Medicine of Music – The divine language to heal and unite us all

Header Photo Credit: Amy Hart

Peace and Union

There is no better time than now to come and find refuge in the music that calls us to unite and to be at peace with one another and ourselves. In difficult times we look for a strong anchor that can save us from drifting in the storm and getting lost. Music has a power beyond comprehension or rational explanation to elevate us all from the darkest hours. When we look through history we can see that it has been a loyal friend to human kind all along, helping us connect to the greatest source of power that comes from being united and to help us rise from the illusion of separation. 

This mysterious divine language has the key to open our hearts and it is the medium that allows us to express and liberate that which our mind can’t put into words, granting us a way to find peace in this form of liberation. Music goes through all layers created to protect ourselves from pain and fear. It melts the thickest walls reaching the core of our wounded child, releasing healing tears and uplifting us into joyful ecstasy as we merge with the light we are, our essence. It is in this mysterious space that we can experience the higher love that creates everything, awakening, even if just for that moment, in awe for the gift of life. 

Music is the one thing that can bring us all together and help us rise as a global family if we sing the same song and our hearts beat to the same rhythm, leaving aside our differences and becoming bonded by a deeper truth, a transparent knowing, a higher love. There is a positive way forward if we choose to do so, it is in our hands and our responsibility for the generations to come to create the world we call paradise. 

There is an undeniable call in the heart of the conscious musician to deliver the sound and message of peace, love and truth, as a medicine for all, carrying the loving vibration to restore and balance all the negativity that it is in our planet. To embrace this role of service and devotion for the greater good means to become an empty vessel to deliver with generous open hearts the sound that brings back the spirit of a loving community in our world. For those that understand the real power of music there is a big responsibility to deliver that which helps us harmonize back with the natural rhythm of creation and the sounds of nature that restores our system. 

The healing sound of nature

It is said that music started as a way for humans to be connected to the nature that surrounds him, imitating the sounds to communicate with that they could hear around them – the bird songs, the whisper of the wind, the murmuring of water – and finding pleasure in expressing beauty through sound. Thanks to my teachers in the Amazon and the wisdom of the plant medicine, I experienced how music opens the gate to other realms of reality where we connect with the web of light that forms everything and how the power of vibration over matter can remove illness. A medicine person will prescribe chants and dance to liberate harming energies from our bodies that makes us sick. They defend how important it is to dance our prayers with bear feet over the soil, in the water, and to chant our gratitude to life, offering our respects and honoring everything that is part of the creation. 

Indeed we create music that reflects that which we are part of and we move to the rhythms that give meaning to how we live and how we feel. It is not surprising then that music keeps changing as our society evolves. So much can be said when we observe the music that people listen to each generation.

We are living dangerous days where we are disconnected from our natural environment and it reflects in the music. Mainstream music that people listen to, especially the young generations, has lost its great healing power as it is moving into a form of digital sounds and perfect drum machines with fast rhythms. It is sad to see how most musicians have replaced the drum with a mechanical drum machine, taking away and losing the authentic feeling of a real heart beat in the music. Unfortunately, although a ‘perfect’ music of robotic sounds and clicks still may bring good feeling, it has lost the organic sound within, the vibrational power that our body recognizes and resonates with. The second loss is the robotic musician as it has given the freedom of making music by pressing a button, removing not only the instrument but also the musician which brings the real feeling, personality and intention behind playing an instrument. We are slowly taking away everything that connects us to nature and spirit. The raw sound of humanity may get lost if we don’t wake up soon. 

The original instruments were created out of natural materials like wood, shells, seeds, skin that would reverberate the sounds of nature keeping us connected to that we are part of, to that we belong to. Their sound created a connection between the elements and our body, resonating and releasing the tension to return into our harmonious state. We must return to our mother and her sound, her rhythms, her cycles and music is the way to do so.

Sacred Heart Beat of the Drum

The drum is the one instrument that unites us all and connects us to the sacred rhythm of the heart. This primal rhythm we listen to and feel inside our mother’s womb for nine months, helping us shape as we come into physical form. This powerful rhythm is the one that gives life to our bodies, it is the one we recognize as our origin. Many musicians have replaced the drum with a perfect inorganic robotic click disconnecting to this sacred rhythm. It is urgent that we come back to the organic beat, the perfect imperfect.

Everything in creation has a rhythm. From the moon cycles, to the seasons, to the life and death circle. As part of creation we too move to these rhythms. But the modern world has pushed us into a crazy fast pace of production that has brought great imbalance within. Our connection to the natural rhythms has been broken and we have desensitized till the point of illness. The return of slow tempos is needed to relax this tension. We must return to the slow rhythm of nature and listen to her sounds, ride her waves and dance to the cosmic flow of creation. 

