The use of sound for healing purposes has been around since the beginning of time. It dates back to the writings of the oldest surviving scriptures. In prehistoric times, the shaman would chant while playing the drums in order to heal people. In later times, ancient mystery schools in Greece, India and Egypt believed that the use of sound for healing was a highly developed and sacred science.
Sound healing disappeared in western cultures for many years until the 1930s when the ultrasound was discovered by acoustic researchers. The medical properties found in ultrasound prompted a whole new science in search of the ancient art of sound healing. Ultrasound has been used to break up kidney stones and shrink tumors. Recently, scientists have found great healing properties in infrasound and audible sound as well.
Kim Balzan is a holistic practitioner who focuses on vibrational sound, specifically using alchemy crystal bowls and gongs. She also offers private sound trainings and private sound mentoring. In her sound healing sessions, Balzan uses the vibration to work on the whole person and balance their mind, body, spirit and emotions.
“The kind of sound I do is sound that is working on the body on a cellular level,” she said. “The vibration of the sound is going through the bones, the bone marrow. It’s working on the nervous system. It’s working on the brain.”
Balzan has worked with all kinds of patients. She works with specific doctors, cancer centers and even animals. She spends a lot of time helping to reduce anxiety in her patients. “When somebody comes in to see me, the first thing they say to me is ‘I just want to relax.’” She knows that life can be a lot for people and aims to lift a burden as well as balance the person.
Balzan invited me to try a session myself because she was unsure if she could explain the experience, and she was right.
I arrived at the studio rather unsure of what I was walking into, but I quickly realized there was absolutely no reason to be scared. Her studio looked like a yoga room you could imagine seeing in a palace in Asia. It was beautiful. There were tapestries and beads strung all around. There were Buddha and angel statues and vintage-looking mirrors. I felt more at peace with myself just walking into the room.
She started the session by allowing me to choose from a set of essential oils. She sprinkled a few drops of the peppermint oil I chose in my hands after I was laying on my back on the table. After bringing my hands to my face and taking in a deep breath of pure peppermint, my eyes drifted shut and Balzan led me through a series of tensing and relaxing individual sets of muscles on my body while she began placing healing crystals all around me.
Then the sound began. She started by just playing the alchemy crystal bowls around me. She created a constant base sound with two of the bowls and then moved to add other sounds into the atmosphere around me. After a period of time, Balzan brought a bowl to the table placing it on my ankles. She began creating the sound and I could feel it pulse through my whole body. She slowly inched the bowl father up my body ending at my chest and then moved all the way back down to my ankles. The rush of the vibrations were so soothing and intense at the same time — it was like sitting at the edge of the ocean and just letting the waves wash over you with great intensity.
I was beyond relaxed throughout the entire session. My mind felt aware of the world I was in, but my whole body was sunk. I couldn’t imagine ever moving my limbs again. After playing the bowl on my body, Balzan put a little more sound around me in the atmosphere and led me through slowly waking up all of the muscles in my body. After the session was done, Balzan explained to me that sometimes the sessions go longer depending on how the body reacts to the sound. She said I seemed extremely sensitive to the sound which is why my session was a little shorter than some. “More sound isn’t always better,” Balzan said.
It was an incredible experience, and I would recommend everyone try it at least once. It is a new concept that may be hard to believe in, but coming from someone who started out a little unsure, I can say that I felt the most relaxed leaving that studio than I have in months.
