Singing Bowl Therapy for Stressed Elephants

I love animals, and I am passionate about helping people live an inspired and resilient life.  When my friend Sharon Carne shared this blog with me, I knew I needed to post it here for you to see.  What a great perspective on managing stress.

A good friend of mine found a video called “Bowls for Elephants” and shared it with me a few days ago. It touched my heart so deeply I felt you would love to see this.

The video, Bowls for Elephants, is about the Patara Elephant Farm in Thailand. This farm specializes in rescuing domestic elephants from difficult circumstances and bringing them to health.

Many of these elephants have been mistreated, traumatized and deeply stressed.

In this film they are documenting the response of several of their most stressed elephants to the sound of singing Tibetan and Crystal bowls.

How incredible to watch one nervous and frightened elephant physically relax and bond with the player of the bowls.

And all of this happened in only a couple of minutes! Wow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlGQwb54tNQ

What I also find so fascinating is that the response of the elephant is the same response I see in humans who experience the sound of the singing Tibetan and Crystal bowls.

What does this look like?

Tight muscles relax.

Breathing slows down.

The mind quiets.

Circulation improves.

Hormones are released that triggers the body’s natural healing response.

The body instinctively returns to its healthy natural patterns.

Symptoms of stress dissolve.

We create deeper bonds with others.

We feel more connected with the natural world.

I could go on and on with this list.

Singing Tibetan bowls have been around for thousands of years. There is good reason for this.

A carved singing crystal bowl has been found in Egypt dating back to 1700 BCE. The ancient Egyptians used sound as one of their main healing modalities.

This is not new.

Throughout our history on this planet, our ancestors (all over the planet) KNEW that the human body is a resonator for sound. It responds to certain sounds with a natural healing response, bringing the body, mind, emotions and spirit back into harmony.

I encourage you to search out a bowl or other sound healing tool. Hold it in your hand and make a sound with it.

MOST IMPORTANTLY – FEEL the vibrations of this sound travel through your body.

For travel through your body it does. ALL sound travels through your body.

The right sound feels EXQUISITE traveling through your body. And your body responds with a natural healing response.

Sharon Carne, BMus, M.F.A. is an author, speaker, musician, recording artist, sound healer, Reiki master and consultant. Sharon is the founder of Sound Wellness, whose programs are at the forefront of education in how sound and music can be easily applied to your everyday life - to reduce stress, help you concentrate, energize you, inspire you, support your health and so much more. www.soundwellness.com

Wired for Sound

 Big appreciation to my guest blogger today, Sharon Carne!  Enjoy

There are so many common sense ways to use music and sound to reduce stress, create more focus, enhance creativity and make your days easier.

The human body is a natural resonator for sound. We are deeply and intimately wired for sound – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Let’s take a closer look at a few examples of our wiring for sound:

1. Sound moves through the more fluid parts of your body four and a half times faster than it moves through the air. And twelve times faster through your bones.

2. Rhythm changes your heartbeat, breathing and brainwaves. This is called entrainment. The music playing in the grocery store changes your heartbeat. And you can’t turn off this response.

3. Hearing is the first sense that develops in the fetus. Sound stimulates the growth of the nervous system.

4. Hormones are released whenever we play music or sing together – feel good hormones, hormones that bond us together into communities and hormones that help keep us healthy.

Let’s take a closer look at stress and what it is.

The quote below is from an article called “Stress Symptoms, Signs and Causes.” If you want to learn more about the symptoms of stress, I recommend you check out the whole article: http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.htm

“When you perceive a threat, your nervous system responds by releasing a flood of stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones rouse the body for emergency action.  Your heart pounds faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, breath quickens, and your senses become sharper. These physical changes increase your strength and stamina, speed your reaction time, and enhance your focus – preparing you to either fight or flee from the danger at hand.”

Now, this physical response can be handy in the short term if you are giving a presentation at work, need to focus when you are driving, in a sports competition, etc.

The key here is short term. In the long term, a constant stream of stress hormones in your body is extremely damaging, not only to your health, but to every part of your life.

To put this in perspective – up to 90% of visits to the doctor in Canada are because of stress related conditions. That’s a big number.

There are many ways to reduce stress.

Because of our intimate wiring for sound – at all levels – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual – most of us intuitively reach for sound or music to reduce stress. 

It’s our common sense response – because it works.

Have you ever put on your favorite piece of music after a tough day?

