Traveling with kids and settling them with essential oils

Traveling with kids is fun but can be hard.
Some children respond well to routine and when they are in a new environment they become sick, unsettled, they don't sleep, their eating habits get upset and they become needy.
Other kids are more adaptable and enjoy their new surroundings and the challenges that being away from home means. Traveling abroad on flights has its own risks. Landing in another country where hygiene, different health, food preparation and eating standards, cleanliness of toilets and bathrooms differ from home puts our bodies to high alert state.

When we travel, we come into contact with bacteria and viruses against which our children have no genetic immunological defence. Not just that, but we sleep, wash where strangers slept and washed the night before, and when some of the bacteria and viruses people carry with them are so dangerous, why take any chances of picking them up? There are some alarming news that some hotels don't even change and wash the sheets between clients and when they wash it, with special equipment you can see the body fluids still on the sheets, mattresses and beds. With killer diseases on the rampage it is not being paranoid to take steps something longer-lasting than a tan.

Toilet and a killer combination exterminating oils
Even if your toilet facilities look clean that doesn't mean they have been disinfected. It doesn't take a minute to wipe the toilet seat - under as well as on top - with a tissue that has a neat drop of thyme essential oil on it. Even if your toilet is attached to your own room, it may be wise to do this daily. Remember too the toilet flush-knob and doorknob. If you are travelling in particularly suspects parts you might use a few tissues impregnated with thyme, lavender and eucalyptus. These three together provide a very powerful bactericide and few dangerous microorganisms can escape their exterminating effect. Also, it never hurts to wipe around the basin and bath with an essential oil tissues.

Bed bugs and body fluids...
Every bed in the world is teeming with minute life-forms which live off the dead skin cells we are constantly shedding, and mattresses soak up whatever fluids are put on them. This makes them a pretty hazardous area. As a precautionary measure, especially for your children, pull the bedclothes back and wipe the mattress with a tissue on which you have put a few drops of thyme, lavender and lemongrass essential oils.

"Last year I gave a travelling kit of oils to a young man who was planning to travel around the world  on a shoestring  and expected to stay in some pretty rough places. When he got back - after a safe and happy trip - he told me that when he arrived at the seedy dormitory-type hostels he was frequenting in places such as Calcutta, he would splatter a few drops of lavender on the mattress despite the amused looks of some of the hardened travellers around who thought he was just perfuming his sleeping quarters. In the morning, while all the others were scratching themselves madly, he packed his gear up like Joe Cool and went on his way. Throughout his trip he didn't get one single bite from a bed mite - which must be a record many other young adventurers would envy."

Home away from home
Making home away from home is easy with essential oils because you will be taking with you several that already have been using at home and the aroma provides a comforting aura of familiarity and security when used in new surroundings. Nowadays with smart technology and gadgets you even can take a USB diffuser or a car diffuser with you when you travel! Of course, this may not be as important  to you as it is to your children., who often feel insecure while away from home. Things may be fine while they are going to the beach and running around the pool and enjoying all the new  and wondrous things, but when Mum goes out - even just to the bar downstairs with baby listeners alerted - or when the night and darkness approaches and they are surrounded by all those strange noises, children can feel abandoned and frightened. At home alone in a familiar room a child hears the rest of the family talking, laughing, watching TV, moving about and can sleep perfectly well with all these familiar noises. But left alone in a strange room with nothing except their furtive imagination and the banging doors and the ominous whine of elevators, fears of the bogey-man can become very real indeed.

Using familiar scents cannot stop the fears entirely but the essential oils do help in an as yet unexplained way to calm children at night, and perhaps their effectiveness is due to the theory of associations. If you use something like the lovely aroma of geranium when you arrive to make the room yours by putting a few drops around the place, bathe in geranium yourself and, more importantly, give the children a geranium bath before bed, you'll be surprised how easily they settle down for the night in the pleasantly fresh room that smells just like home. You also can use diluted essential oils in a roll-on glass bottle on the bottom of the feet or even on the body to give a nice massage to your baby or child to settle them after bath before going to bed. There is nothing more comforting then Mum or Dad reading or telling a bed time story while massaging with a relaxing essential oil blend.
When you are aware that doTerra 100% pure essential oils can be used in this way, to comfort the child through the sense of smell, use the oil you intend to take away with you around the home and in the child's bath for a few days before your departure.
Here I included three simple oils blends that you can prepare before leaving for your holiday and take with you in a roll-on glass bottle. It makes it very easy to apply, even kids can apply on their own feet! These blends work on babies, children and adults, young and old and has many benefits besides their relaxing effects.

