Music bypasses learned behaviors to naturally regulate our pulse, blood pressure, breathing
and hormone production; especially dopamine, which controls mood.
array may be used, perhaps with tones inside surface. When the stick is turned paintings.
of multiple bowls overlapping, to create over, the beads fall to the other end of Today, use of all these ancient
deeply satisfying harmonics. the tube, sounding like a rainstorm as instruments joins newer ones, like the
Robert Austin has traveled exten- they bounce off the pins. The rainstick tuning fork and its electronic counter-
sively for the past eight years, including is still played ritually in South Ameri- parts, in the quest to reach and influ-
in Fort Myers, giving singing bowl con- can shamanic ceremonies for energy ence the inner recesses of our mind.
certs, workshops and healing sessions. cleansing. Scientists are learning why the cerebel-
About the healing power of sound, he lum, or “reptilian brain,” just 10 percent
says, “Sound can penetrate the body to of the brain’s mass, yet with 50 to 80
make it disturbed or happy.” He notes percent of its neurons, is important to
how, “The bowls create harmony that musical perception.
can release blockages created by life’s As the West ventures forth in
stresses,” proving beneficial for relief adapting the hallowed disciplines of
of neuropathy, neuralgia, arthritis and meditation and healing of the East,
circulatory ailments. such as yoga, T’ai chi, qigong and
Tibetan Buddhism, these accompanying
Rain Stick & Didgeridoo
venerable tools provide a touchstone to
ancestors of the past. They allow us to
A different approach to sound Australia’s Aboriginal culture practice prescribed rituals and customs
arose in places where metals were un- devised the didgeridoo, a long, flute- with an authenticity that continues to
available. Instead of a pure tone, these like instrument with sounds similar to resonate, along with the sound, in our
instruments chorus a cascade of fre- the low moans of Tibetan throat sing- very souls.
quencies to produce a constant drone. ing. Archaeological studies suggest that Connect with Robert Austin at
One indigenous people invented the people of the Kakadu region of the
CrystalBowlSoundHealer.com.
the rainstick, a long, hollow tube filled Northern Territory have been using the
Primary Sources: The Amazing Hypothesis, by
with beads or beans that has small pins didgeridoo for sacred rituals for about
Sir Francis Crick; This Is Your Brain on Music, by
arranged in a spiral pattern along the 1,500 years, based on cave wall Daniel J. Levitin.
December 2008 31
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