Archie’s first miaow in the morning sounds very much like, “hello.” I can see you shaking your head at me, but if you heard him you’d believe me. He uses different calls to communicate his needs. The supper time one becomes high pitched and plaintive, which sends me rushing to the kitchen. I’ve become well trained and seldom misinterpret his signals these days.

So where am I going with all this and how does sound fit in with my healing journey? Well, I used to teach sound perception to hearing – impaired children. It was the best part of my job and the school’s music room became my haven.

Sound for someone who cannot hear seems like an oxymoron. But it isn’t. And it’s a game changer. How you may ask? Well, imagine going to a live music concert and stuffing your ears full of cotton wool so that you couldn’t hear anything. That way, you wouldn’t experience the sound at all, right? Wrong. You’d feel it. The vibrations would flow through your hollow cavities. You may even find yourself moving to the beat. How come? Well, rhythm has got nothing to do with hearing! And offering sound perception to children who cannot hear, triggers their own rhythm, which in turn affects the way they walk, talk and negotiate the world out there.

So where am I going with all this? It was just a little jump from my sound perception teaching to embracing the idea of music as a powerful healing tool. It’s a no- brainer. Music has always calmed people down and lifted their spirits. I’ve experienced “difficult” children absorbing beautiful sounds and transforming themselves into angelic beings. If our health depends on a mind-body-spirit connection, then the effect of sound on our psyches must surely be significant.

All this is not new. It’s just that in our fast paced modern world, ancient wisdoms have become diluted. As my own world has slowed down a bit, I’m taking the time to re-ignite neglected passions. Healing with sound has shot up to top of this list.

P S  Anyone recommend a good piano tuner? Archie is not impressed with the sounds I’m producing.