This article opens new vistas in the field of healing...
“An ear of mind withdrawn from the outward’s rhyme
Discovered the seed-sounds of the eternal Word,
The rhythm and music heard that built the worlds,
And seized in things the bodiless Will to be. (1) “
The origin of creation is sound. Music or harmony is the source and origin
of nature (2). It is life itself. Jalal-ud-Din Rumi, Sufi Master and poet,
says,
“All day and night, music,
a quiet, bright
reed song. If it
fades, we fade” (3).
Music is beauty. It can lead us into the mystical state beyond words. Helen
Bonny (1985), a music therapist and founder of the Bonny Method of Guided
Imagery and Music (GIM), describes music as,
“the language of immediacy” (4). She says,
“Music as a medium of the moment can be an ‘opener of the doors of perception´”
(5).
At that moment,
“you break the barriers of limitation into All-That-Is” (6). The Mother
says,
“ music is one of the methods of inner opening and one of the most powerful”
(7).
Since words cannot truly express the experience of music, to make the written
words of these pages come alive, feel free to resonate with your own experiences
of music. Let yourself be with the music that takes you beyond, the music
of your heart. The Mother says,
“The role of music lies in helping the consciousness to uplift itself towards
the spiritual heights”(8).
Themes
In the field of music therapy, the inherent qualities of music are used
to facilitate transformation and growth. The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery
and Music (GIM) is a music therapy method developed by Dr. Helen Bonny in
the 1970’s. She (2002) says, GIM is, “a process of listening to classical
music in a deeply relaxed state of consciousness to stimulate imagery, feelings,
memories that lead the client to psychological and spiritual transformation”
(9).
In the first part, the GIM method will be introduced. This is followed by
a presentation of a study of experiences of energy and light, evoked during
the music journey of the GIM session.
The seeds of this study are found in my own GIM experiences of energy and
light. These experiences had a profound and transformational effect, as
well as led me to the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. When patients
started to have similar experiences, a question based on the therapeutic
process in a clinical setting, emerged: how does the experience of energy
and/or light influence the person/the experience of the person? To answer
this question, 140 experiences of energy and/or light were explored.
The Bonny method
In the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), Western classical
music is used to facilitate healing and growth. Grounded in her own mystical
experience while playing the violin, Bonny was inspired to find a way for
others to be ‘infused’ (10) by music in a similar way. Participating in
a research project at Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, in which the
clinical applications of mind-altering drugs were explored, Bonny enhanced
her knowledge of the holding and expanding effects of music on the consciousness
of a person, as well as its healing potential. Out of this work, the GIM
method developed. Today, the method is practiced in several countries, i.e.
the US, Canada, Australia, Germany and Sweden.
The GIM session
In an encounter with music, the state of listening influences the experience.
Lamb says,
“Music jealously guards her deepest secrets. She yields them only to those
who listen with full concentration. To these she extends a life-nourishing
embrace” (11).
The GIM experience starts with a relaxation of the body. The intention of
the relaxation is to help the person to let go of the body and mind, and
open up for a deeper and more focused state of listening. The journey into
a receptive and altered state of consciousness begins. The Mother says,
“the best way of listening is to be like a still mirror and very concentrated,
very silent” (12).
After the relaxation, the traveller moves into a state of visualization.
An image is either introduced by the therapist or emerges naturally from
within the person. While the person is experiencing and exploring the imagery,
the music is introduced.
With the music as a companion and guide, the inner journey of the traveller
expands. By letting the richness of the music fully enter one’s awareness
and by exploring the imagery, emotions, memories that are evoked, the experience
deepens and develops. When music touches the deeper aspects of one’s being,
the core and inherent nature of the music can be revealed and experienced.
The Mother says, “If you listen well and let yourself go, you move on and
glide, glide into a psychic consciousness.... One can easily glide within
it and climb back to the psychic origin of music” (13).
The effect of music listening as used during the GIM session is described
by Bonny and Savary. They say,
“Music listened to in altered states of consciousness can bring out things
in you that nothing or no one has ever previously elicited. Many describe
the experience as full of insight; others find a healing force; some let
the music take them to unexplored provinces of the psyche; while for others
it provides a heightened awareness to their ordinary world” (14).
During the music journey, the traveller communicates his/her experiences
to the therapist.
Western classical music is rich in harmony, melody, rhythm, timbre, dynamics,
tension and resolution. It is holding. Like a mother, it can soothe, rock
and reassure the traveller about the safety and beauty of existence. It
may also stimulate the person to explore and uncover unknown areas of consciousness.
At the beginning of a piece, the music introduces a mood or a feeling. Through
a development of the various elements of the music, the mood is altered
and a complex musical elaboration takes place. This melodic and harmonic
complexity supports and encourages the person to move deeper and explore
the secrets of the inner realm. He/she may connect with memories and deep
feelings, work through inner conflicts and tension, expand into transpersonal
realms, etc. As the music moves towards resolution, the traveller is guided
towards reaching an inner state of resolution of the experience that is
currently explored. A transformation, a new understanding or perspective
emerges. Through this exploration and expansion, the core of one’s being
may shine through and be experienced. The music moves the person to the
depths, where a taste of the Divine is offered.
“I caught the echoes of a word supreme
And metred the rhythm-beats of infinity
And listened through music for the
eternal Voice (15).”