Do you listen to music while driving to or from work?

A good friend of my husband’s listens to hard rock on the way home from work. He intuitively found that the low bass and heavy beat helped him discharge after work.

But it really bugged him when he started his car in the morning and this hard rock blasted from the radio. He really likes light classical music in the morning to help him focus for the day.

Check out #2 above. Music changes your heartbeat. Stress causes an elevated heartbeat – and blood pressure.

Music with low sounds and slow rhythms creates relaxation. Because it slows down your heartbeat, brain and breathing.

We all know that. And we all use it. It’s common sense and intuitive.

However - KNOWING exactly what music to choose - that works for you (we are all different in our response to music) - takes common sense and intuition to a whole new level of EFFECTIVENESS in managing stress.

Here’s another example.

We all sigh when we are upset. It’s an automatic response every one of us has.

What a really good sigh ACTUALLY does is stimulate the brain to release endorphins that help your body reduce stress, heal or manage pain.

You can MAXIMIZE the EFFECTIVENESS of a sigh by using your voice consciously.

Your own voice is the most powerful healing tool you have. Your voice carries every frequency of your body. Your voice resonates every cell of your body with every sound that you make.You have it with you all the time and it costs you nothing to use.And the best part - it creates an instant response in the body, mind and emotions and spiritual connection.

Try this.....

Put your hands on your upper chest. Feel the bones of your sternum and ribs under your palms. Take a deep breath. Feel the air in the bottom of your lungs. Now release the air with a long ahhhh. Like a waterfall. The way you would say ahhhh when you say, “Ahhhh, what a cute puppy!” 

When you add a SINGING tone to the ahhhh, the sound vibrations in your body and the resulting health benefits are focused and amplified.
Common sense stress reduction.
And it only takes a few seconds.

Sharon Carne, BMus, M.F.A. is an author, speaker, musician, recording artist, sound healer, Reiki master and consultant. Sharon is the founder of Sound Wellness, whose programs are at the forefront of education in how sound and music can be easily applied to your everyday life - to reduce stress, help you concentrate, energize you, inspire you, support your health and so much more. www.soundwellness.com

The Food That Increases Your Sales

Bouncing Forward and being resilient involves taking care of yourself involves a number of activities that promote health such as....

• getting enough sleep
• ensuring you get fresh air and sunlight
• drinking enough water (I don't mean coffee)
• exercise 
• and of course eating healthy.  

Today's guest post is from Sheevaun Moran.  Thank you Sheevaun for sharing your tips on how certain foods can actually enhance your functioning.... and your sales.

 

 

Did you know that there are foods that keep you from having more abundance or money in your life? Did you know that eating some foods can help you be more stubborn, irritated, fearful, anxious and procrastinate. If you didn’t then read further.

 

There are many things we put into our bodies that create good and not so good reactions and when we begin to truly pay attention to these things is when we are humming at our best. The challenge is that we aren’t paying close enough attention to what goes into the mouth. I mean, we aren’t paying attention to the fact that what we put in our mouth and the reaction of runny nose, fearfulness, lethargy or upset stomach is all related to what was put into the mouth.

 

When you eat food that is cleaner, meaning without chemicals, and then you put a chemicalized food into your body the energy will dip and so do your finances. The body and the life actually give you signals. There are no exceptions to this. Chemicals in the food result in the body being puffy the next day or feeling drugged.

 

High vibration foods are any foods that are living and organic. I mean that eating salads is good, eating fruit is good AND eating a good combination of both is ideal. It can be challenging to start to incorporate greens into the meals but the easiest way I’ve found, and recommended to thousands, is taking a supergreen. This is a blend of greens that you put into an apple juice so that you can handle the reaction that your brain may have. Then, as you gain more confidence with this you can begin adding greens in various ways – juicing and experimenting with adding different greens than you’ve been accustomed to such as kale, wheatgrass, sea greens, basil, etc.

 

For more on foods and attracting wealth into your life click here.

 

I have a client who ate completely organic food and incorporated 50% more greens and added a dose of supergreens and his company sales grew by 20%. I’ve seen this with other people in real estate and sales. Prove it to yourself by trying this for 10 days and see what happens for you. Let me know your results.

 

Sheevaun Moran is an author, keynote speaker, transformation expert and uses energy to help CEO’s and entrepreneurs achieve their dreams and goals. Fifteen years and thousands of clients are out there living their dreams as a result of Sheevaun’s work. She can be found at http://sheevaunmoran.com

Workplace Wellness at its Best! Move with Purpose!