To get your oils, please visit www.doterra.com and quote ID:3424449

Fluffy Hungarian Apple Poppy Seed Cake - quick & easy!

You know those Sundays when you feel like baking something but you don't want to labour in the kitchen all day? You feel like something yummy to have with your cup of tea or coffee?
Poppy seed is my BIG favourite! Hungarians LOVE poppy seeds and they make some incredible cakes, strudels and pasta with poppy seeds!

This is one of my favourite recipes because it's quick and easy and the cake is fluffy and delicious!
When I made this the first time, it brought back memories of my family, baking with my Mum, dad watching sports on the TV and beating the egg whites for mum to help with the cake! Precious and fun times!

Today when I prepared this recipe again, I decided to use my doTerra essential oils so I included how to replace lemon with oils! These oils have become my best friends for many reasons. It's easy to place a drop on my wrist a few times during the day and taking supplements done! Tick! I love putting some in my water! Immune system protection and weight loss management done! Tick! I love smelling them! Little pleasures of the day, tick! They make me feel good. Mood enhancement, tick! I love smelling good. Being aromatically dressed, tick! Love massaging oils onto my skin. Massage, beauty treatment, skin care, tick! Now, that was enough...what not to like about essential oils? But wait!...... You even can cook with them! Just make sure they are 100% pure, Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade!

I have been experimenting using my oils in different recipes. It is fabulous that if I don't have lemon, basil, rosemary, lemongrass or other herbs at home fresh, I still can prepare that recipe! I almost wanted to write that it turns out better than with herbs... The flavour is definitely more intense even from 1-2 drops of oil!

So, let's bake that apple poppy seed cake!

Ingredients
1 egg
100g sugar
100g flour
1 teaspoonful of bi-carb soda
100g ground poppy seed
1 grind of a lemon and a tea spoonful of the juice (you can replace the lemon juice and the grind with 2-3 drops of Lemon Essential Oil by doTerra)
100ml oil (coconut oil, melted butter, sweet almond oil, whatever you have home)
250ml sour cream
2 apples (grated on the larger cheese grater)

Method of preparation
Start the oven and preheat it to 180C. Line a baking spring form or a baking dish with baking paper.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl in the same order as they are listed  above. Pour the cake batter into the baking form and place it in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.

This recipe takes for me 40 mins in my oven. I find that many cakes collapse after taking them out of the oven because the middle is not properly baked, even when the pin test comes out clean. I tried an extra 10-15 mins extra baking time and it results in better consistency! Just make sure than you keep an eye on your cake and don't burn it! So I add another few minutes after the pin or the fork came out clean!

Tips:  In my family we put a tiny rum to almost every cake recipe! I started to follow this tradition and I like it better! A little alcohol makes almost every cake recipe taste better!
This cake is delicious with some vanilla custard, cream or raspberry sauce! True indulgence but you are worth it! And what are Sundays for if not spoiling yourself and your loved one!

Why Essential Oils?

Essential oils have also been used for thousands of years for cosmetic purposes, as well as for their spiritually and emotionally uplifting properties. Essential oils can be used for a wide range of emotional and physical wellness applications. They can be used as single essential oils or in complex essential oil blends depending on user experience and desired benefit.

When inhaled, "the absorption of essential oils by the nose is as fast as an intravenous injection," Gerhard Buchbauer said, a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Vienna in Austria.

In comparison, the absorption of essential oils through the skin is slower, because some of their chemical compounds need to pass through the fat layers under the skin and may even get stored there, Buchbauer said.

About 100 different essential oils are used for medical aromatherapy in Austria and other European countries, Steflitsch told Live Science.

How To Use Essential Oils
Any time you hold a bottle of our powerful essential oils, you are holding the pure essence of health-promoting botanicals that can be diffused (in a water-based diffuser or waterless diffuser), inhaled, applied topically (neat or diluted), incorporated into massage (as single oil or as a blend, neat or diluted) or taken internally (under the tongue, in water or in honey or other food). Make sure that the essential oil you use is 100% pure, a Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade and has a food label on it. If not, do not take it internally. I would not even put on my skin that way.

Inspire a positive emotional state
Love the way the spritz of fragrance from a fresh orange peel can brighten your day? Each essential oil’s complex, pleasant, and unique scent activates the limbic system—the brain’s centre of emotion and memory—differently. Essential oils can be your key to a more fulfilling and balanced emotional life. 

• Balance
• Breathe
• Cheer
• Citrus Bliss
• Console
• Forgive
• Motivate
• Passion
• Peace
• Serenity
• Elevation
• In Tune
• PastTense
• Purity
• Whisper

Enhance your physical wellness
Modern lifestyles don’t always create optimal conditions for physical wellness. Poor diet, lack of exercise, and an overabundance of environmental toxins can leave the body unbalanced and diminish energy levels. From cleansing and weight management to supporting every system of the body, essential oils and essential oil-infused supplements can provide the targeted solutions you need to restore balance and feel your best. 