The music that is used during GIM consists of a sequence of classical works.
After the session is completed, a verbal dialogue usually takes place between
the traveller and the therapist for a process of integration to begin.
GIM therapy has been shown to enhance — “self-understanding, therapeutic
goals and spiritual transformation” (16).
In this process of growth, experiences of a transpersonal nature play an
important role. In the next section, the experiences of energy and light
are explored. As an exploration based on clinical work, I hope it will also
offer a glimpse into the nature of GIM experiences.
The influence of experiences of energy and/ or light
The material of this study is based on 140 experiences of energy/light of
four people: three clients and myself. Each experience has been explored
separately, asking the question: how does the experience of energy and/or
light influence the person/the experience of the person? During a GIM session,
the therapist writes down the experience of the traveller, expressed during
the journey in the music. The experiences of energy/light are based on these
written transcripts.
In exploring the question mentioned above, patterns emerged, i.e. the energy/light
influences the body of the person. Each pattern (category) will be presented,
followed by a selection of examples. In some cases, only the part of the
experience that exemplifies the specific category is presented. At other
times, a larger extent of the experience is introduced, to offer a greater
context. While reading, you may ask yourself the question: isn’t category
two a natural consequence of the experience expressed in number three? That
may very well be true. This exploration focuses only on the person’s expression
of his/her experience at that moment in time. An experience may also fit
in more than one category at the same time.
I am now opening a door to experiences that are precious to the owners.
Let us tread the territory with gracious and thoughtful steps. How does
the experience of energy and/or light influence the person, the experience
of the person?
1. Energy/light influences the body
Sometimes, the energy/light influences the subtle energies of the body.
At other times, a more concrete change in the physical body is described.
"Yellow energy is coming in, re-arranging my whole body ..."
"Red energy from earth is coming up my feet and legs. The energy
is working to get through the belly, pelvis area. It is stuck there. It's
working on it. I'm taking off my clothes at the same time. The energy moves
up. It is locked at the top of the head. There's a lid. Red energy is trying
to break through it. A wooden lid. I try to get it off with my hands. It
needs fire to burn it."
"It's like I'm in a cave and I can expand and then go up to the surface.
Energy is working on me, helping my body to be a container.
When the energy came up to my head, it opened the lid without force."
"A big cross with a very powerful energy is coming down from the
sky.... I'm in the big, big cross. I'm floating in it and it's floating
in me. I can feel the energy of the cross within me. It's like it's getting
the other energy out [the existing energy of the body] and this energy in.
It's totally changing something."
"A person came - Jesus.... He is putting his hands on my right arm
and leg healing them. I feel energy from his hands. He wants me to let him
in. I'll try."
"Jesus is becoming a part of me and I become bigger, because his
field [energy field] is larger. He is still working on different parts of
my body, because the vibration of his energy is higher."
"I feel the energy going through a barrier, that I have between my
legs and feet."
"Energy is moving from underneath. The goddess says: 'Just go into
it.' It is all around me, the different colors and sounds, too. I'm bigger
and it is all in my body. I'm slowly expanding. All the water and all the
landscapes are in my body. Outer space, too."
"I'm being hooked up to the bigger mind [purple energy] through a
spiral - to re-charge my body and mind - to keep myself on that high level."
"There is gold pouring into my body. Light all around too - a white
light. I notice that my body is different. Many layers of myself. Not bodies.
I don't know what it is."
"Pain in my shoulders and back. Light is entering my whole body -
chi or... 'You are not supposed to be scared of the darkness. You are to
take in the light.' It feels good in the body. The light will heal me. It
feels warm in my whole body. The heavy load on my shoulders is gone."
"Everything is red - a red light. It comes in waves. Into the body,
too. It is warm. My body feels more flexible."
"I'm lying down in the air somehow. I'm big. Yellow energy coming
into my body. I don't really experience boundaries of my body. It's really
beautiful."
"The intense light is coming over and over again. It creates heat.
It is re-fuelling me, charging my batteries."
When the energy/light enters the experience, the body sometimes becomes
more tense. As the energy continues to flow, the body relaxes.
"Here is the light again. A warm and comfortable energy. It is a
re-fuelling of energy. Oh, what a light! Tension in my back and the jaws.
The light is creating the tension. It is not an uncomfortable light. Now
I'm relaxed."
"I'm in a green light. It is sometimes changing into blue. It feels
warm in the body, like electricity. Especially in the right side of my body.
I was tense like hell for a while. It felt like my right leg became longer,
but now it is relaxed. It is pulsating in my fingers. It almost hurts. My
whole arm is pulsating. It's almost burning.... An intense light. It gives
me energy. I feel lighter."
"The light is flowing into my stomach and chest, down into the feet.
Electricity. A white, blue, light - blue light. Pretty cold. The body is
becoming more stiff. It gives me tension. I'm tense all over. It has changed
color now; yellow, golden. Warm and nice. I'm more relaxed. I have had a
pressure over my eyes. It is almost gone now. Now the energy is more red.
Like a bed of live coal. The intensity is shifting. It's easing the pressure."
"Everything is light. But it felt sad and heavy. It felt like my
head was going to explode. I feel it in my head and back. The light can
take away the discomfort. The pain disappeared."
