There are different types of yoga (hatha, asthanga, raja, bakti, tantra, etc.) but they all pursue the same objective. Starting from educating and disciplining the body through asanas and correct breathing, with as an end point, not only physical well-being but also the development of spiritual aspects; improve the individual’s energy and access to their own interior, providing peace, balance and harmony to the body, mind and spirit.
There is also the yoga of sound: Nada yoga. Nada means vibration, sound in Sanskrit. This term is designated to the purest sound, the manifestation of the subtle inner sound, achieving balance through the internal sound of one’s own being.
Sound and voice
What does person mean? Person (per-sonan) means through sound.
The sound of our voice can reveal our emotional states and personality traits.
In the first stage of baby, the human being modulates the voice and singing as an instinctive need. It is the initial dynamic to then express itself through language.
«Language is not a simple activity, but a complicated set of functional associations subject to stimuli received by the brain through the nervous system through: the organs of hearing, breathing and swallowing, all aimed at a specific goal: symbolic communication of sensible reality» .
Language is much more than hearing (capturing vibrations with the ear) and motor skills (movement of the tongue, mouth, larynx, etc.) simply associated. It is a synthesis of visual, auditory, tactile and proprioceptive experiences; “a kind of duplication of the external and internal world that is perceived through different sensibilities, to which we have given a symbolic representation in the form of sounds or group of vocal sounds” .
The baby, through his experiences of screaming, listening to himself, admiring himself and controlling himself, develops audio-vocal conditioning. This process continues throughout the life of the individual through the formation of an audio-controlled emission circuit, both of the intensity and frequency as well as the timbral quality of phonation.
Working on the voice produces changes in our being since we must pay attention to breathing; This makes us aware of our body and develops greater self-confidence on a psychological level, improving self-esteem.
Starting with our own listening, we can listen to others, being able to perceive, in the voice we hear, sensations and feelings not expressed verbally. Thus having to learn the art of listening.
The voice is the first and most natural of the instruments. Our energy vibrates producing sound and is not only present within us but there is energy throughout nature, in the world we know and in much broader structures.
Science has proven that all matter is made up of atoms whose contents are particles or waves in continuous vibration and that this vibration produces sounds. Each object, according to its physical structure or its specific characteristics, has sound. Based on this, both the planet and the entire cosmos generate a sound, it is “the music of the spheres” that Pythagoras described referring to the movement of the stars.
But the concept of sound is linked, in the case of human beings, to the sense of hearing capable of perceiving it. According to Dr. Alfred Tomatis all cranial nerves lead to the ear; It is also thought that the ear is neurologically related to the optic nerves and in turn to the vagus nerve. This nerve affects the larynx, bronchi, heart and gastrointestinal tract; Consequently, the voice, breathing, heart rate and our digestion are affected by what we hear.
The ear is an organ that controls singing and speech, as well as balance and listening. When we listen, the whole body is involved in some way, the entire nervous system is put at the service of hearing: man becomes a great receiving antenna when he decides to listen.
The sound emitted mobilizes internal sensations, the ear stimulates the brain and it generates psychochemical processes that translate into a nervous impulse; We could say that language and music provide the brain with sufficient recharge so that it is in continuous creative activity.
Music
There are several theories about the origin of music.
In “Cratilus” Plato gives the basis for later theories arguing that music is a natural correspondence between meaning and sound; the result of a spontaneous emotional outburst, a form of self-expression and communication.
For Darwin, on the other hand, music was born to increase sexual attraction. In fact, many animals dance and make different sounds than usual while courting their partners.
A third theory considers that music originates in the rhythm of our own organism; Perhaps that is why many aboriginal tribes use healing and supernatural songs to restore the health of their patients, placing more emphasis on music than on medicines.
These and other theories express something similar: whether they are emotions, feelings or physical needs such as sex or health, music is the deep expression of our being, the need for communication with ourselves and with others.
Music is a special type of sound. It is a structure whose vibratory systems include rhythms, divisions, proportions and harmonies that exist in the natural world as well as in the world constructed by man.
There is a subtle music in everything around us, in the rain, a running stream, in the wind, in the laughter or cry of a child.
Music accompanies us and we need it as a manifestation of our own interior, since the body is a small orchestra in itself; Music has the ability to combat or nourish some of our emotions, it relaxes nervous tensions, it has the power to calm states of pain and discouragement.
Music is interesting because it is music, it expresses something beyond the ego, beyond the personality; The composer creates with his music a balm for his inner wound that not only serves him but also everyone who listens to it, one could say that it transforms suffering into a healing phenomenon for him and others.
The theoretical foundations of Nada yoga (sound yoga) are found in some sacred books such as the Sama Veda (written approximately between 800 and 500 BC, previously transmitted orally), whose chants (in ancient Sanskrit) were used to elevate the spirit. . It was held, already at that time, that sound, by itself, could create different states of consciousness.
The yogic and Hindu tradition places special emphasis on the journey and the appropriate use of sound, since it removes negative energy blockages, transforming them into positive ones in both the physical and mental bodies and facilitates healing, creativity and learning about oneself. same.
Music and sound have been used as therapeutic techniques to help the progressive development of the mind, the distribution of energy to promote the health and alignment of the physical and subtle body. Harmonic sounds act on bone and muscle structures and activate blood circulation, delaying the aging of cells due to the continuous flow of oxygen.
For Hindu philosophy, sound is equated with universal consciousness, with the process of creation. Anyone who wants to approach Hindu music will be faced with philosophical reflections on matter (sound), space (arrangement of musical notes) and time. (rhythmic structure).
The treatise of Sanghitranakada (Ocean of Pearls of Music) of 1204 AD. by Samgadeva is a compendium of praises for sound.
The yogi repeats the OM (universal or creative sound) and mantras; Mantra means “thought that liberates and protects”, they are sounds or words that when recited or sung have the ability to change the consciousness of the person who emits them.
There are thousands of mantras in the Hindu tradition, some uniting the reciter with some deity or form of energy. Others grant the issuer specific “Shiddhas” or powers. Mantras are used to activate and energize the chakras.
The 5th chakra (Vishudi chakra), which is located at the level of the neck in the C6 and C7 cervical vertebrae behind the throat, is called the throat center; From there language and listening are created and controlled, it is the bridge that unites our way of thinking and our feelings. It is the point of union of the lower chakras with the higher ones, it is through it that we express our experiences, feelings and ideas and the understanding and perception of our inner world, instincts and desires, transmitting the content of the other chakras to the outside. through sound and voice.
Since man was able to make sounds and create language, he has revealed his need to communicate and express himself.
Exploring within ourselves through feeling and listening to the needs of our physical and subtle body makes it easier for us to find ourselves. Through the voice and using yoga as an integrative discipline of being, we can reconnect with our own music or sound, managing to harmonize and tune in with the world around us. This reunion provides us with a state of harmony and well-being, tranquility and security.
This state of good fortune provides us with the means to communicate through music and singing; Singing or playing an instrument returns us to a state of greater well-being, achieving in turn a deeper desire to continue singing or playing music, to transmit and infect those who listen to us with this feeling of peace and harmony.
Yoga, music, sound and voice complement and unite to become an extremely complete tool in the exploration of our interior.
“Sweet sound ensnares the deer, sweet music enchants the cobra, sweet Nada attracts the mind” from Nada Yoga by Sri Swami Sivananda.
Rosa Puerto