• AromasTouch
• ClaryCalm - Monthly Blend for Women
• DigestZen - Digestive blend
• OnGuard - Immune system
• Smart & Sassy - Weight management blend
• Zendocrine - Cleansing blend
• Frankinsence
• Helicrysum
• Ginger

Purify your home
Harsh chemical formulas aren’t your only home cleansing option. Enjoy peace of mind without compromise when you polish countertops, clean sticky messes, and cleanse dirty surfaces with the gentle but effective power of essential oils: 

• Purify Cleansing Blend
• Lemon
• Lime
• Lemongrass
• TeaTree
• Eucalyptus
• White Fir
• Citrus Bliss
• OnGuard Cleaner Concentrate

Eliminate chemicals and toxins 

I must admit, I got extremely exited when I discovered that doTerra not only cares about what we put on our skin but what we use to clean our homes and what we do washing with. In the end, it all goes on our skin and into our body. I love the idea of having a natural, fluoride- free, essential oils based toothpaste, a plant-based, Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade oils based surfactant cleaner concentrate and a natural, essential oil-based ultra-concentrated 6x laundry detergent that is not only great for the family but for the environment, too! It leaves clothes refreshingly clean. 

• Lemon (add 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup vinegar and add 5-10 drops of lemon oil for a great cleaning mix) 
• OnGuard blend
• OnGuard Cleaner Concentrate
• OnGuard Foaming Hand Wash
• OnGuard Natural Whitening Toothpaste 
• OnGuard Natural Laundry Detergent

Athletes, Aches and Pains 

Aches and pains are a big part of most people's life. Kids get terrible growing pains in their

legs, adults get sore after working out, the body of a professional athlete frequently get injured and is under a lot of stress. A back pain or sore muscle, even a terrible nerve pain can last for a long time not dealt with properly. Ice Blue or as it is called in the USA market Deep Blue is a life saver. Use it as a rub in cream, add a drop of oil to your lotion or apply the light version during massage, whatever suits your lifestyle, you don't need to put up with the pain. Ice Blue has definitely changed my life and helped to improve much faster than anything else I have tried for years. 

• Ice Blue Athletic Blend
• Ice Blue Roll-On
• Ice Blue Athletic Rub
• Deep Blue Polyphenol Complex Capsules (USA)
• Deep Blue Rub Liter (USA)

Refine your Skin and Hair
Purge chemicals from your beauty routine and rediscover your natural glow. An ancient skin care secret, essential oils can help promote a clear-looking complexion, soften the appearance of signs of ageing, and nurture healthy-looking hair. Using only natural ingredients, these advanced skin and hair care solutions make it easy to enjoy the beautiful benefits of essential oils every day. 

• Rose
• Helichrysum
• Lemon
• Lavender
• Geranium
• Grapefruit
• Myrrh
• Roman Chamomile
• Sandalwood Hawaiian
• Ylang Ylang
• Verage Skin Care Family
• HD Clear Skin Care
• Essential Skin Care
• doTerra Spa
• doTerra Salon Essentials Hair Care

Create deep spiritual awareness
Incense and essential oils from plants have always played an important part in religious and

spiritual ceremonies, helping participants to transcend the trivial and connect with something larger than themselves. Research shows that the pure constituents in these oils stimulate olfactory receptors and activate regions in the brain’s limbic system associated with memory, emotion, and state of mind. To enhance your spiritual practice, dilute and apply meditative, empowering essential oils directly to wrists, feet, and behind the ears, or diffuse in a quiet space. Popular essential oils and blends for spiritual focus include:

• Frankincense
• Sandalwood Indian
• Balance
• Serenity

Why choose doTerra
When you choose doTERRA, you are choosing essential oils gently and carefully distilled from plants that have been patiently harvested at the perfect moment by experienced growers from around the world for ideal extract composition and efficacy.

Each doTERRA essential oil is also carefully and thoroughly tested using the strict CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade® quality protocol. Experienced essential oil users will immediately recognise the superior quality standard for naturally safe, purely effective therapeutic-grade doTERRA essential oils.

While there is a science to the distillation of essential oils, it is also an art. Distillers not only rely on years of experience, they also employ modern technologies and techniques.

