I recently had the opportunity to experience the blessings of the best healing that allopathic medicine can provide. A few weeks ago, I flew from my home in Northern California to snowy Cleveland, Ohio. Why Cleveland, you might ask? The winter holiday injury that resulted in a hernia needed repair. I was told that only two places, in the US and Canada, performed the operation without requiring general anesthesia. Their innovative protocol, developed by Dr. Shouldice, also reduced the recovery time to days rather than weeks.

     As anyone who has followed my professional career knows, I have always been a believer in using what works best. Long before Dr. Andrew Weil coined the term “integrative medicine,” one of the great pioneers, and a personal friend and mentor, Dr. Irving Oyle, reminded me that sometimes, as with physical injuries, what works best is traditional Western medicine.

     Indeed, I had tried herbs, vitamins, light therapy, even sound therapy. All these had kept my injury from getting worse, but it wasn’t getting healed. So when I made the decision to go under the knife, I chose the doctor who has done more hernia operations than any other doctor in the US: Dr. David Grischkan.

     That said, there are several words you don’t want to hear when you get a medical exam or procedure. One is “oops”. The other is “Whoa! That’s much worse than I thought!” But Dr. G assured me that I was in good hands, literally.

     Early the next morning, on a lucky Friday the 13th, I arrived at the Independence Surgery Clinic. There was one open seat in the waiting room, which just happened to be next to a huge, deep purple amethyst crystal cluster.

     I took that as a good sign, and held my left hand on it until I was called into the pre-op room. I brought noise-canceling headphones with me, just in case there was background music piped into the room. There was, so that was a good idea. I began relaxing and centering with Chakra Suite.

     In a few moments, I was called in for preparation for the surgery. I noticed that the background music was louder, and that I could hear the oldies songs that the station was playing.

     I focused on my own music. I must say, as the intravenous twilight anesthesia started its work, Chakra Suite sounded more luminous and three-dimensional than ever.

     But all of a sudden, I was jolted out of my reverie. An especially loud song was blaring through the overhead speakers. There was something about it that was making my hair stand on end.

     Now, you have to understand. The operation was to be performed in the lower abdomen. It’s certainly not in my daily experience to have nurses and others focusing on that area. But of course, the nature of the operation itself was in an ordinarily private area.

     So you can imagine my shock when I recognized what the song was. It was Great Balls of Fire, by Jerry Lee Lewis!

     Through my chemically-induced relaxation, I remember saying, quite loudly, to the entirely female nursing staff, “Ladies! What is this music you are playing? Don’t you know this is the last thing a guy wants to hear when he’s undergoing this operation?”

     Folks, you can’t make this stuff up. What are the odds that this song would just happen to be programmed at just that moment?

     They all laughed. I promised to send them some of my recordings when I recuperated. And I retreated deeper into my headphones and a more serene soundfield.

     That was the last thing I remember until I woke up. Everything went well, I was informed, and I’m happy to say, my recovery is proceeding on course.

Music is the Sound of the Soul

     If you’ve had enough of American Idol and/or forgot that there’s much more to music than just singing pop songs that were popular before the singer was born, you should see Sound of the Soul. That’s the title of a wonderful documentary that transports us to the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music in Morocco. This is a celebration that reflects the city’s history of tolerance and diversity with an array of musicians from Muslim, Christian and Jewish backgrounds.

     With its heritage as an ancient sanctuary, its mystical Islamic foundations and its evocative medieval sites and buildings, Fez is an ideal location for this exceptional festival. I’ve always wanted to go there. This is the next best thing

     The film, directed by Stephen Ollson, includes a soul-searing chorus of powerful African Berber women, A Portuguese Fado singer, a Sephardic chanteuse, a French early music ensemble, and musicians from Afghanistan, Morocco (the mystical Gnawa musicians and Sufis), Russian and Ireland, even a gospel band from Harlem. I wish the segments had been longer, but this is a musical feast I’m sure will send you searching out entire albums by these artists.

     Because it’s a documentary, many of the musicians get a chance to speak and discuss the intention behind what they do. Spirituality is one of them. “As a musician, I feel that musicians are messengers of God. And the message is peace.” This was spoken by a Berber woman. Her quote really resonated with me. I wrote it down on my notepad in the darkness, just to make sure I remembered it.

     I was delighted to find the DVD on sale in the lobby, and bought one immediately. I recommend this documentary, and trust that it is easily available at your favorite local retailer or online vendor. I’d be interested in hearing your reactions once you view it.

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© 2007 Steven Halpern. Steven Halpern has been sharing the “secrets” of sound healing for over 33 years. He has composed over sixty albums, and his classic Chakra Suite has been named the most influential healing recording of all time. His latest releases are an exquisite solo piano masterpiece, Peace of Mind, and a chanting/meditation CD, In the OM Zone that will get your DNA resonating to the primordial vibration of the cosmos.

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