Sound healing: can you drum your way to better health? Sing your way to serenity? Tune up your immunity with a tuning fork? Science takes a surprising look at the restorative powers of chant, rhythm and music

Natural Health, March, 2004 by Jill Neimark

"I use a combination of crystal bowls and chanting with my patients," explains oncologist Mitchell Gaynor, author of The Healing Power of Sound. Chanting changes breathing and emotional states, and adding the tones of the crystal bowl to the mix creates a "powerful healing tool," says Gaynor, who holds a sound meditation for his cancer patients twice monthly.

Richard Peery, of Trenton, N.J., suffers chronic back pain. His doctor, Patrice Graham, M.D., a pain specialist who is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation, notes that the sense of relaxation and joy Peery experienced when he began working with the bowls had a profound physical effect. "He managed his low-back pain with a minimum of medication and no longer requires physical therapy," says Graham. "He turned a corner when he found the bowls."

The bowls can help with emotional issues as well. Andrew Wald, a therapist in Bethesda, Md., who specializes in couples work, plays a crystal bowl before sessions begin. "It creates a more open, less defensive mood," he notes. "I sit the couple across from each other, have them close their eyes and sometimes touch hands, and become aware of the connection between them as they listen to the sound."

Other resonant devices like chimes, tuning forks and gongs are utilized by professionals. Kristine Theurer, a music therapist in Vancouver, British Columbia, has found that people with Alzheimer's disease, no matter their cognitive defects, are able to play together in hand-chime choirs. Though language and memory skills fail in Alzheimer's patients, the ability to respond to rhythm and melody remains robust until late in the disease. In fact, structured music programs seem to calm people with Alzheimer's, improving their mood and sleep, according to research at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

drum up immunity

Drumming circles are cropping up in cities and towns all over America, bringing groups small and large together to beat ancestral rhythms and dance. "Today's drummers are rediscovering the ecstatic side of drumming," says Michael Drake, a Topeka, Kan.-based ceremonial drummer of Cherokee descent and author of The Shamanic Drum.

Chicago music therapist Louise Dimiceli-Mitran has used drumming in her healing work at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. "When you're in a drumming circle it's as if all your body is in tune with a rhythmic orchestra," she says.

Drumming in groups can boost the immune system, according to a study involving more than 100 participants and published in the journal Alternative Therapies. According to study leader Barry Bittman, M.D., director of Meadville Medical Center's Mind-Body Wellness Center in Pennsylvania, an increased number of infection-fighting immune cells was found in the drummers' bloodstream. The drummers also had an improved ratio of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) to cortisol, a hormone balance that is beneficial to immune function. A control group that simply listened to drumming but did not participate had no change in either measure.