Sound Therapy Capstone: 9

Acutonics: A Sonic Approach to Acupuncture

I have been receiving acupuncture on and off for the past five years, as well as practicing Qi Gong, an ancient meditation practice from China that uses the same meridian system.  Meridians are fields within the body that function as pathways for Qi (energy) and blood to flow. Where as acupuncture uses needles on different meridian points to improve circulation and treat all sorts of health issues, a practice called Acutonics, uses vibration from tuning forks.  From what I understand some of the tuning forks are tuned to the frequencies of different planets and exposing the human body to these frequencies helps the patient become more centered, or grounded.  Acutonics also uses instruments such as Tibetan Singing Bowls placed on the patient at different meridian points.  I have not found a lot of technical information on how Acutonics works, as most practitioners are made up of energy healers and the information, to me, seems a bit vague.  Nevertheless, it is a fascinating practice and I would love to try it in the future.

Here are a couple of videos describing the fundamentals of Acutonics:




Acutonics website: http://www.acutonics.com/



Response to Session 5 audio:

This one has got to be the most powerful out of the batch of binaural beats created for this capstone.  Upon listening to this in a controlled setting with no distractions, I first noticed how straightforward the droning oscillators on either side of the headphones were.  There doesn't appear to be a lot of modulation going on.  After being exposed to these seemingly standing waves for a couple of minutes, I began to notice the incredibly fast modulation going on.  Once again, it is incredible what pops out while listening closely to the same sounds over and over again.  There was a tone resonating back and forth in the background that became more present as time progressed.  I tried to pick out and pay attention solely to that component of the piece.  About half way through the experience I noticed a strong wave of anxiety come on and my heart rate started to race, slightly fluttering.  I was now feeling disoriented and nervous.  I did not remember feeling this way when I was synthesizing the sound and listening back on studio monitors, though at the time I knew it had some weight to it.  Once the track ended I felt confused and was at a loss for words for what I experienced.  I decided to listen to it one more time, hoping that I could get to the root of why the track affected me in a drastically more negative way than the rest.  After giving it one more try I realized that binaural beats have a significantly more startling effect when they are at a more audible (less rumbling frequency) and that the stimulation that  occurs can throw the mind way off if it is not directed in a conservative manner.