Physics Week 6: Vibrations
"Happy are those familiar with the tones of our planet. Happy are those who let these tones resound within, attuning themselves to the basic motion and rhythm of our earth." - Hans Cousto
The iconic "positive vibrations" message of Bob Marley never truly resonated with me on a conscious level until I started to conceptualize the underlying science: environmental information entering our bodies through a series of waves and frequency patterns. Our interpretation of incoming information depends on the ability of our eyes and ears to differentiate between the frequencies of sound and color. We distinguish red from blue and high pitch vs low pitch sounds based on the varying wavelengths they produce. Blue waves are longer than red waves and are thus interpreted by our brains differently. Sounds vibrate the mediums they innervate. They cause walls to shake, Jello to wiggle and water to ripple. Sound waves travels through our ears and cause membranes, tiny bones and fluids to move. These vibrations trigger neural impulses signaling our brain to interpret what we hear. Our human brain only interpret sounds that range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz and our eyes only "see" tiny sliver of the electromagnetic spectrum. Still there there many vibrations beyond the scope of our consciousness that have a profound impact on our existence.
Vibrations, Health and Emotions
The idea of operating on a "higher vibration" may not be reserved for tree huggers and burning man attendees. The vibrations of bodies seem to heighten in states of optimal health and happiness. Bruce Tainio created a frequency monitor in 1992 while at Eastern University in Washington and determined that the healthy human body ranged from 62Hz-72Hz, dropping significantly when the immune system is down. Similarly David Hawkins discusses the changes in bodily vibrations in the presence of different emotional states, moving up the scale from shame to unconditional love. Within this range of 12 emotional states and their corresponding vibrational frequencies, we start to see a correlation between health and positivity based on logarithmic calibrations. This is further supported Dr. Masaru Emoto's demonstration of water molecules reacting to music and emotionally loaded phrases, helping our western minds to visualize the impact of factors like like vibration and energy.
Music
Music, can play a role in shaping the way we feel, often on a deep visceral level. This "majestic" feeling is caused by a combination of sound waves that powerfully impact our cognition, energy level and general wellbeing. Whether a particular song resonates with a current mood and further amplifies an internal frequency or an alternative frequency assists in a mood transformation depends on the relationship between body and sound. H.W. Dove, was the first to introduce Binaural Beats, lower frequency sound waves that span longer than the length of the human skull. These long waves, all below 1000Hz, must curve around the skull once they enter, allowing both ears to experience the same wave. Because the ears are hearing different parts of the wave, these lower-frequency waves are said to raise consciousness and provide bilateral stimulation.
Baroque music, at its characteristic 60 beats/minute rhythm has been shown to have a powerful impact on learning, focus and creativity. Chris Brewster discusses this particular genre and its ability to stimulate alpha brain waves, characteristic of those present in restful, conscious states. It seems that from this calm place, we are most capable of interpreting and storing incoming information. Studies show that playing Baroque music in classrooms has a profound impact on test scores. Further, the energizing melodies paired with the calming rhythm that mimics that of a resting heart beat, seems to help open creative channels. It is not wonder that Baroque music is recommended for writers and artists.
Energy work
Finding a space to be still, focused and postive has become increasingly more challenging amidst hustle and bustle of modern society. The traditional Chinese medical model seeks harmony between the yin (high frequency) and yang (low frequnecy) energies to optimizes health and prevent disease. Our bodies, as a living electromagnetic fields, are sensitive to the natural and unnatural vibrations of our environment. Further, we see that our emotional states have a powerful impact on the vibrational quality in our bodies. "Qi" represents the bioelectricity and life force that flows through our bodies and all things in the natural world. Blockages in the natural flow of "Qi" results in a combination of buildups and depletions of energetic life force. The experience of Qi circulation is more of a felt experience, which can be difficult to conceptualize in the western mind. However, the body that is balanced and energetically mobile is far more pleasurable to inhabit then one of stagnation and disharmony. Over time, energetic blockages will undoubtedly lead disease and our bodies will speak to us loudly with pain and discomfort. It is the goal of preventative practices like Qi Gong, Acupuncture, Massage, Yoga and Dance to avoid energetic blockages and maintain optimal health and well-being; it is often the individuals who have found freedom from such stagnations that the greatest advocates, practitioners and teachers.
References:
Cousto, Hans. The Cosmic Octive: Origin of Harmony. LifeRhythm Publication, 2000
Hawkins, David M.D Ph.D. Letting go, The Pathway of Surrender. Hay House Inc, 2012
Brewer, Chris. LifeSounds Educational services, 1995
The iconic "positive vibrations" message of Bob Marley never truly resonated with me on a conscious level until I started to conceptualize the underlying science: environmental information entering our bodies through a series of waves and frequency patterns. Our interpretation of incoming information depends on the ability of our eyes and ears to differentiate between the frequencies of sound and color. We distinguish red from blue and high pitch vs low pitch sounds based on the varying wavelengths they produce. Blue waves are longer than red waves and are thus interpreted by our brains differently. Sounds vibrate the mediums they innervate. They cause walls to shake, Jello to wiggle and water to ripple. Sound waves travels through our ears and cause membranes, tiny bones and fluids to move. These vibrations trigger neural impulses signaling our brain to interpret what we hear. Our human brain only interpret sounds that range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz and our eyes only "see" tiny sliver of the electromagnetic spectrum. Still there there many vibrations beyond the scope of our consciousness that have a profound impact on our existence.
Vibrations, Health and Emotions
The idea of operating on a "higher vibration" may not be reserved for tree huggers and burning man attendees. The vibrations of bodies seem to heighten in states of optimal health and happiness. Bruce Tainio created a frequency monitor in 1992 while at Eastern University in Washington and determined that the healthy human body ranged from 62Hz-72Hz, dropping significantly when the immune system is down. Similarly David Hawkins discusses the changes in bodily vibrations in the presence of different emotional states, moving up the scale from shame to unconditional love. Within this range of 12 emotional states and their corresponding vibrational frequencies, we start to see a correlation between health and positivity based on logarithmic calibrations. This is further supported Dr. Masaru Emoto's demonstration of water molecules reacting to music and emotionally loaded phrases, helping our western minds to visualize the impact of factors like like vibration and energy.
Music
Music, can play a role in shaping the way we feel, often on a deep visceral level. This "majestic" feeling is caused by a combination of sound waves that powerfully impact our cognition, energy level and general wellbeing. Whether a particular song resonates with a current mood and further amplifies an internal frequency or an alternative frequency assists in a mood transformation depends on the relationship between body and sound. H.W. Dove, was the first to introduce Binaural Beats, lower frequency sound waves that span longer than the length of the human skull. These long waves, all below 1000Hz, must curve around the skull once they enter, allowing both ears to experience the same wave. Because the ears are hearing different parts of the wave, these lower-frequency waves are said to raise consciousness and provide bilateral stimulation.
Baroque music, at its characteristic 60 beats/minute rhythm has been shown to have a powerful impact on learning, focus and creativity. Chris Brewster discusses this particular genre and its ability to stimulate alpha brain waves, characteristic of those present in restful, conscious states. It seems that from this calm place, we are most capable of interpreting and storing incoming information. Studies show that playing Baroque music in classrooms has a profound impact on test scores. Further, the energizing melodies paired with the calming rhythm that mimics that of a resting heart beat, seems to help open creative channels. It is not wonder that Baroque music is recommended for writers and artists.
Energy work
Finding a space to be still, focused and postive has become increasingly more challenging amidst hustle and bustle of modern society. The traditional Chinese medical model seeks harmony between the yin (high frequency) and yang (low frequnecy) energies to optimizes health and prevent disease. Our bodies, as a living electromagnetic fields, are sensitive to the natural and unnatural vibrations of our environment. Further, we see that our emotional states have a powerful impact on the vibrational quality in our bodies. "Qi" represents the bioelectricity and life force that flows through our bodies and all things in the natural world. Blockages in the natural flow of "Qi" results in a combination of buildups and depletions of energetic life force. The experience of Qi circulation is more of a felt experience, which can be difficult to conceptualize in the western mind. However, the body that is balanced and energetically mobile is far more pleasurable to inhabit then one of stagnation and disharmony. Over time, energetic blockages will undoubtedly lead disease and our bodies will speak to us loudly with pain and discomfort. It is the goal of preventative practices like Qi Gong, Acupuncture, Massage, Yoga and Dance to avoid energetic blockages and maintain optimal health and well-being; it is often the individuals who have found freedom from such stagnations that the greatest advocates, practitioners and teachers.
References:
Cousto, Hans. The Cosmic Octive: Origin of Harmony. LifeRhythm Publication, 2000
Hawkins, David M.D Ph.D. Letting go, The Pathway of Surrender. Hay House Inc, 2012
Brewer, Chris. LifeSounds Educational services, 1995
Thank you for such a thoughtful and informative posting. I am really excited to read further about the frequency of the body in health, and the frequencies of emotional states. I have seen some of the Emoto (what a perfect name) images and they are incredibly insightful. I am so glad to revisit those images and to discover the work of David Hawkins and Bruce Tainio. I recently heard that baroque music brings us to alpha brainwaves! I am looking forward to trying this. Thank you again for making all of these connections. I really enjoyed reading this post.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I've actually had some work done with binaural beats and it was really interesting - definitely sort of knocked me out - like a good acupuncture session. I didn't know that it was because the sound waves span longer than the human skull and curve around it. Very cool! It makes me want to be more intentional about the sounds that I have in my everyday life. I feel like living in a city, it might be good to have these slower vibrations as a sort of balance to the onslaught of frenetic sounds we get elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! I feel like I learned so much - thank you for incorporating Chinese medicine too 😊
ReplyDeleteLast year my friend took this class and was telling me about baroque music and how it gets one's brain into a 'flow' ideal for learning. Since then, I started studying to baroque music sometimes - especially if I feel like there is a lot of information to absorb in a short amount of time 😜. I think it helps.
I'd like to try out binaural beats which I had never heard of before. That's cool how wavelengths span longer than the human skull which makes our ears hear different parts of the wave.