Jourdan Miller, People — November 10, 2012 at 2:30 am

Mindful Music

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Tracing Through History

The use of sound vibrations on the physical body can be dated as far back as 565 B.C. when mathematician Pythagoras was credited to discovering the phenomena of sound vibrations. His work transcended the physical effects of sound vibration and sought to help people embrace their true selves.

“Pythagoras’ work with sound and music as medicine was what led him to discover people were receiving soul adjustments through the vibration of sound,” Dzelzkalns says. “His goal was for people to really get in touch with their divine nature.”

Yet the practice can’t exactly be labeled as “ancient,” according to Dzelzkalns. It’s a refinement of an ancient practice, shaped and chiseled to fit into the twentieth century. The duality of her work is contrasting it with modern day medicine and helping it garner more scientific credibility.

bell
The bell at the right is the Ganta and Dorje, which help us find balance and harmony within. The following instruments are Tibetan singing bowls used in Lee Ann Dzelzkalns’ sound journeys.
Photo by: Stephanie Wezelman

“Things unfold in life in a divine right time and order,” Dzelzkalns says about the future and possibility of sound healing. “It can’t be until we’re ready.”

Her innovative take on centuries-old methods of sound and meditation healing is what calls many local, national and international people to her website.

Revamping Ancient Practices

“There is a lot of science behind sound and vibrational healing,” says Jennette Cable, a traditional naturopath, classical homeopath, sound therapist and owner of Creative Care & Wellness Center, located in Milwaukee and serving New York City. “If we have a deficiency in something, we could embark on a sound-healing journey to get ourselves back on track. For example, we are now able to identify the vibrational frequency of specific vitamins and minerals. That’s where the current research is landing us right now.”

While Cable’s work varies from Dzelzkalns’, her use of musical tuning forks in the treatment of anxiety or in helping children with behavior disorders, autism or Attention Deficit Disorder, is rooted in the same idea that specifically applied music and sound releases stuck energy patterns and resonates with specific neural centers of the body.

Through the process of a sound journey, emotions surface and can lead to feelings of discomfort. Often times, however, a release is elicited and the story line of something old merely dissolves, Dzelzkalns adds.

The Healing Process

After struggling through a series of losses in 2009, Kristen Gillan was looking for a spiritual outlet and was sent a brochure on Dzelzkalns’ Lotus Heart Sound Journey. “The work has transformed me,” Gillan says. “I was angry and hurt and incredibly sad when I started working with Lee Ann. In the span of four years, I had a lifetime of loss jammed into a short time. On the stress scale, I was way over the max mark. Now I feel genuine happiness and compassion. As one of my friends told me, I am still me but less edgy. I have found my center.”

One of the more difficult, yet ultimately fulfilling aspects of Dzelzkalns’ work, are the physical symptoms, which are essentially a soul detox—a sort of spiritual juice cleanse.

“Headaches, sometimes flu-like symptoms present,” says Gillan.

“There were times when I was nauseated, itchy. Times I felt pain. Times that I felt absolute joy,” Bartosh adds. “Each experience was different, both in what I visualized and how I felt.”

Dzelzkalns explained these emotional purges as psychological and structural releases—an opportunity for growth.

“Sound creates a sensory experience that flows through our cellular structure and it carves new neurological pathways in our brain,” Dzelzkalns says about what’s really going on when we’re exposed to music. “That’s where our emotions comingle with our memory. It’s about letting go of the old and creating opportunity for the new.”

Dzelzkalns’ work found former Marquette University Professor Kunter Akbay in 1994 after he was diagnosed with hypertension shortly after starting his own consulting business and following a series of professional losses.

“I was amazingly in sync with her until I saw myself in a coffin surrounded by a white light. It was so real. I really thought I was dead. Lee Ann later told me that was old Kunter dying and new Kunter was starting a new life,” Akbay says about his breakthrough with Dzelzkalns.

Ultimately we want to just be, Dzelzkalns says. Our goal is self-mastery. Life becomes a meditation when you’re functioning from a place of center and harmony. Helping people hold their centers and stay grounded in the truth of who they are, even with the chaos of everyday life, is what she hopes her students take away from the sound journeys.

“We’re all in this together,” Dzelzkalns says, referring to the plethora of alternative healing methods available. “It’s about working as a community to expand global consciousness and brotherhood and sisterhood. Hand to hand. Heart to heart. Mind to mind. Soul to soul.”

 

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