|
|
Music and sound have played an
integral role through the centuries, to calm the spirit, to enliven,
to bring joy and dance. Pythagoras, who lived from about 80 to 500 B.C., is
credited with the first attempt
to devise a system of musical healing. Throughout the centuries, music has
inspired souls, soothed hearts and
woven a thread of unity for ancient cultures and communities worldwide. For
decades in our modern world,
music programs have grown in their outreach to hospitals, nursing homes,
schools, mental health centers and
hospices. We are recognizing now, the therapeutic benefits of sound healing with
pain control, stress
management and the enhancement of post-operative recovery.
In the transforming wave of recognition of the mind-body connection and the
plethora of new research available
on the healing properties of sound and music, how we view treatment is radically
changing. Mitchell Gaynor, M.D.,
Director of Medical Oncology and Integrative Medicine at Strang Cancer
Prevention Center, N.Y; and, author of
Sounds of Healing writes: "Last week a woman in one of my meditation music
groups said that a realization had
just crystallized for her. Everything that she had thought was inside of her
--anguish, trauma, fear, all seemed
outside of her now. And everything that seemed outside, like the harmony of the
Universe and the harmony of
nature, all seemed inside of her". Through music she realized, shared Dr.
Gaynor, "that there is only one harmony
and it's the essence of who we are".
Throughout time, music has been a vital instrument of nourishment, restoration
and healing for the heart, mind, body and soul. Sarajane Williams, a pioneer in
harp therapy , discovered through her work with patients suffering from chronic
pain, stress, anxiety and depression, that "reducing tension allow greater flow
of energy through the body so that healing can take place. " When the person is
deeply relaxed, beta-endorphins are released, alleviating pain and elevating
mood" (excerpt from The Mozart Effect, p. 238 ).
Benjamin Lobst, a body worker therapist writes in his book, Seven Metals, "I've
been researching the sound-wave
phenomena of Tibetan singing bowls. I play bowls for a few minutes at the start
of my sessions and virtually every
client finds it difficult or impossible to be distracted by intruding thoughts
or worries. They say things like, "it reaches something in me that words or
touch can't get to".
My Personal Journey
As an Intuitive Music Practitioner, I have offered one-on-one and group harp
sessions for people in treatment for
recovery of heroin addiction, individuals suffering from chronic illnesses like
Parkinson's, AIDS, Strokes, Lou Gehrig's
and Alzheimer's. I have offered outreach to the home-bound elderly;
additionally, those elders living in nursing homes, assisted living, group homes
and specialized Alzheimer units, where individual encounter challenges with
social resignation, loneliness, disconnection and profound multi-dimensional
loss. Probably my most delicate and cherished ministry with the harp has been
assisting individuals with their journey of dying. Through the utilization of
the soft and resonate vibration of the harp, I have witnessed numerous miracles
of transformation, healing and transition.
The day I brought my harp into the nursing home to play for a
woman who was in rehabilitative recovery with a
stroke, it opened me in a powerful way. I remember the frustration with her
inability to create the words she wanted
to communicate to her family and staff. Being thousands of miles away from home
when the accident occurred, she
not only felt displaced; but resignation began to challenge her rehabilitative
progress as the days turned into weeks, and weeks into months with little change
in her condition. I offered a harp session to her and her family, being aware of
the gentle relaxation it could bring. At her bedside, I sat closely and played
for over an hour. During the session, I noticed her body relaxing and her face
breaking into a small smile, a rare moment to remember in the
months of her struggle. A week later her family shared with me that she was able
to communicate a dream she had.
During this dream, she saw that "it wasn't her time to die" and actually saw
herself well enough to travel back home. Her daughter was tearful and joyful
when she shared the story with me. For her, a miracle breakthrough was to see a
small seed of hope planted in her mother's heart.
I worked with an 86-year old woman in rehabilitative services at a nursing home
related to a recent post-operative
heart surgery. During her time in rehab, she suffered one difficulty after
another from pneumonia to post-operative
complications. From her report, I could see she had a history of depression that
seemed to be exacerbated by her
recent pattern of plummeting health. I would visit her and her husband of 63
years, both tearful when talking about
their years together and fearful that she would never come home again. I offered
one-on-one harp session for both,
recognizing the magic and transforming vibration this instrument can bring.
