Healing Through Sound

I recently heard a podcast on the radio about Georges Lakhovsky, a Russian engineer and scientist who claimed in the early 1900s that all living things have a specific ultra radio frequency. A healthy body, he said, is within the range of 62 -72 hertz (Hz) and when that number drops, diseases start to appear. At the level of 58 Hz, he said, you’re at risk for cold and flu; around 42, cancer is probably lurking around the corner. Being a hypochondriac, I convinced myself that I was somewhere around 20 – what Lakhovsky would consider dead. And so I called my friend Josh Fronseca, co-founder of  Soundscapers Drumming, a sound healing group, and told him I needed a session immediately. To my luck, he was holding a sound healing session that very night and invited me to join.

I arrived at Positive New Beginnings, a holistic center in East Providence, where the sound bath session was to take place. While I came empty handed, the other participants were ready for the sound healing journey, cozy on their yoga mats with pillows and sleeping bags. There was definitely an air of compassion and I felt immediately at ease.  It’s a grownup sleepover! I thought, where people came here to heal, relax and just be.

Josh gave me a spare yoga mat and blanket, and I cuddled up in excitement, cozy next to the heater. Josh’s partner, Joe Hayes, began with a guided meditation and I was swiftly taken to a magical place.  Josh and Joe walked around the room and enveloped me in sound using their voice, guided imagery, the didgeridoo, Native American drums, crystal sound bowls and an array of other instruments I did not recognize. I could feel myself getting healthier and healthier, slowly counting up my hertz frequency as the music got more and more intense. I started at cancer, 42, 43, 44… and continued to count, visualizing myself getting healthier.

The sounds carried my thoughts but I continued to count, and my self-healing visions turned into visions of everyone else in the room healing, to everyone in this country healing, and then to the entire world. At the end of the session, still in the dark and wrapped in our blankets, we went around in a circle holding a speaking stick, talking about our wishes for the world. It was obvious that there was something very powerful going on.  A participant answered that she wished for “world peace,” and normally I would have rolled my eyes at that typical beauty pageant answer, but I found myself nodding in agreement. Sound healing was (almost) melting away my cynical New England shell and I honestly felt much, much better; at least 40 Hz higher than when I arrived.

Olga Ortiz, a participant, spoke to me afterwards: “The resonance of the instruments have a cleansing, healing effect,” she said. “The people that share in this experience are loving and caring. Even though we are strangers, we are united as one through the sound.” Olga looked deeply into my eyes, “No matter what you are experiencing, may it be depression or  the loss of a loved one – the sound brings you to a peaceful and healing place within yourself.” Danielle Russo, another participant, said, “The sound gives me a cold shiver that goes through my entire body. It’s crazy awesome.”

Josh and Joe hold 10 or so sound healing sessions a month all over the state of Rhode Island and Eastern Massachusetts. They do private functions, house parties and even go to schools. They also hold regular drum circle sessions. You can find them at Soundscapers Drumming on Facebook or email them at joeyghayes@comcast.net or call 401.225.9082.

Yosefa Leora  is a journalist based in Rhode Island. She can be contacted at yomotif@gmail.com or at DareMe Yosefa on Facebook. She can also be followed at @goagnome on Instagram.