RI: Now, Healing Sounds is getting its 30th Anniversary publication. Can you explain its longevity?
JG: At the time it was first published, Healing Sounds became quite a success—particularly in England. It has continued to stay in print and now with this 30th Anniversary Edition, I believe a continued sonic rebirth may occur. With over half a dozen books and 30 award winning recordings, I seem to have effectively shared a whole lot of positive vibrations in the world. I estimate personally teaching tens of thousands of people about sound and music for healing. What a blessing.
There were a lot of concepts introduced in Healing Sounds that seem to have become mainstays in the sound healing tradition. At the time of its initial release, it was being advertised alongside Deepak Chopra’s books. Thirty years ago, it really took off. I think it really laid the foundation for much of the extraordinary interest in sound healing that has manifested lately. For example, in the book, one of the subjects I focus on is the use of harmonically related vowel sounds to resonate the chakras. This is found in the chapter “Vowels as Mantra” and at the time, it was truly new. When I google “vowels as mantra” now, I find the system I created and pioneered is being utilized all over the internet. And most of the time, it’s just taken for granted and universally accepted. But it came from Healing Sounds. I am honored and grateful that it’s been so widely accepted by so many.
Another example is my understanding of how sound can be used to heal. This premise actually came from one of my mentors, Dr. Peter Guy Manners, creator of Cymatic Therapy which uses direct application of sound on the body for healing. The basic idea is that everything in the universe is in a state of vibration. This is something that our ancient mystics and our quantum physicists agree upon. From the electrons moving around the nucleus of an atom to planets in distant galaxies moving around their suns, everything is in a state of vibration and thus, conceptually at least, creating a sound. This includes our bodies—every organ, bone and tissue is in a state of vibration. When we are in a state of health—sound health—we are like this overall orchestra that’s playing the “Suite of the Self.” But what happens if the 2nd violin player loses their sheet music? The string player begins to play the wrong notes. Soon the string section is off. And then the entire orchestra is affected.
It’s as though a part of our body has lost its natural healthy resonant frequency—it’s vibrating out of harmony, out of balance and out of ease and we say it is diseased. The basic idea of sound healing is to somehow restore the correct resonant frequency back to that part of the body. It’s that simple and that profound. This idea is the basis of many alternative therapies including chiropractic, acupuncture, aromatherapy, homeopathy, chromatherapy and more. These are all different approaches to restoring the correct resonance to what ever is vibrating out of harmony. Healing Sounds presents various aspects of sound to do this, including harmonics.
There are many aspects of sound that continue to be of extraordinary importance to our understanding of how sound can be used to heal and transform. And many unique exercises and techniques in the book that can be embraced by the population of readers interested in sound. This is probably the main reason why the book continues to resonate with so many. And there are so many powerful secrets that have yet to be found and unveiled by new readers.
