Discover the Science of Sound Healing!

Emotional Freedom & Stress Reduction

February 2, 2024

Discover the Science of Sound Healing!

Here comes one of the most important aspects of your existence you may have never heard about.

Both the ancient Vedic tradition and modern physics describe the entire universe, including you, as a symphony of vibrations.

That’s why words carry so much power, and why music can move us to tears, make us laugh, and leave us feeling deeply restored.

About a thousand years ago, sacred sound was at the very heart of life for Benedictine monks, who filled their monasteries with Gregorian chant. One of them, an Italian monk named Guido of Arezzo, took the opening syllables of a chant honoring John the Baptist and used them to help singers learn the notes of the scale. That simple idea grew into the Do-Re-Mi we still sing today.

The Solfeggio frequencies take their name from that same singing tradition. The specific set of tones, like 396 Hz and 528 Hz, was gathered much more recently, but they carry the spirit of those chanting monks, and so many people find them soothing, uplifting, and deeply relaxing.

And what’s so exciting is that more and more musicians are now weaving these frequencies into their music, and we’re using them over at Club Qigong in our meditations, too.

For example, we’re using the 396 Hz frequency in our sleep meditation Depression to Joy. This tone is associated with emotional freedom and letting go of worry and self-doubt.

And to help people reach their ideal weight naturally, we’re using the 528 Hz “Love frequency” to nurture self-love and ease stress eating, with gentle affirmations woven into the music to reach the subconscious mind, which shapes so much of our everyday behavior.

It’s all about the power of sound!

Sidebar · The Science

What the Research Actually Shows About Sound & Healing

Some of the most striking findings come from top medical journals, not wellness blogs.

Chanting puts your heart and breath in sync
When researchers had people recite the Ave Maria in Latin or a classic yoga mantra, breathing naturally slowed to about six breaths a minute. That rhythm produced strong, synchronized waves in heart rhythm and boosted the body’s blood-pressure reflex, both markers of a healthy heart. The monks may have been onto something.
Bernardi et al., BMJ, 2001
Humming raises nitric oxide 15-fold
Scientists at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute found that simply humming increased nitric oxide in the nose fifteen times over a quiet exhale, by vibrating air through the sinuses. Nitric oxide helps open blood vessels and defend the airways.
Weitzberg & Lundberg, Am J Respir Crit Care Med, 2002
Music eases pain after surgery, even under anesthesia
A Lancet review pooling 73 randomized trials and roughly 7,000 patients found music before, during or after surgery reduced pain, anxiety and the need for pain medication. Remarkably, it still helped when patients were fully unconscious under general anesthesia.
Hole et al., The Lancet, 2015
A 40 Hz tone helps the brain clean itself
MIT neuroscientists found that sound and light pulsing at 40 times a second switched on the brain’s own waste-clearing system and reduced Alzheimer’s-related plaque in mice. Early human trials have shown slower brain shrinkage. Larger studies are underway.
Murdock, Tsai et al., Nature, 2024
Sound waves are now an FDA-cleared cancer treatment
In 2023 the FDA cleared histotripsy, developed at the University of Michigan, which uses focused sound waves to break apart liver tumors without a single incision. Focused ultrasound is also approved for tremor, Parkinson’s symptoms, uterine fibroids and more.
Michigan Medicine, 2023
And 528 Hz? An early, intriguing signal
In a small Japanese study, just five minutes of music tuned to 528 Hz lowered the stress hormone cortisol and raised oxytocin, the “bonding” hormone, compared with the same music at standard 440 Hz tuning. It was a pilot with only nine people, so we see it as a promising start, not the final word.
Akimoto et al., Health, 2018