5 Ways Sound Can Help You Reach Your New Year’s Resolution

The New Year has come, and with it, the inner resolutions we have made for ourselves. There seems to be something about a new year that subconsciously liberates us with a sense of new beginning, a time to take in the lessons of the past and perhaps write a new chapter in our lives. But sometimes, it can be difficult to let go of old habits, and their clutch on our minds can cause us to get disillusioned too quickly and give up on our goals. Deborah King,New York Times best-selling author, meditation teacher, renowned spiritual leader, and a leading authority on energy medicine,  reminds us to keep it simple by practicing energy healing to let go and identify intention, find our true purpose and adding something positive instead of worrying about getting rid of some behaviour or emotion. 

Luckily, there are many vibrational medicine tools at our disposal to help us along our path and keep us on track to reaching our goals. One of our favorite tools that can have immediate and long-lasting effects is sound. Yes, you heard right! This year, we are using sound in all sorts of ways, to help us reach our goals for personal transformation. So, as you begin this beautiful New Year, filled with hope and possibility, here are 5 ways that sound can help reach your New Year’s Resolution!

1. Sound can help magnify your attention and intention.

 Sound contributes to your mental clarity in several ways. One such way is by helping to improve your focus. When soundwaves are played repeatedly (as in a drone) or in repeated patterns over a period of time, the brainwaves become synchronized with the sound. This is called entrainment.

Entrainment allows the brain to focus on the one stimuli (from sound), rather than be scattered by too many external stimuli, allowing your brain to focus more on your task or intention. When combined with a mantra or affirmation, it allows the feeling or intention behind the mantra to become stronger, helping the brain establish the embodiment (and manifestation) of this new thought pattern. Manifestation of your New Year’s resolution can be aided through repeated strong intention and embodiment to train the brain to think in a way that enhances your goal. This is also why the blend of sound and guided imagery meditation is powerful!

TIP: Drone instruments (instruments that hold a sustained fundamental tone), like crystal singing bowls, didgeridoo, or synths, are great for focusing. Gentle playing of other instruments (especially instruments with rich overtones, like Tibetan singing bowls, crystal harps, strings, gongs, and steel-tongue drums), as long as there are no huge swells in volume, breaks, or sudden changes in rhythm, are great for focusing, too! 

2. Sound can help you handle your day better by reducing stress and anxiety. 

One day at a time, we can reach any goal for transformation. In fact, reaching our goal is all about how we handle one day at a time. So, it’s worth taking a look at how you treat your body and mind every day. 

Your body needs time to rest and recharge in order to accomplish your daily goals, and sound can help you get the calm you need without having to take a nap! Focusing on sound that is relaxing to you becomes essentially a meditation, that eliminates the other stress-inducing thoughts demanding your attention and crowding your mind. This time taken to clear your thoughts contributes to a feeling of peace and calm, that impacts how you act and react the rest of your day. 

TIP:  Meditation can work with music that is not specifically “focus music.” Literally, any genre, that helps contribute to your sense of calm and peace can be excellent meditation material, if you focus on it, and allow your other thoughts to fade out. Non-lyric music is best for meditating. In fact, studies have shown that ambient music at moderate volume throughout your day, can also help improve your performance.

3. Sound can help lift your mood.

Sound has the amazing capacity to instantaneously change our mood! Think about it. What happens when your favorite song comes on the radio or your streaming app? In most cases, you get a natural mood enhancement! If sound can affect you that much, start paying attention to what is going on sonically around you. 

Sound and noise can affect our mood for better or for worse. What’s more, sound can be a powerful way to mask out undesirable noise that can distract the mind or cause us to tense up (think about refrigerator noises, traffic noise, construction, or even someone typing at the desk next to yours). Putting headphones on and turning on your playlist may just be the therapy you need to maintain calm, peace, focus, or even motivation and enthusiasm, throughout your day. Through the power of technology, you can change your sonic environment to fit the mood you wish to create for yourself. Such an easy little thing to make such a grand difference! So don’t wait until tomorrow. Start improving your life today by creating more intentional playlists to tune up your happy!

Listen to what is going on around you, and change it, to fit the mood you want! Bet you didn’t realize how important your playlists are! 

4. Sound can help you be more mindful. 

When we revert back to old habits, it is because we have lost our connection with the present moment and our intentions for the present moment. Sound can bring us back to the here and now and heighten our awareness of body and mind. 

A beautiful way to train your mind to more easily come back to the present moment is by regularly attending sound meditations. These come in many forms, from crystal singing bowl meditations, to sound journeys, and sound baths. Even A-list celebrities , like Robert Downey Jr., Charlize Theron, and many others, have reaped the benefits of sound baths and sound meditations. 

TIP: If you are local to Sarasota, then, we recommend you check out our sound baths and sound journeys here at the OM Shoppe. We have a unique approach to blending hypnosis and sound, which are led by professional musicians and a licensed clinical hypnotherapist the journeys, while you rest on zero-gravity chairs with eye masks to enhance your inner vision and activate the subconscious mind. 

We play over 150 instruments, from crystal and Tibetan singing bowls, to chimes, rattles, ethnic percussion, crystal harps, steel-tongue drums, and even resonator guitar and violin, to create an ethereal soundscape to enhance each journey’s specific intention. 

At our destination spa, we also offer customized individual sound baths and sound journeys.

You can find out more about these journeys here: 

https://theomshoppeandspa.com/about-om-shamanic-sound-journeys/.

For our readers in other regions, see this article for sound baths at spas near you!

5. Along the note of sound journeys, sound can help you explore and change thought patterns.

As noted earlier, sound is powerful in enhancing intention. Studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between sound and memory. And with sound affecting our mood so profoundly, it naturally follows that sound can activate the imagination and the world of the subconscious mind. In the focus and stillness of a sound bath, you may find yourself having revelations of the emotions and thoughts that are often hidden deep in the crevices of our minds. In sweeping these emotions and thoughts, you may then release what no longer serves you or, at minimum, face what holds you back from making permanent positive changes in your life.

We invite you to explore the effects of sound and music as a tool for peace and transformation in your life. As for us, we are sure to continue using sound as a way to help manifest our dreams and New Year’s resolutions. And if you are looking for some sound therapy instruments for use at home, or to try out a sound meditation for yourself, browse through our store site or come experience one of our widely popular group sound journeys! Here’s to a New Year, filled with creativity, personal fulfillment, and love!