During this holiday season, it’s more important than ever for us to remember to take a moment to take a slow, deep breath. Several times a day.

Over thirty years ago, legendary medical inventor and cosmic guru Itzhak Bentov (author of Stalking the Wild Pendulum) and Harvard’s Dr. Herbert Benson published their pioneering studies of the multi-dimensional benefits of deep relaxation. Benson’s The Relaxation Response identified the phenomenon, and the phrase entered our cultural consciousness.

Tuning the Human Instrument

I had the privilege and pleasure to know and work with Itzhak Bentov. In fact, he was one of the scientific advisors that were part of my dissertation team. I learned how the body becomes tuned in a state of deep relaxation. It’s genetically programmed to do so.

So many processes work more effectively; positive, mood enhancing neurotransmitters and hormones are excreted ... changes in overall body chemistry occur that help us to feel good.

On a deeper level, Dr. Benson points out that when we tune in to this state, our cells experience a state of “remembered wellness,” which further enhances the positive outcome.

This information formed the basis of my graduate studies in the relaxational and healing powers of music. In other words, if certain music could guide us into physiologically significant levels of relaxation (as opposed to merely entertaining us), then here was a possible explanation of how the music heals.

Subsequent research suggests that music also heals via a harmonizing effect on our bio-electric energy field (the aura). It’s also the case that when we get relaxed, our brainwaves shift from speedy beta to slower alpha.

Another fascinating area of recent research involves sound therapy induced relaxation via tuning forks and specially composed music. The researchers state that they have identified a specific molecule that is chiefly responsible for the physiological and psychological effects. The introduction of sound vibration as a true healing art is entering a new level of precision and understanding.

I’ll go into greater detail on my website in the very near future. If you are interested in enhancing your state of health and well-being, I encourage you to check out this information. Or email me and I’ll send you a special e-zine update.

A Sound Idea for the New Year

I invite you to join me in increasing by ten percent the time you spend honoring the gift of music, in deep listening sessions, when you’re doing nothing else but focusing on, and receiving, the full presence of the music.

It could be as little as five minutes at a time ... with or without headphones. Adding an additional ten percent would make it five and a half minutes. I continue to be amazed at how little things like this can make such a big difference in how I feel. I think you may, too.

Even without scientific devices, I easily learned how to tell if the music I was listening to was relaxing or healing.

One of the simplest methods was to watch my breathing. If my breath became shallow, faster or irregular, this was not a good sign. Such music might be useful for emotional release or dancing, but not for relaxation.

If the actual sound of the instruments themselves were brittle or irritating, I rarely made it to the end of the album. Why knowingly inflict sonic torture on myself?

I recently purchased an album called Healing Music. It began nicely enough, but after a few moments, there was a highly irritating harmonic clash of a major chord against a minor chord. I was amazed that they A) would fail to have edited out that obvious mistake, or B) they were so insensitive or unmusical that they didn’t even notice the gaffe. If you’ve heard the album, I bet you’ve had the same reaction.

Perhaps you wondered whether you were overreacting? Trust me. You’re not. (By the way, the first person who emails me with the name of the artist or record label gets their choice of any of my CDs.)

I remember several years ago being on a live call-in radio show. One teenage guy called up and asked, “ I really like going to heavy metal concerts, but I always wind up with a stomach ache and a headache. Is there any connection?”

“You just answered your own question, my friend,” was my instant reply. Your body is speaking its mind, and letting you know that this music, for you at least, is not good for you.

How many of us, in perhaps less obvious circumstances, put up with music, or sounds, that are irritating, annoying, or stressful? The New Year is a great time to affirm that you will treat yourself more lovingly this year with respect to your sound environment.

Don’t put up with ugly sound, junk sound, etc., if you can do anything about it. Here’s an example:

Several years ago, I worked with a graphic designer who played the radio while he worked. The music was usually OK, but the commercials were terrible. I tried to ignore, but I needed to honor what my body was telling me.

I told him how irritating the radio was. Happily, he agreed to turn it off, or play other music. “Did I have a preference?” he asked.

Did I? Indeed I did! Ever since then, we listened to CDs like Enhancing Creativity, Accelerated Learning, and Chakra Suite. Not only did the music help me stay relaxed under deadline conditions, but both our concentration and focus levels stayed high all day long.

Sound Inventory of your Surroundings

Another small, but possibly quite impactful, item in many homes and offices is a wall clock. I never cease to be amazed at how many people live and work near a ceaselessly ticking clock.

Perhaps I was Captain Hook in a previous incarnation. But when we removed the clock from the wall and put it outside the room, I felt like a weight was removed from my chest. I could breathe freely again.

So take a look — and a listen — to what’s going on in your personal soundscape. Do you have a table top fountain, or Feng Shui wind chimes? As you may have discovered, not all fountains or chimes are created equal.

Some are soothing, some are anything but.

I’d love to read your emails of what sounds you love, and which you have removed after reading this column.

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Steven Halpern is an internationally-acclaimed recording artist and sound healer. His most recent releases are Crystal Bowl Healing, and Ocean Suite. To hear samples, and for more information on his recordings, visit www.stevenhalpern.com, or call 800/909-0707 for a free catalog.

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