Move with Purpose! Workplace Wellness at its Best!  Take the stairs, sprint for the bus, take the long way to the photocopier, walk at lunch, these are just a few simple ways to increase movement and improve wellness in the workplace said Tara Marie Segundo when I interviewed her on my Conversations with Charmaine Radio Show. You can listen here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/charmainehammond/2012/06/06/guests-tara-marie-segundo-and-azim-khamisa

Like with many things, it comes down to number crunching. Basically we have 168 hours per week. Tara Marie stated that even if you exercise 4 hours that still leaves 164 hours. If you sleep for 8 hours per day that total 56 hours in a week, so you are still left with 108 hours in the week to be active. Here are some simple strategies to improve your movement: Stand while you are on the phone. Keep your water away from your desk so you have to get up every 20 minutes for a drink. Take the long way to your meetings. Run the stairs at lunch.

Tara Marie has enjoyed learning how our bodies work, and how much control we actually have over our health and how we age. You get energy from giving it. Smart companies get the importance of health in the workplace. They know that healthy employees are engaged, productive, happier and more likely to stay and perform well. Healthy employees use less sick days and have less chance of chronic health issues.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/charmainehammond/2012/06/06/guests-tara-marie-segundo-and-azim-khamisa


What are you doing to move with purpose?

Move With Purpose... another way to Bounce Forward and Be Resilient!

Tara Marie Segundo said... Move with Purpose!

Even if it is tough to carve out chunks of time to hit the gym, Tara Marie Segundo offered some great tips about how to build more activity into your day by moving with purpose.  Workplace wellness and health is critical for a business or team success.  

Take the stairs, sprint for the bus, basically we have 168 hours per week.  If you exercise 4 hours that still leaves 164 hours.  If you sleep for 8 hours per day that is 56 hours so that leaves 108 hours in the week to be active.  Stand while you are on the phone. Keep your water away from your desk so you have to get up every 20 minutes for a drink.

Tara Marie, a fitness and health expert,  has enjoyed learning how our bodies work, and how much control we actually have over our health and how we age. She said that building purposeful movement into a workday can change an office environment.  You get energy from giving it. Smart companies get the importance of health in the workplace. They know that healthy employees are engaged, productive, happier and more likely to stay and perform well.  Healthy employees use less sick days and have less chance of chronic health issues. 

Listen to Tara Marie's tips about building health and wellness in the workplace here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/charmainehammond/2012/06/06/guests-tara-marie-segundo-and-azim-khamisa

Some of my corporate clients have created great strategies to build resilience, boost workplace wellness and focus on health:

- lunchtime walking clubs

- health food choices in vending machines

- monthly health talks with community health experts

- corporate health challenges

- free gym memberships for employees

- treadmill in the lunchroom

- pedometer challenges

- ride your bike to work day

What are you doing to improve wellness ad health in the workplace, I would love to hear your ideas and strategies. 

Are you in charge of your health?

Workplace health and wellness is an important topic, and is an essential in a resilient team!
Being in charge of your health, or being the CEO of your health, as Dr. Larry Ohlhauser calls it, it critical. Each of us is responsible for our own health, and must learn to listen to our body, and the many clues that it gives us. When you are in charge of your health, it is more likely that you are happier, and of course healthier.

A few actions to jump into right away can being slowing the pace down and making the lifestyle changes necessary to enjoy good health. Dr. Larry Ohlhauser stated that 75% of the premature deaths as a result of stroke, heart attacks are preventable!

In business, it is important to provide wellness programs where possible so that employees are learning about healthy lifestyle choices, health and wellness. We must take an inventory of our health, in these areas:

- Smoking

- Alcohol use

- Diet

- Sedentary behavior

- Stress

What can you do to bring a little more activity, health, freshair and wellness into your life? How about into your team and business? 

Just like in business, build a plan for the next 90 days. It could be reducing the amount of caffeine or pop you drink, increasing your activity levels and exercise, or reducing stress. Little steps go a long way in making you the CEO of your health and life!

Listen to Larry here http://www.blogtalkradio.com/charmainehammond/2012/04/11/guests-dr-larry-ohlhauser-and-graham-white

Larry's book, The Healthy CEO is a fabulous read and a must for leaders, business owners, entrepreneurs...ok....anyone!!  Buy Larry’s book The Healthy CEO here: