Yesterday I had the pleasure of a visit to my oncologist.  No, there is no sarcasm there, he’s great. Visits with Dr Gaynor often last over an hour, and post-examination and after a lengthy conversation about mental and physical health, I am often treated to a meditative session of healing sound.  In this session, I was lost and at peace at the beach; the waves coursing through my body and leaving with my stress and worries; healing light entering and cancer cells washing away.

Dr Gaynor is a longtime promoter of the healing power of sound, and in fact authored a book as such.  The Healing Power of Sound will soon be out in E-form.   He has been implementing sound and music therapy as a part of his treatment protocol for over 25 years.   The benefits range from encouraging relaxation to creating a healthy mind, body and spirit to prevent and treat disease.

How exactly does it work?  Creating the vibrations of sound through music changes brainwave patterns in ways that triggers healing.  He does this with the use of crystal bowls; a therapy he has coined Crystal Sonic Therapy™.   Just don’t forget your headphones as you will need them to reap the benefits.  As each ear receives its own unique musical note, the sound waves move toward each other and synchronize to produce a new musical note that the brain perceives.  The practice in which sound wave stimuli are purposefully used to alter brainwaves in this matter is called brain wave entrainment (BWE).  Preliminary evidence suggests that BWE is effective in several cognitive domains and can relieve acute and long-term stress, reduce pain, headaches, migraines, and PMS and improve behavior, but may go well beyond.

In integrative oncology we learn that it is more important to treat the patient with the disease than the disease of the patient.  Pain, and the ensuing inflammation, promotes cancer; stress and trauma can create an environment friendly to cancer.  Inflammation can cause pain and distress such as depression. I could go on and on but the point is that cancer does not happen in a vacuum; cancer is an expression that all is not in balance in the body.  To get back in balance we must attend to body and soul.

Remember too that a cancer diagnosis brings with it fear and a loss of control; to confront cancer head on, we need to step back, breathe and form a plan; we need to become active participants in our healing.  Using crystal singing bowls to change your brainwaves so you feel relaxed and in control sure beats being sticking your head in the sand and relinquishing control of your health and care.

I hear that Dr Gaynor will be talking about the crystal bowls and healing sounds on the Dr Oz Show, but in the meantime look for Change Your Mind, Uplift, Peaceful Sleep and Tranquility. Relax to the soothing sounds of birds chirping, listen to the waves rushing toward the shore and unwind to the melodic sounds of rain drops.

To read Change Your Mind: Change Your Health in my column Options for Life in the Natural Healing, Natural Wellness Magazine (sorry, link no longer available).  To replay Dr Gaynor on the Dr Oz Show, please see the links in the comment field below. 

Sound has a healing quality; it promotes health, not disease– isn’t that our true goal?

Mitchell Gaynor, M.D. is founder and president of Gaynor Integrative Oncology and Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Weill College, affiliated with Cornell University and New York Hospital. He has served on the Executive Review Panel at the Department of Defense – Alternative Medicine for Breast Cancer Sector and the Smithsonian Institute’s Symposium on New Frontier in Breast Cancer and the Environment. He is a frequent speaker and lecturer at hospitals, conferences, and universities throughout America and abroad. 

Elyn

www.elynjacobs.com

~~If you don’t know your options, you don’t have any~~

Elyn Jacobs is a breast cancer survivor, professional cancer coach, radio talk show host, speaker, and the Executive Director for the Emerald Heart Cancer Foundation. Elyn empowers women to choose the path for treatment that best fits their own individual needs. She mentors women who are coping with issues of well-being associated with breast cancer and its aftermath; she is passionate about helping others move forward into a life of health and well-being. Elyn has been featured on CNN Money, Talk About Health and more, and is a columnist for Natural Healing-Natural Wellness. She has contributed to Breast Cancer Answers as well as written for the Pink Paper, Breast Cancer Wellness, Integrative Oncology Essentials, and other publications and newsletters. Elyn lives in New York with her husband and two young boys.

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