some time afterward.
Then the actual music part began. She lay down on the mat and covered herself with a blanket. It was clear that she was still deeply filled with strong emotions. The music usually carried through the gentle tones of the viola, which flowed between touches of sadness and reconciliation, and also the harmonically rich tones of the large concert monochord. She rarely could hold back tears, but they were tears of relief and release. And towards the end, the music usually transitioned into very gentle, soothing, and uplifting dimensions, and finally began to gradually oscillate between sound and silence. After this "musical bath," Mrs. Vlasta would sit up after a while with an expression of quiet joy and a hint of an inner smile. It was clear that the process was deep. Then I invited her to an appropriate musical instrument – gentle chimes, a metallophone, a Hapi drum, or a beautifully sounding kantele, and in this part, she could start actively creating music herself. Although she was not a musician, these harmonizing instruments allowed her to sound her own music, and sometimes I later joined her in harmony and dialogue. Finally, we talked again and shared our feelings and experiences. It seemed to me that she always left as a somewhat different person than when she came – not only with noticeable physical relief but also with greater psychological balance, reconciliation, and a gentle joyful smile. And it might not even be necessary to mention that the music that arises in such constellations and flows into the real depths of those who open up to it and fully perceive and listen to it is always a great experience, inspiration, and deep experience for me as well.
Ivo Sedláček