During my travels to Ghana to learn traditional drumming, dancing and chanting, I spent time with the people that still live connected to the land and experienced how music plays the most important role in keeping the community together, as it is the central point where life revolves around. All important celebrations have their own music, all ceremonies their own rhythms that tell the story of their ancestors, connecting the present with the past, honoring the ones that were here before us and inviting them to celebrate with them. 

My experience with drumming was a polyrhythmic explosion that my mind could not comprehend, yet my body understood and couldn’t help but dance to them in the most wild ways. Getting lost in drumming and movement until I wasn’t my body any more, there was no mind, I entered the trance state, I crossed the portal where there is no separation, I was One with all. A space of wisdom and healing, where I felt more than I was, revitalized and inspired to be alive and celebrate life and everything in it. Connected and opened hearted, I knew that was the awakening state beyond the illusion. 

I learned the rhythms that follow the rhythms of nature, the rhythm of the waves, the rhythm of the wind, the rhythm of the Sun, the rhythm of life. When we are in rhythmic sync with them we come in harmony and balance with that which created us, we are home. 

The drum is a powerful healing tool, a teacher, a healer. When we play it, the vibrations move through us, dissolving the tension and blockages in our body, activating our heart beat and the pulse becomes stronger, new life is pumped with fresh energy reaching all the cells of our body. When we play, we become present in the moment as we become committed to the beat. We are breathing every single one of them and our mind, first full of calculations and thoughts, becomes quiet, calm, silent, resting in peace. Our hearts are full of life!   

Voice – Mantra and Voice

Our voices are the primordial source of sound. It is the connection with our own essence, with the sound of our soul. We all have a unique voice and the way we use it reflects everything that is within us. Joy, love, tension, fear, sadness…all is imprinted in our voices. From an early age we find joy in using our voice in melodic ways and it plays a role of communicating to the world our emotions. It becomes a first way of expression. Our mother sings to us to sooth our cry and her cooing sounds brings a smile. As young children we love singing, screaming and laughing with no measure. Unfortunately, most of us get an imposed silence and receive judging comments about how good or bad our voices sound. This is probably the most traumatic experience for all of us. Judging our voices is judging ourselves. Not accepting the sound of our voices as beautiful as it is in its own way is self harming. And so, a journey of healing our self value and uniqueness unravels to become in love with our own voice and to use it freely as we should.

For me, only one sentence in my childhood, said by my mother probably in a moment of tiredness and not really meaning it, was enough to create shame to my own voice and to believe it was harming to share it – “shut up, your voice is only good to give me headache” created a trauma that took me years to release. Even knowing it wasn’t true it had still imprinted something so strong in me. Although I still kept singing for myself I wouldn’t find strength in doing what I wish the most. 

I encountered mantras about eight years ago when I became passionate about voice healing. Being in shame to sing in public, feeling in shame with my voice, having this longing to sing since a child but believing my voice wasn’t beautiful enough to be in the open. I decided to go deep into experiencing my own voice healing. I learned about Cymatics, overtoning and finally mantra. It all became the foundation of liberating and loving my voice as it is. 

Mantra comes from the Vedic people known as the Aryans, who wrote the Vedas scriptures, based on the power of sound and intention. Mantra means tool for the mind and they are sound formulas in Sanskrit language that helps us overcome the thoughts and it’s primal game of distraction. In this form of meditation one gets lost in the repetitive chant until inner silence is achieved, and we return back to source. Chanting mantras goes beyond the usual type of singing as it is not about the beauty of the voice but the authenticity of it. We forget how we sound, we forget who we are and we become just sound, elevating more and more, stepping into the trance state, where we tap into the healing space. Just like the rhythm on the drum, chanting a mantra takes you into the same space. A different door to the same temple.

Indeed, our voices are the most healing tool we have as all the vibration is created from within instead of coming from an external source. It is also a way to connect with our breath and to relax all the tense muscles in our throat, chest and belly that interrupts the flow of air inside our body to its full capacity. When we breathe properly we are connected to the present moment, to the here and now. It is through breath we keep exchanging, a give and take, with the energy of life. When we liberate our voice to this flow of breath we expand ourselves into space.

Chanting alone is powerful but when it is done by a group it multiplies its benefits as we feel supported by the voices of our fellow companions. Our voices melting as one, our hearts beating as one, our breath inspiring as one. Once again united we rise together.

My whole life has been a journey experiencing the magic of music in my spiritual path and self healing quest to find my inner freedom. These days I get praise for my voice, my music, my drumming, my dancing. When I tell them my story they find inspiration and ask me to help them liberate too. It is my mission to show the way to cross that door to the space of self healing and freedom through the art of music. The most healing tool we could ever wish for.

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“ Listen to the Sacred Rhythm of creation and dance to it, it will empower your feet and uplift your heart”