The entire cosmos is sound. When you are not feeling well, your cells do not vibrate at their optimal frequency. Sound healing has the ability to retune your body instrument. As an improvisational singer and musician, my practice is to be present, listen, trust, express, and let go. Through breath, I give voice to energy, emotions, and stories that want to release and transform. As we surrender to each breath, we can surprise ourselves with sound and play our unique songs.
Free Your Voice Meditation
1: Release the noise
Take a comfortable breath, and on your exhale, let out noise, stress, tension, and emotions with audible sounds. Take another breath and exhale more noise. Do this for a total of seven breaths. There is no right or wrong way of doing this exercise. You are giving your body permission to release noise. Sounds can range from sighs, yells, cries, gibberish, yawns, laughs, groans, and more.
2: Nourish and feel pleasure
Take seven conscious breaths, and on your exhales, make sounds that give you pleasure. The sounds do not need to be “happy.” If you are experiencing grief or rage, it can be very satisfying to wail or growl or scream. Stay in the present moment with each breath and release pleasurable sounds that will help ground, center, and nourish you.
3: Express your music
Take seven more conscious breaths, and this time on the exhales, let out the music that lives inside you. This could be a long tone or intricate melodies and rhythms depending on your mood. This practice allows you to listen deeply to your body and play the music living inside you. With these exhales, you sing your improvisational heart/soul song.
4: Enjoy the silence
Feel the effects of these vibrations in your body. You have been giving voice to your ever-changing inner landscape. Thank yourself for the gift of your presence, curiosity, and expression.
Watch and hear Phoenix Song demonstrate this sound practice.
About the Contributor
Phoenix Song is a queer, non-binary, Korean American adoptee performer, teacher, and sound healer featured in San Francisco Magazine’s Best of the Bay for yoga music. They studied Western and Indian classical music and are a Tamalpa Associate Teacher of expressive arts. Phoenix helps people free their voice and rhythm in private and group classes to sing, sound, and speak their truths. They also lead sound baths, grief rituals, ancestral healing, and diversity/solidarity trainings.
Image Credit
Illustration by Mo Riza