Check out doTerra's 100% pure, Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade oils, blends, natural toothpaste, skincare, cleaning products, personal care, weight management products and supplements. DoTerra also has an incredibly simple and affordable marketing plan and business opportunity. Visit: www.doterra.com and quote ID: 3424449

Why to wear colours and forget black

Colours and their Sound and Frequencies

RED - Activates, vitalizes, intensifies, releases blocked energy, produces collagen. It is the longest wavelength and penetrates the deepest. It is used for rheumatics; arthritic pain; liver stimulant; LBP; pigmentation; stretch marks and circulation. 650-780nm - root chakra

ORANGE - Restores, animates, warms, stimulates, works more gently than red, building up energy step by step, unlocks deadlocked processes, cheers up. Those who love orange are said to be extroverts who often love cooking and are often creative. It helps puffy skin; spleen; hernia; muscle prolapse; sinus;
It represents the spleen, gut energy centre and eating. 570-650nm - sacral chakra

YELLOW - Fortifies, tones, opens, brightens, stimulates without exciting, extends energy, reinforces weak processes, loosens overly rigid structures, strengthens the nerves; stimulates connective tissue; eczema; flatulence; lymph drainage; skin troubles; nervous exhaustion. It represents the central nervous system 510-700nm - solar plexus chakra.

GREEN - Equalizes, relaxes, calms down, keeps physical and mental energy dynamically balanced, releases tensed-up, painful processes, brings profound serenity. Recent studies have shown it to be good for acne lesions. It helps heart problems; HBP; burns; cuts; bruises; pigmentation 475-510nm - heart chakra.

BLUE -  Reduces inflammation (as in acne). Recent studies into the use of blue light suggests that it may be useful in preventing or controlling suggests that it may be useful in preventing or controlling periodontal conditions, which can result in the loss of bone and teeth It has also been discovered that blue produces restful sleep. insomnis; sunburn; toothache; rashes; laryngitis; It also soothes, focuses, cools down, collects and structures energy, re-regulates hyperactive, inflammatory and derailing processes, brings serenity and clarity. 445-475nm - throat chakra

INDIGO - Raises concentration; Detoxing and cooling; It strengthens lymphatics; muscle toning; reduces bleeding; astringent; has high level of vibration; is known for its effect on eyes, ear ,nose, throat and sinuses; lungs; migraine; sinuses. 400-445nm - third eye chakra.

VIOLET - Inspires, attenuates, transforms energy on a higher level, supports mental processes, relaxes the nerves, soothes nervous irritations and relieves pain. It aids HBP; acne blemishes; lymph drainage; neuralgia; muscle relaxer; rheumatics; rosacea; sciatica; anti inflammatory. 380–450 nm crown chakra

Color	Characteristic	Gland	Qualities	Imbalance	Resonance Frequency
Red	Physical	Gonads	courage, action, grounding, stabilty, survival	violence, greed, self, centeredness	194.18Hz
Orange	Social	Spleen	passion, trust, emoltions, health, pleasure, let go	Jealousy, envy, aimlessness, obsessiveness	210.42Hz
Yellow	Intellectual	Adrenals	personal power, self esteem	fear, anger, hate, power	126.22Hz
Green	Self assertive	Lymph	Acceptance, forgiveness, love, radiance	Instability, repressed, love	136.10HZ
Dark Blue	Conceptual	Thyroid	Communication, truth, creative/arts	Depression, ignorance	141.27Hz
Indigo	Intuitive	Hypothalmus, Pituatry	Perception, realisation, intuition, clairvoyance..	Fear, tension, headaches	221.23Hz
Violet	Imaginative	Pineal	Fulfilment, inspiration	Confusion	172.06Hz

What is Music Therapy and Sound Therapy?

Music therapists work in a variety of settings including halfway houses, hospice programs, medical hospitals, nursing homes, private practice, psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitative facilities, schools, wellness programs, etc. An introduction to music therapy can systematically address addictive/dependency disorders, brain injury, emotional intimacy, music assisted childbirth, neurological impairments, pain management, physical limitations, reality orientation, self awareness, self expression, speech and hearing impairments, stress reduction, etc. Music therapists use music to assess cognitive skills, communication abilities, emotional well-being, motor skills, physical health, social development, and spiritual enhancement through musical responses. Interventions may include active music making, music improvisation, drumming, receptive music listening, song writing, lyric discussion, music and imagery, music performance, and learning through music. 

 Music is processed by the emotions, through mental imagery, intuitively, analytically, and physically. Music is immediate, always changing and moving, encouraging the listener to be present and mindful of what is taking place. By listening and responding to these energy patterns a person gains insight into one’s own energy patterns. The main priority in music therapy is to address the individual’s needs and problems through music, not to promote or perpetuate music as an art form for its own sake. Within music therapy, the behaviours of primary interest are those that have a significant effect on the person’s adaptation, education, or development. Music in this context is used to increase, decrease, modify, or reinforce carefully defined target behaviours.