Prior to the session, the physical and
occupational therapist shared that the client's depression was complicating her
progress for rehabilitation. Days after the session, this woman transformed her
outlook 180 degrees and was inquiring with the social worker on staff about
discharge planning. She demonstrated a renewed hope to return home. In following
up with this client, while months went by to intervene with her health
challenges, she did successfully return home.
A woman of 72 with advanced Parkinson's suffered with intermittent
out-of-control tremors. We had worked together
on several occasions with the harp, which brought a greater sense of calm and
relaxation. As her disease progressed, I began working with the crystal bowl at
her bedside accompanied by toning and prayer. During our first session, her
tremors reduced so significantly that her arms and hands were almost completing
still. Not only had her tremors shifted, I was aware of a greater sense of peace
and calm in her heart and body.
A woman in her early 60's came into the nursing home in a coma and in the end
stages of life. The husband was at her bedside hour after hour, watching her
face wrinkle in pain and discomfort and feeling such helplessness to comfort
her. After offering the gentle vibrations of the harp at bedside for nearly an
hour, the husband thanked me with tears in his eyes. He shared that during the
session, he observed her "starting to relax...and her face got softer". She died
only hours later.
As a Hospice Volunteer, I have sat at bedside for numerous dying
vigils with individuals that are approaching
the end of their lives. What I have witnessed, is a kind of "unraveling of
threads" from the heavens, almost as if, with the plucking of harp strings,
their precious spirit begins to let go as they allow their hearts and bodies to
surrender into a peaceful and loving dance of release. The vibration of the harp
transforms an environment, where
the flow of divine Love and sacred allowing is evoked. You can feel the
lightness when you walk into the room. In a
sense, playing the harp is akin to bringing in the soft, light harmony of a
rippling stream, a gentle sound that washes over the edges of discomfort, fear
and anguish. The miracles are incredible for practitioner and family during this
sacred transition, as the soft whispers of the harp help to guide and nurture
each journeyer along a path of deep and abiding grace.
One of my greatest surprises was while playing for a group on the Alzheimer Unit
at a nursing facility. I expected
a short-lived attention span and people nervously wandering about if I went too
long. During this session, I
integrated stories along with short harp pieces and played for nearly one hour.
This Alzheimer's group all sat
contently on chairs and couches peacefully mesmerized by the sound, the stories
and the energy of love and
honoring. That day my heart was so full with the gifts of magic and miracles
that this sacred instrument can invoke.
During a busy post-evening meal in a skilled nursing facility, I offered healing
harp at bedside for a resident in long
term care. I had the gift and blessings of offering private harp sessions for
this beautiful soul in many transitional care settings. I would witness his
whole countenance 'light up', while the songs lulled him into a place of pure
joy and gentle peace. Following a harp session, the Team Nurse Leader visited me
outside the room. She shared "during the whole time you were playing, Eloiwa, it
was so quiet on the floor. Not one call light went off while the harp was
singing".
Heart Sounds
Is a ministry of gentle offerings of therapeutic Music and Sound
that nurture and activate an environment of peace, relaxation and peace. The
voice of the harp can soothe,
comfort, renew, uplift and inspire. The gentle vibrations reach into the heart
and soul, awakening hope, healing
and transformation. Eloiwa provides a supportive and compassionate presence for
individuals, groups and
families in one-on-one and group sessions, while bringing forth the loving voice
of the Celtic harp in diverse
settings and environments. Eloiwa specializes in outreach to the elderly, and at
bedside for the ill and dying.
Music and sound is a Universal language that
moves beyond words. It is an expression that involves our whole, unique Being.
With sound, we are often carried to a place beyond our pain, fear, discomfort or
illness. In this place, as some have so eloquently described, "through music we
realize that there is only One harmony, and it is the essence of who we are".
-Eloiwa
Copyright
© 2006 Heart-Sounds. All rights reserved. Contact
Webmaster.
|
