By Kyle Roderick
While singing, chanting, drums, and other instruments have been used for a millennia to effect vibrational healing, a 21st century renaissance of vibrational therapy is breathing new energy into this ancient form of medicine. Various dynamic vibrational modalities are transforming spa culture, professional athletics, health clubs, and everyday life by moving our subtle physical and emotional energies in relaxing, healthy patterns to achieve a more balanced state.
Part of the reason why so many different groups are tapping the healing benefits of vibes is because scientific research suggests that although we are material beings, the water, cells, muscles, bones, and organs in our bodies are also forms of vibrating energy that can be positively or negatively conditioned by external vibrations. If you think that this sounds too far-fetched to believe, consider that vibrational therapy has long been used by NASA to increase bone density in astronauts who develop osteoporosis in gravity-free outer space.
“Sounds and their resultant waves, along with vibratory movements that positively affect the body and mind, comprise a major form of vibrational energy as well as various vibrational therapies” says Erich Worster, owner of the Healing Arts Spa on Green Street in Gainesville, Georgia. For example, guests who experience the Healing Arts Spa on Green Street’s BioEnergetic Facial are propped up on a foam pillow containing sound transducers that change the audio impulses into physical vibrations, which gently resonate within the body from the neck all the way down to the lower back.
“Because sound travels through your body at a different rate of speed than through the air, your brain hears the sound twice” Worster explains. This increased brain activity has been the subject of several intriguing studies related to brain function and possible benefits to people with problems such as anxiety, depression, and autism.
“Vibrational therapies may remedy various mind/body conditions because organs, bones, and other parts of our bodies vibrate at specific frequencies” says Suzannah Long of SoSound Solutions, which designs and manufactures the Wedge as well as several other pieces of vibrational therapy furniture (www.sosoundsolutions.com). Amy McDonald, spa director at El Monte Sagrado Living Resort and Spa in Taos, New Mexico, agrees. “It’s a medical fact that certain vibrations can cause the brain and heart to entrain or synchronize. This synchronization helps relax mind and body, stimulates immunity, and helps promote other positive functions.” McDonald is so convinced of the healing powers of vibrations that she put a two-hour,
in-room Sound and Vibrational Therapy treatment on El Monte Sagrado’s spa menu.
While spas such as the Omni Interlocken in Broomfield, Colorado, offer guests the vibrational SoSound Lounge Chair to relax the mind/body, improve flexibility, and bone density while healing injuries and increasing range of motion, sports physicians for the Oakland Raiders, Mighty Ducks, and Miami Dolphins condition athletes with the Power Plate, an exercise platform that causes muscles to gently vibrate in such a way that they expand and contract about 30 to 50 times a second. Because active people with a host of minor injuries form a large part of their clientele, Miraval Life in Balance in Catalina, Arizona, installed Power Plates in its fitness center in May 2005.
Recent research indicates that the Power Plate can exert profound conditioning improvement in women. In January 2004, the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise journal reported on a 12-week study of 67 women who performed knee-extensor exercises while on the Power Plate. The results showed their increases in isometric and dynamic strength and jump height were similar to those of women who did regular resistance training using weight machines.
The Personal Power Plate (for home use) is available for $2,000 through www.powerplateusa.com; it’s the size of an upright medical scale. According to John Wilson, vice-president of sales and marketing of Power Plate North America, “The Personal Power Plate can be used to perform exercises sitting or lying down, the straps can be attached to the vibrating platform in several places and adjusted to various lengths to offer additional training possibilities for the core and upper body.” Each Power Plate is delivered with a poster detailing a regimen of basic exercises, so it is easy to learn how to use this equipment for maximum health benefits.
Acutonics Sound Healing, an integral part of the vibrational therapy practiced at El Monte Sagrado as well as massage treatments at Hot House Spa in Seattle, Washington, is a trademarked, “integrated system of healing and education that incorporates ancient Taoist teachings of the meridians, pre-meridians, and the immortal body with sound,” says Ellen Franklin, Ph.D., CEO of the Kairos Institute of Sound Healing in Llano, New Mexico. In Acutonics (which was developed in the 1990s at the Kairos Institute by acupuncturist Donna Carey), precision calibrated tuning forks are applied to specific acupuncture and acupressure points to impart vibratory energy throughout the body’s meridian and chakra systems. Carey spent years researching and developing techniques for manufacturing tuning forks that could meet her standards for sustaining resonance.
According to Franklin, “These tuning forks represent a natural harmonic series based on the orbital properties of the earth, sun, moon, and other planets. They are used on specific points with high transformational impact on the physical, emotional, and spiritual body.” The frequencies that Acutonics employs are based on the work of the scientist Johannes Kepler, who in 1627 discovered the elliptical paths of the planets, calculated the velocity of all known planets, and presented scientific evidence of the relationship between musical ratios and planetary motion, known as the ‘music of the spheres’
The Acutonics healing system embodies simple techniques that people can learn to do at home to dramatically improve their quality of life. Turning fork sets are available at www.acutonics.com. Such sets as the Mars/Venus are sold with a pamphlet that demonstrates how to self-administer treatments. At-home remedies are “excellent for helping people to relax and ease the stress of daily life” Franklin explains.
Whatever form of vibrational therapy you experience, realize that it holds the potential to balance mind/body health. Suzannah Long of SoSound Solutions observes that you may not feel results immediately. “It may take some people a few sessions for their bodies and minds to understand and relax” she says. Once your body and mind start vibrating with sympathetic resonances and divine harmonies, “you’ll marvel at your ability to feel so in tune with yourself, with nature, and the whole universe”
Dig Those Spa Vibes
Here’s essential information on vibrational therapies offered at spas around the U.S.
Acutonics
Canyon Ranch, Lenox, Massachusetts. During this treatment, precision-calibrated tuning forks are played and applied to specific acupuncture and acupressure points. Sound vibrations travel deep inside the body, affecting subtle and physical energies for the better. Contact (800) 742-9000, www.canyonranch.com
Acutonics massage
Hot House Spa, Seattle, Washington. This women’s only spa offers massages that incorporate Acutonics, but you must specifically request one when making your reservation. Contact (206) 568-3240, www.hothousespa.com
BioEnergetic Facial
The Healing Arts Spa on Green Street, Gainesville, Georgia. Anakiri BioEnergetic skincare products, specifically designed to carry and conduct bioenergetic frequencies, are combined with vibrational and light therapies to promote deep relaxation, detoxification, cell renewal, and collagen reproduction. Contact (678) 450-1570, www.spaongreenstreet.com
Power Plate
Miraval Life in Balance, Catalina, Arizona. Vibrate to your heart’s content on the Bodymindfulness Center’s Power Plate. For maximum results, book a personal training session in advance with Nordine Zouareg, who is particularly skilled at helping people recondition after injury, pregnancy, surgery, and other extreme events. Contact (800) 232-3969, www.miravalresort.com
Aculift Facial
Exhale Spa, Chicago, Illinois. Exhale’s AcuLift Facial incorporates traditional acupuncture, the spa’s signature facial, and custom-calibrated tuning forks to help improve muscle tone, diminish fine lines, wrinkles, puffy eyes, and dark circles. Contact (312) 753-6500, www.exhalespa.com
Sound and Vibrational Therapy with Alex Rentz
El Monte Sagrado, Taos, New Mexico. During this two-hour, in-room session, the recipient wears loose clothing while experiencing a fusion of Acutonics, massage, polarity and cranial sacral therapy to balance and heal the body with sound vibration. Contact (800) 828-TAOS, www.elmontesagrado.com
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