Researchers at Beth Israel Medical Center's Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine conducted the study, which included 272 premature babies 32 weeks gestation or older in 11 mid-Atlantic NICUs. They examined the effects of three types of music: a lullaby selected and sung by the baby's parents; an "ocean disc," a round instrument, invented by the Remo drum company, that mimics the sounds of the womb; and a gato box, a drum-like instrument used to simulate two-tone heartbeat rhythms. The two instruments were played live by certified music therapists, who matched their music to the babies' breathing and heart rhythms.

The researchers found that the gato box, the Remo ocean disc and singing all slowed a baby's heart rate, although singing was the most effective. Singing also increased the amount of time babies stayed quietly alert, and sucking behavior improved most with the gato box, while the ocean disc enhanced sleep. The music therapy also lowered the parents' stress.

The healing power of vibration

At its core, music is sound, and sound is rooted in vibration. Led by Lee Bartel, PhD, a music professor at the University of Toronto, several researchers are exploring whether sound vibrations absorbed through the body can help ease the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, fibromyalgia and depression. Known as vibroacoustic therapy, the intervention involves using low frequency sound — similar to a low rumble — to produce vibrations that are applied directly to the body. During vibroacoustic therapy, the patient lies on a mat or bed or sits in a chair embedded with speakers that transmit vibrations at specific computer-generated frequencies that can be heard and felt, says Bartel. He likens the process to sitting on a subwoofer.

In 2009, researchers led by Lauren K. King of the Sun Life Financial Movement Disorders Research and Rehabilitation Centre at Wilfrid Laurier University, in Waterloo, Ontario, found that short-term use of vibroacoustic therapy with Parkinson's disease patients led to improvements in symptoms, including less rigidity and better walking speed with bigger steps and reduced tremors (NeuroRehabilitation, December, 2009). In that study, the scientists exposed 40 Parkinson's disease patients to low-frequency 30-hertz vibration for one minute, followed by a one-minute break. They then alternated the two for a total of 10 minutes. The researchers are now planning a long-term study of the use of vibroacoustic therapy with Parkinson's patients, as part of a new partnership with the University of Toronto's Music and Health Research Collaboratory, which brings together scientists from around the world who are studying music's effect on health.

The group is also examining something called thalmocortical dysrhythmia — a disorientation of rhythmic brain activity involving the thalamus and the outer cortex that appears to play a role in several medical conditions including Parkinson's, fibromyalgia and possibly even Alzheimer's disease, says Bartel, who directs the collaboratory.

"Since the rhythmic pulses of music can drive and stabilize this disorientation, we believe that low-frequency sound might help with these conditions," Bartel says. He is leading a study using vibroacoustic therapy with patients with mild Alzheimer's disease. The hope is that using the therapy to restore normal communication among brain regions may allow for greater memory retrieval, he says.

"We've already seen glimmers of hope in a case study with a patient who had just been diagnosed with the disorder," Bartel says. "After stimulating her with 40-hertz sound for 30 minutes three times a week for four weeks, she could recall the names of her grandchildren more easily, and her husband reported good improvement in her condition."

The goal of all of this work is to develop "dosable" and "prescribable" music therapy and music as medicine protocols that serve specific neurologic functions and attend to deficits that may result from many of these neurologically based conditions. Rather than viewing music only as a cultural phenomenon, Bartel says, the art should be seen as a vibratory stimulus that has cognitive and memory dimensions.

"Only when we look at it in this way do we start to see the interface to how the brain and body work together."

Information from the American Psychological Association.

Music Therapy is a form of therapy is process-based and relies heavily on the therapist’s knowledge of music’s structure, rhythm and melody to influence, motivate or effect physical, emotional, or social changes in a person.

With Sound Therapy - Sound Healing, as with music therapy, both can use instruments or the voice to impact a client’s wellbeing; both can engage the client in music making.

The differences between music therapy and sound healing are subtle but distinct: The intent of sound healing is to facilitate and direct specific sounds, and their resulting vibrations, to impact well being.

Here is what Jonathan Goldman, a pioneer in sound healing, had to say about his work:

“… the basic principle of sound healing is that everything is in a state of vibration, including our organs, bones, tissues, etc. If these parts of the body become imbalanced they may be healed through projecting the proper and correct frequencies back into the body. This works for imbalances and over- or under-activity in the chakras and the energy fields.”
So, to summarise, both forms of therapy use music as a basis for impacting clients’ well being. Music therapy bases its protocols on what is known about music’s structure and rhythm to actively engage a client in music making for the purpose of addressing a specific health outcome.

