SOUND JOURNEYS  WITH MARK

Sound healing may be considered a new age wellness but it is hardly a new form of therapy. The ancient Greeks used music to cure mental disorders and throughout history, sound has been used to help people work faster, influence, and boost morale. Many also believe that sound can heal the body. That’s because humans have a natural instinct for sound therapy. Just think about how a favourite song can lift your mood. Additionally, working with instruments like tuning forks, gongs and singing bowls are believed to work faster to achieve a healing effect, as you are receiving pure tones over a very large spectrum.
The adult body is 75% made of water which is a great conductor. When vibrations travel through the body, they promote circulation, energy flow, and rejuvenation. The frequency of the sound synchronises with the brainwaves and activates destresses responses.
The beauty of sound healing is that is totally safe for anyone to experience. While Mark works with sounds intuitively, he is also watching you and your reactions making sure not to over stimulate and deliver the session that is best suited on a personal level.

WHAT IS A SOUND JOURNEY?

Maybe you have heard of sounds baths before, where you lay down and listen to the sounds of Singing Bowls and Gongs relaxing and healing on the subtle levels. This is the same as with a Sound Journey, yet with the addition of rhythmical instruments, it turns the experience into a journey.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF SOUND HEALING?

Sound healing can help you clear energetic blockages and thus facilitate healing on a physical and mental level. Some of the benefits of sound therapy include:

• lower stress levels
• fewer mood swings
• lower blood pressure
• improved sleep
• boost immune system

Over the years, sound healing has also been used to treat a number of conditions including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, autism and dementia.

INSTRUMENTS 

GONGS
Gongs have been used as a form of sound healing since around 4,000 B.C. Compared to the Tibetan bowls, the gong has stronger vibrations and much more tonal variation due to its size and structure. The sound can be evocative of many things from temples to the outer reaches of space or the bottom of the ocean and can put you in a deeply relaxed and meditative Theta state in as quickly as 60 to 90 seconds.

SINGING BOWLS
Singing bowls have been used in Tibetan culture since the 12th century. These metal bowls come in different sizes and each one produces a deep sound that relaxes and heals the mind. Because each bowl produces a unique vibration that works on separate parts of the brain, sometimes stirred to create a constant drone or tapped to sound more like a bell. Different sized bowls are often used together. Each bowl works on a different part of you and can be even placed on the body to fully emerge you in their healing vibrations.

TUNING FORKS
Tuning forks are typically used to tune other instruments. However, they have healing powers of their own. Calibrated tuning forks can be held on specific parts of the body to send vibrations that release tension and open blocked energy channels. This form of sound healing is good for emotional balance and pain relief.
The tuning forks that Mark works with are made to work with the human organism, both by moving around the body and also being place on bones to bring you into a state of deep resonance.

SHRUTI BOX
The origins of the Shruti box can be traced back to the Chinese sheng, an ancient wind instrument still in the use today, which makes sound when air passes through small bamboo reeds. These free-reeds later influenced a new family of Western instruments, including the harmonica, accordion and harmonium.
From these came the shruti box, an instrument that is very popular in India. Unlike the accordion and harmonium, it has no keys to be played and is used as a drone instrument. What Mark loves the most about it is how well it connects with the voice. “When I play around with the tones of my voice, magic happens, my voice starts to come out of the shruti box as everything comes into a vibrational resonance. The same also happens, when it’s played with the flute. Two become one and fill the space in the most hypnotic way.”

HANG PAN
The Hang is a recent musical instrument created by Felix Rohner and Sabrina Schäre in Switzerland in 2000. Its origin lies in the 1970s the classic Trinidad steel drum. Rohner who had been playing the steel-pan for the last 20 years. At some point, presumably to test the sound, he flipped his concave pan into a convex position. The sound that came from it was like nothing anyone had heard before: crystal clear, mesmerising and almost transcendental.
Mark loves this instrument, for its dream-like qualities, gentle rhythms and finds it an important part of his Sound Journey’s. It bridges the gap between the Gongs and Tibetan bowls, taking the healing tones to a rhythmical place.

NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTE
The flute is the oldest woodwind instrument, dating to 900 B.C. or earlier. The first likely flute was called the “ch-ie” and emerged in China.
In Latin, the word Spiritus means both breath and spirt, When the breath is engaged with the flute, breathed through wood. Wood, that was once a tree, a tree that helped to oxygenate the planet. It’s like bringing everything back into one sweet song in the flute. A perfect way to finish the sound journey.