Fundamentals of vibration, energy, frequency, and sound
Sep 23, 2024Introduction:
As a sound healer, we should have a solid understanding of the science of how sound operates within the physical world so we can heal our clients more efficiently. Physics of sound includes an understanding of how molecules interact with each other when a vibrating source is introduced into those molecules. The human body is comprised of many systems and many layers of substances down to a molecular level and even further into the subatomic and energetic realm. Before we dig deeper into how energy and vibrations interact within our atoms, we need to understand what happens to the body when a Tibetan singing bowl is place on or near tissues and cells.
Basics of Vibration:
When it comes to vibration and the physics of motion, most people credit Sir Isaac Newton with giving us the Laws of Motion and setting our scientific and medical communities on a path of viewing the body as a series of mechanical and predictable systems. He was fortunate to live and thrive during a scientific revolution built on two schools of thought from Descartes and Aristotle who either lead all scientists to believe the building blocks of the universe consisted of atoms at a basic level or there was something greater inside the atoms known as energy or quantum materials.
It was Newton’s laws dealing with motion of atoms and molecules that built the foundation of how vibrations travel outwards from a source. We can see his work in a popular device known as a Newton’s Cradle where a series of suspended metal balls interact by transferring energy between each other in what we know as physics of vibration.
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If we consider the atoms of our cells as metals balls in the cradle, we can also apply the physics of vibration to clusters or groups of atoms called molecules. Each individual molecule in our body interacts with each other and transfers a vibration to the next molecule to cause a chain reaction which we know as energy flow. We will discuss energy flow in the next section, but it is important to note at this point how vibrations can be transferred from one atom or molecule to another.
Vibration transfer happens at all levels: Our example of the Newton’s Cradle only inserted our focus into a representation of atoms and how they can transfer a vibration between each other. However, the physics of vibration and the Laws of Motion can apply at all levels above or below the atom. For example, we can apply the same concept to the substances within an atom like electrons, protons, and neutrons. Even further into the atom are quantum particles following a completely different set of laws and still abide by a transfer of vibrations to each other in what Einstein refers to as “spooky action at a distance”.
Above the atom lives the molecules which makes up a “medium” like air, water, metal, wood, and rubber all with the ability to transfer vibrations between molecules at varying degrees of efficiency. We can continue outwards from molecules into our cells, tissues, entire body systems, and our body itself vibrating at a specific frequency.
Regardless of where we insert our focus on vibration, the physics of vibration and the Laws of Motion still apply at a biological level and vibrations are transferred across different substances in the form of an energy wave. Therefore, we should consider Newton’s laws and the corresponding laws of physics as a valid start to understanding how singing bowls heal our body considering they are interacting with physical and solid substances which calls for understanding laws governing solid mass.
On the other end of the physics spectrum is Albert Einstein who believed there was no such thing as solid mass. Not only is everything already vibrating from an unknown source, but there is something greater inside of the atomic structure at a quantum level governing everything in the universe. This Einsteinian school of thought says that everything is energy, nothing is solid, everything is connected, and all of it vibrates.
For centuries we have been caught in this struggle between two schools of thought with Newton in one corner and Einstein in the other. In modern times, it seems that the medical community had relied heavily on the foundations built upon Newtonian thinking while the alternative healing community understood the concepts, theories, and laws developed or adopted by Einstein.
As sound healers, we are also energy healers which means we must bridge the gap between both schools of thought. They were both right and most likely they were both wrong with their understanding of how the body works and how it heals. Where singing bowls will abide by Newton’s Laws of Motion, we also know there is an interaction at a subatomic level where quantum scientists have proven in labs multiple times since the mid to late 1800s. Energy practitioners use modalities like Reiki on a daily basis to prove our bodies can heal at a subatomic level just as well as our singing bowls can provide relief at an atomic, molecular, and cellular level. We are still waiting for the scientific and medical community to cooperate and bridge the gap between both schools of thought and realize there is only one law of the universe.
In its most basic form, vibration means that something is moving back and forth and interacting with other “somethings” in the universe. Now we can build upon this concept to learn about how it applies to energy, frequency, and sound.
Basics of Energy: Energy has so many meanings when applied to physics, but we only need to be concerned with how it applies to sound healing. We learned in the previous section how some laws of physics govern how atoms, molecules, and cells interact. We also learned of another set of quantum laws governing how things inside of atoms interact with each other. Basically, the atom seems to be the dividing line between these two sets of laws. Atoms and above (molecules, cells, systems, etc) are Newton-based, and subatomic materials are quantum or Einstein-based concepts. Regardless of whether you are thinking atomic or subatomic, all vibrating substances are known as Energy.
The concepts of “Everything is Energy” and “Everything Vibrates” are at the foundation of our understanding of how the body heals. Both of these concepts combine into one incredible statement to define Energy. Everything vibrates for a purpose, and the way everything in the universe carries out its purpose is through Energy. In other words, Energy consists of a vibration carrying out a specific purpose. Poetry in motion.
Energy as Information: The overall purpose of Energy is to carry information very much like a radio wave also carries the music and voices of a particular radio station. The radio station is identified by the “carrier frequency” like 106.1, which is a designator of the frequency carrying the information of the station.
We can see in image how one “carrier” frequency can carry another frequency “modulating” into a combined set of packaged frequencies for the purpose of transmitting information (music and voice) out into the atmosphere. A radio receiver will receive the packaged information and convert it back into a usable format so we can hear the DJ and rock to our favorite tunes.
Just as a radio frequency can carry information, our cells and tissues can also carry information in the form of vibrations. A singing bowl vibrating at a specific frequency is sending information into the cells and surrounding tissue at the same frequency. Our scientific community has confirmed that if we measure the vibrations of our cells at the location of the singing bowl either next to or directly on the tissue and we will also experience the same measurement at any other point where the vibrations travel. In other words, our cells are very efficient at transferring vibrations between each other with no loss of information. Although vibrations can be hindered by certain substances and may not transmit at long distances, we can be certain the information will not change as the vibrations move between substance.
Transfer of vibrations between mediums: When a vibration transfers between two differing mediums like air and water, the frequency of the vibrations will experience a shift in phase. Although an understanding of frequency phases is not necessarily important to understand this concept, it is important to know that vibrations are drastically altered between differing mediums. The frequency stays the same, but the efficiency and effectiveness of your healing tool depends on the number of layers the vibrations travel across.
We can see an example of this phenomenon in frequency and vibration travel if we hold our hand just below the surface of water. Notice how our eyes pick up a perceptible change between our arm above the water and the hand below the water’s surface. Our hand appears to bend underneath the water because the light rays (frequencies) striking the water change in the way it travels.
This lesson focuses on the fundamental concepts of vibration, frequency, energy, and sound as it applies to sound healing. Whether you are using a singing bowl, tuning fork, gong, bell, or chimes, the physics of sound and the fundamental of how these concepts operate within the physical world of matter, the understanding is still the same. Molecules of matter vibrate at a specific rate to create a frequency and travel outward from the source in the form of a wave to be received and processed by a receiver capable of sensing and using sound vibrations as a form of communication.