Similarly, sound therapies use music to guide healing, but protocols are not based solely on the process of music listening or creation, but rather on finding and producing specific frequencies, which may be unique to the individual, that then can be directed internally to facilitate healing.

The human voice is a very powerful instrument. Our voice provides clues of our well-being and emotional state. 

"We arrive on this planet with every thing that we need to heal ourselves, and when we came; our voices were rich with all the necessary frequencies to maintain us in a healthy state of resonance. Due to the conditioning of childhood and the suppression of our true thoughts and feelings and the accompanying sounds that go with them, by the time we arrive at adulthood our speaking voice no longer contains the same frequencies it did as a child. Our voice will always reflect our current mental and emotional states of being. When a person feels alive, healthy, happy and abundant, their voice sounds much different than if they are depressed, unhappy, angry or afraid. You may notice a difference in your own voice when speaking your truth compared to when you are not, it feels different in your body as well, and from an energetic standpoint the cells of your body are not getting the frequencies they need to stay healthy."  The Healing Voice

Sound therapy
Sound therapists believe that our bodies contain 'energy frequencies' and that sonic frequencies can be used to re-attune these energies when they go off key. All you have to do is lie down and bask in the tuneful beauty of 'pure' sound.
We are all made up of different energy frequencies. They use sound frequencies to interact with these, thus attempting to rebalance the body's energy.

Before each session, the practitioner will ask the client about their medical history and any current health problems. The practitioner will then adapt their treatment accordingly, using relaxing or stimulating sounds to try to rebalance the body - gongs, drums, bells, bowls, tuning forks and the human voice are all used. According to practitioner Lyz Cooper: "Clients are wrapped up in [these sounds] like a cocoon, and allowed to go on a journey."

A recent study conducted by the British Academy of Sound Therapy (BAST) found that

95% of clients suffering from stress-related disorders felt an increased state of calm following treatment (though of course, this can hardly be called unbiased research!)
Another preliminary study conducted by BAST measured the effects of sound therapy on the autonomous nervous system (ANS). Clients were connected to a machine that monitored stress responses (much like a lie detector).

Each client demonstrated an overall decrease in arousal of the ANS compared to the control group, who were lying down relaxing. This study suggests that sound therapy has a deeply calming effect on stressed-out clients.

Sound has been used as a healing or calming tool for thousands of years. Himalayan singing bowls (standing bells that "sing") have been used throughout Asia for thousands of years in prayer and meditation, and are now used to promote relaxation and wellbeing. Sound therapy was formally introduced to the UK in 2000 with the establishment of BAST (The British Academy of Sound Therapy and Soundworks.). Sound therapy is a complementary medicine designed to work alongside orthodox medicine. BAST attempts to treat individuals with fertility issues, chronic pain, cancer, stress-related illnesses, IBS, ME, tinnitus, mild depression, anxiety and arthritis. BAST founder Lyz Cooper believes: "Whether you come for a regular tune-up or relaxation session, or have a chronic long-term illness, sound could help you to enjoy a better quality of life."

Sound therapy is said to help not only physical illness, but also help balance the emotions and quieten a busy mind. Most people feel calm and relaxed following treatment. For some, this feeling will last several days. You may also be given exercises to practise between treatments.

Contra-indications
Pregnant women are not advised to undertake sound therapy and anyone with serious mental health problems should consult their doctor before receiving treatment.

New directions in Sound Healing - Biofield Tuning Sound Balancing
Biofield Tuning is a unique non-medical therapeutic method that uses sound waves produced by tuning forks in the bio-magnetic field, or biofield, that surrounds the human body. Biofield Tuning was developed by pioneering researcher and practitioner Eileen Day McKusick and is based on her 20 years of clinical inquiry into the Biofield Anatomy. It is a simple, non-invasive, and efficient method that can produce profound and powerful outcomes.

Tibetan Singing Bowls – The ancient brain entrainment methodology for healing and meditation

Tibetan Singing Bowls have been used for centuries for healing and meditation purposes. They create a range of sounds to restore the normal vibratory frequencies of diseased and out-of-harmony parts of the body, mind and soul.

The sounds generated by Tibetan Singing Bowls are a type of energy medicine that promote healing from stress disorders, pain, depression, and most forms of dis-ease.

Healing processes are initiated through entraining our brainwaves to synchronise with the perfect resonance of the bowls. Unique tones create the perfect state for deep meditation, creative thinking and intuitive messages.

The pure sonic waves that ring from Tibetan Singing Bowls wake up our ability to hear with more than our ears. We feel the sound Tibetan Singing Bowls as much as we take it in with our ears.

