The Sound of Healing

Sound therapist, Rudi Wienand, uses tuning forks and other musical instruments to correct imbalances, uncover emotions, stimulate transformation and facilitate inner harmony and wholeness. In this interview he explains why music is such a powerful tool to guide the consciousness into higher realms and induce healing.

How does the sonic micro-massage therapy work?

Specific sound frequencies, rooted in nature, are produced with a tuning fork, and induced into the body via touch. These frequencies are in accordance with the circadian rhythm and other cycles present in the body, with its natural state of health and wellbeing.

The therapeutic approach is based on the physical phenomena of resonance. The living organism can re-tune towards a harmonic state of being, through the induced frequencies that resonate throughout the inner tissues, muscles, bones, tendons and nervous system. Thus, the sound frequencies vibrate throughout the organism in a manner of a Micro-Massage, healing the body from the inside out. 

You are re-tuning the organism and restoring harmony between these outer cycles and the body’s inner rhythms… Do you have a musical background?

Yes, I started my journey into music at age 12, when I began playing the drums. For several years I was part of a rock band in Austria, which definitely saved my life. Music has   enhanced my wellbeing. 

Over the years I swapped the drums for softer instruments. In 2001, I started to use the didgeridoo to treat people directly with sound frequencies. In 2005 I moved on to tuning forks and learning about the different, specific sound frequencies that we use. 

Nowadays, I produce my own soundscapes and musical meditations with synthesizers and sequencers, with different kinds of flutes and string instruments, in order to complement the tuning fork treatments.

Tell us about your professional experience as a sound therapist, how did you get involved?

I have always had great interest in the emotional and psychological effects that music has had on me. However, the beginning of my profession as a sound therapist would be 2004. My girlfriend at that time was suffering from very bad menstrual pains, so we decided to try the didgeridoo on her. It worked so well, that friends and other people started to ask for sessions with me, or let’s be honest, with the sounds my instruments made. 

I went on to get my diploma as a tuning fork therapist in Germany, and in 2013 I wrote my first article on my professional experience working with children with severe neurologic damage in Mexico City. 

You use a tuning fork, what other kind of instruments are typically used for healing?

There is a wide range of musical instruments that can be used in sound therapy. Most popular are singing bowls, gongs, monochords and other relatively easy and intuitive playable instruments. 

For me, it has become clear, that the main factors for the optimal outcome of a treatment with sound are, the specific frequency, the physical quality of the sound, as well as the practitioners mindset. It comes down to so much more than just the instrument.

What kind of pain/illness would the tuning fork treat?

It is possible to treat a wide range of ailments with the tuning fork. I mainly work with clients suffering from chronic pain related diseases, neurological damage affecting the motor functions, insomnia, anxiety, grief and psychological issues. 

Currently, I am working at the New Life Marbella rehab facility, focusing on sleep inducing therapy for detox patients. 

What can we expect of the first session?

Reactions during and after the first session may vary, depending on the ailments and their severity. What most people do experience is a deep state of relaxation on a physical, psychological and also emotional level. If there is physical pain, it will often decrease and if there is mental or emotional stress, it will ease during the session.

The sessions would mitigate the pain, but what about the source of the pain? Could sound therapy truly heal?

To be able to get to the root of an ailment, a lot of factors need to be taken into account. For starters, I do not look at the organism and its ailments as if it were islands, separated from each other or from the surrounding environment. I will look at the organism as part of a fine web of relations and connections that interact as a whole. I believe you need to treat the whole person, not just the specific ailment. Although sometimes a broken bone is just a broken bone and we can give it good support, to help it heal faster via the sound vibration, I often find other underlying dynamics which are triggering the ailments. Approaching these deeper, mostly psychological and systemic origins of an ailment can be achieved through a series of tuning fork treatments. That’s where my passion lies, being able to accompany a person on their own healing journey. This is what makes me love my work so deeply.

Can you please share with us a testimonial /success story?

There are many, but one of my recent experiences with a client with severe insomnia and anxiety, comes to mind. During the first session, he could not let go of his phone. He was texting, searching on the internet etc, just constantly distracted. He was also constantly talking throughout the session, switching between topics. 

Initially he wasn’t interested in this kind of treatment but agreed to try it anyway.  After the first session, a noticeable overall relaxation was achieved. We continue to do three sessions in the first week, each time finding that a deeper state of relaxation was induced.  Fifteen minutes into the fourth session, he totally relaxed and fell asleep. After the following sessions, the client was able to fall asleep easily and sleep through the night, which he had not been able to do for the past couple of years.

Where can we find you?

I’m based in Marbella, offering sessions at my studio and I also do in home visits.

What would you say to someone who is sceptical about these kind of alternative therapies?

Being sceptical is not only ok, but necessary. Nowadays, more than ever, we are flooded with information and in the field of alternative therapies, gurus and neo-shamans sprout like mushrooms. So, developing a decent sense of discernment is very important. 

I would say the best thing to do is to trust your gut feeling, your intuition. Sometimes scepticism may only be a psychological defence mechanism, that shows  you that you do not want to deal with the real reason behind your ailment. Other times,  it just doesn’t feel right to work with a specific person or treatment method.

You are the only one who intuitively knows what is real and what will work for you. I would also say that sound therapy has long moved on from being a belief based adventure, to being an evidence based professional treatment option.

The Tuning Fork - Calle José Echegaray 178, San Pedro Alcántara, - +34 640 18 99 33

rudiwienand@gmail.com - www.thetuningfork.life