Snails, Singing, and YOU!
Have you ever tried singing to a Periwinkle snail to draw it out of its shell? If you’re not from New England, it’s likely that you haven’t. At least I had never heard of such a thing growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles. If you haven’t, you might want to give it a try! The first time I experienced this was a few weeks ago on a beautiful beach in Maine… and it blew my mind! It also got me thinking about the power of song, sound and vibrations and their effects on us as living beings.
Although the science is still out regarding whether the Periwinkle emerges because of the singing itself, or if it would emerge on its own anyway after being plucked from a rock to start looking for another safe place to stick itself. This tiny mollusk presents an engaging opportunity to connect with nature! AND, it serves as a great metaphor to begin a conversation around the healing effects of sound and voice!
Why is sound so powerful? Potentially powerful enough to coax a tiny, scared mollusk from its safe enclosure?
Sound is a vibration, and so are we, and so is everything in our world. Have you ever listened to a song and burst into tears for no apparent reason? Or have a distant memory come rushing back to you as if it happened yesterday? When this happens, you are experiencing something called sympathetic resonance. Within the song there was a note or chord that resonated with the vibrations in your body, emotions or mind. All of the notes within the song do not have to resonate, just a few can provoke this moving experience.
As I mentioned, we are made up of vibrations, and ‘like vibrations’ resonate with each other because of a phenomenon called sympathetic resonance. When we come into contact with a vibration that we carry in our bodies, it is ‘activated’ or ‘sounds’ in resonance with the vibrational element in our environment (such as the song that made you cry for no reason).
Sympathetic resonance, or vibration, is a harmonic phenomenon where a formerly passive string or vibratory body (such as a human) responds to external vibrations to which it has a harmonic likeness (or similar vibrational quality).
What does this mean? A great way to demonstrate sympathetic resonance is to do an experiment in a room full of string instruments… guitars, violins, cellos… anything! All you have to do is pluck one string on one instrument and all the strings of that same note (as well as the harmonics and subharmonics of that note) in the room will vibrate along with it - in sympathetic resonance. If you pluck a C string, all the other C strings will sound without you even touching them! That’s what you experience when a song makes you cry. The song is the guitar string being plucked, and your body is one of the other guitars in the room whose C string starts sounding without ever being physically touched.
As I mentioned earlier, we are all big human containers of vibration! Each memory holds a vibration, each emotion is a vibration, and the cells that make up your body also hold distinct vibrations. In our external world we are constantly coming into contact with vibrations – sounds, electromagnetic waves from technology, and even the vibration of the earth, known as the Schumann Resonance.
Knowing that vibrations have such a profound effect on us, physically, emotionally, and mentally, it is important to be conscious of the types of vibrations we are exposing ourselves to on a regular basis. There are vibrations that can strengthen the healthy functioning of your body, emotions and mind, just as there are vibrations that can disrupt the healthy functioning of your organs, cells, thoughts, and emotions.
Here are some great ways to connect with healing and harmonizing vibrations in your everyday life:
· One of the greatest healing tools we have is the human voice. It is said that all of the frequencies you need to heal yourself are encompassed in your own voice. That’s right, you can heal yourself with your own voice! Sing! Humm! Speak kind and loving words to yourself and others, and watch the healing resonance begin!
· Connect with the earth.The Schumann resonance is the natural electromagnetic frequency emitted by Mother Earth herself. It lies between 7.3 and 7.4 Hz. This healing frequency has been shown to help regulate the body’s electromagnetic signals – which run your whole body. So, take off your shoes and put your feet in the dirt, hug a tree with your bare hands (and as much of you as you want to be bare… watch out for insects!), touch the ocean, plant some flowers, roll in the grass - whatever rings your bell!
· Listen to the frequency of love – 528 Hz. This particular frequency is known as the divine frequency, or the frequency of love, because it has a positive and healing effect on the cells of the heart. You can just do an internet search for ambient music or sounds that include the 528 Hz frequency. There’s a ton of it out there!
The more we expose ourselves to healing and harmonizing vibrations, the more we entrain our systems to these new vibrations. The more we entrain our personal vibrations to the healing and harmonious vibrations in our environment, the more we can become beacons of those vibrations and effect the world around us in positive, harmonious ways!