“If we accept that sound is vibration and we know that vibration touches every part of our physical being, then we understand that sound is heard not only through our ears but through every cell in our bodies. One reason sound heals on a physical level is because it so deeply touches and transforms us on the emotional and spiritual planes. Sound can redress imbalances on every level of physiologic functioning and can play a positive role in the treatment of virtually any medical disorder.”
Dr. Mitchell Gaynor, director of Medical Oncology and Integrative Medicine, the Cornell Cancer Prevention Center in New York

Sound Healing expert, Diáne Mandle states that Tibetan Singing Bowls don’t only affect a great deal of physical healing but also have far-reaching implications that occur on emotional and spiritual levels. It is a regenerative process married to a spiritual awakening that can have profound consequences on illness, disease, and all aspects of our lives.

In fact, mainstream medical teaching facilities like Duke University and the University of North Carolina have added programs that link body, mind and spirit to the treatment of cancer. Cancer prevention centers are utilizing sound as a vital part of the healing process for patients with astounding results.

Dr. Mitchell Gaynor has been using sound, including Tibetan Singing Bowls and chanting in work with cancer patients for many years. The medical director of the Deepak Chopra center in California, Dr. David Simon, found that the sound from Tibetan Singing Bowls as well as chanting are chemically metabolized into ’endogenous opiates’, that act on the body as internal painkillers and healing agents.

How do Tibetan Singing Bowls help in the healing process?

It can be said that illness is a manifestation of dis-harmony within the body—an imbalance in the cells or a given organ. Since all matter is energy vibrating at different rates, by altering the rate of vibration we can change the structure of matter. Sound from Tibetan Singing Bowls entrain the brain to move into the Theta brain wave frequencies that induce deep meditative and peaceful states, clarity of mind, and intuition. The sound vibrations impact our nervous system, engaging our relaxation reflex and inhibiting the stress or pain response.

Through listening to Tibetan Singing Bowls one’s internal dialogue, the ’inner critic’ is quietened. Their sound synchronizes brain waves and enhances awareness of the mind/body connection.

All parts of your body possess a different resonant frequency. When an organ, or other part of the body, is vibrating “out of tune” or non-harmoniously, it is called “dis-ease”. A body is in a healthy state when each cell and each organ resonate in harmony with the whole being.

Using Tibetan Singing Bowls for healing is based on the idea that all illness or disease is characterized by a hindrance to the flow of energy in the body. When energy flow is hindered, the organ or tissue in question stops vibrating at a healthy frequency, and thus it results in some kind of weakness or illness. The sound frequencies created by Tibetan Singing Bowls restore and optimise the flow of energy in the parts of the body where this is required.

In the words of the great Tibetan master/Bodhisattva Gwalwa Karmapa, the Singing Bowls of Tibet emit the “Sound of the Void”, the sound of the universe manifesting. They are a symbol of the ’unknowable’ and as an alloy, date back to the Buddha, Shakyamni (560-480 B.C.). Their origins and detailed histories are shrouded in the distant past and are surely a gift from the shamanistic ’Bon’ religion which precedes Buddhism in Tibet by centuries. For centuries they have been utilized for healing and consciousness transformation. We are now discovering the science behind this powerful ancient modality which is so effective for healing today. Modern medicine can now measure and thus confirm the practice of sound as a means to heal.

Tibetan Singing Bowls and Brainwave Entrainment

The Tibetan Singing Bowls are an ancient technology, about 2500 years old, for stimulating our brainwaves. Just like the new technologies of Brainwave Entrainment, Binaural Beats & Isochronic Tones, Tibetan Singing Bowl create a pulsation of sound to entrain our brain.

Tibetan Singing Bowls create a pulsating tone, that feels good and helps you to relax. The more you listen the deeper you relax, as your brainwaves begin to entrain with the Tibetan Singing Bowl’s tone.The benefit of this entrainment is that your brain waves can be “toned” so that you can deliberately experience pleasant and/or productive mental/emotional states.

The upper end of the theta brainwave range is of great importance to healing the body, mind and spirit. At 7-8 (Hertz) cycles per second our deeper intelligence, creativity and self-healing mechanisms of the body are activated. This is what is commonly referred to as “being in the zone”. Tibetan Singing Bowls can be used to put you into this special brain wave state that supports the achievement of your unique goal toward better health.

Producing theta brainwaves through the use of Tibetan Singing Bowls in conjunction with sophisticated audio technologies is facilitated through listening to the Healing Tance-Formationsrecording.

Dr. Hans Selye, “the father of stress” was an endocrinologist in 1950’s who did research on the response of organisms to stress. He determined that stress is the underlying cause of all illness and dis-ease. His research was taken a step further by Dr. Herbert Benson.

Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard’s Mind Body Institute , has studied stress reduction for 35 years. Dr. Benson found that stress causes physical or emotional blockages. Dr. Benson found that stress reduction was essential to creation of health. He coined the phrase “relaxation response”. He defines this as “a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress – for example: decrease in heart rate, blood pressure and muscle tension.” He also found that regular elicitation of the relaxation response has been scientifically proven to be an effective treatment for a wide range of stress-related disorders. In fact, to the extent that any disease is caused or made worse by stress, the relaxation response is essential to healing it.

Chakra Balancing

Chakras are energy vortices originating in the ancient Indian system of healing. Most literature discusses seven main chakras but there are literally hundreds of vortices of energy all over the body.

Chakras are the connection between the spiritual aspect of our being and the physical. There is an endocrine gland associated with 7 of the main chakras. In the Indian system of healing, when a physical dysfunction is in place, one or more chakras are considered to be blocked, dysfunctional or unbalanced. Unbalanced chakras are reflected in a whole range of mental, emotional and physiological dysfunctions.

Chakra balancing is used to correct the chakra so that the endocrine gland and all the associated structures and organs effected by that gland balance and begin to function correctly. Historically, chakra balancing has been done in a number of ways but it has been most effectively done by someone who has the capability to either feel or see (or both) the chakras and their state of unbalance. They then use energy healing techniques to adjust and balance them.

Tibetan Singing Bowls naturally cause chakras to self correct. The sound waves, in the form of sine waves run correcting frequencies to the unbalanced chakras, bringing them back to normal functioning.

The overall balancing effect of the Tibetan Singing Bowls and theta brainwave entrainment combine to enhance and support the corrective rebalance of the sine waves effect on each chakra. The result is balanced chakras which then in turn enhance cellular and systemic healing throughout the body that is facilitated by the theta rhythms.

The Healing Trance-Formations recording includes the appropriately pitched tones for all seven of the major chakras, thereby providing each chakra with its specific key for optimal balancing:

Root chakra – C
Sacral chakra – D
Solar Plexus chakra – E
Heart chakra – F
Throat chakra – G
Third Eye chakra – A
Crown chakra – B

Repeatedly listening to the Healing Tance-Formations recording over time can assist the body/mind to throw off toxicity and diseased states, while simultaneously retraining the chakras and physical body to remain in a state of balance. Increasingly over time the body will return to a state of ‘ease’ or good health.

Though Chakras are far from a scientific fact, ancient literature suggests that their balancing was part of the whole process employed when healing any level of dysfunction. Balancing the body in the way ancient cultures have may be the missing link in health care today.

More from Jevon Dangeli Hypnotherapist, NLP trainer and coach 

Cymbals the way you have never seen them!

Cymbals – the grooviest instrument around?

The grooves on the surface of a cymbal are not there for looks: they're crucial to the sound of the instrument. They're called 'tonal grooves' and they help to spread the vibrations around the body of the cymbal – the depth, width and shape of the grooves all affect the sound quality.

But underneath the grooves, there's already precision engineering going on. Starting with the metal itself: cymbals are made of bronze, which is an alloy of copper and tin, but there are different types of cymbal bronze: "B20", which is 20% tin, and "B8", which is just 8% tin. In B8 bronze, the grains in the metal run in a single direction, which gives you a narrower spectrum of frequencies (a more 'focussed' or 'compact' sound). B20 bronze is rolled in more than one direction, so the molecules interweave to form a lattice structure.

And then cymbals are hammered, not pressed, into shape. Every stroke of the hammer compresses the metal slightly at the spot where it hits, making it a little bit more dense just at that point, and that changes the range of frequencies. So the hammering needs to be done very evenly over the surface of the cymbal, to make the instrument as resonant as possible.

The whole process is so stressful that it takes the molecules in the metal a few weeks to settle down again, which means that a brand new instrument will actually have a different sound from one which is a month or so old.

Amazing, what goes into making a great cymbal crash!

Take a historical, musical and factory tour to one of the world's oldest and largest cymbal making family business, the Zildjian! What a Wall of Fame! What is even more interesting, the women of the Zildjian are making their mark on the family business!

A few examples of cymbals used different ways! Enjoy!

No 1.Cymbals Sound Test:

No 2. A little wild but introduces the cymbals pretty well!

No 3. Cymbals the way you have never seen them being played!

No 4. Bosphorus Cymbals Factory, Istambul.  A video of their  %100 Handmade manufacturing process with some great music!

No 5. Sabian Cymbals Factory Tour Part 1 of 4. Here you really can see the whole process of producing high quality cymbals!: