The gentle pulse of our mother's heartbeat is the first sound we encounter as humans, while we are still in the womb. Much like a shamanic drumbeat, that heartbeat soothed us, nourished us, and resonated with the rhythm of our own newly-formed heart. After that, it was human voices that held us. Lullabies. Laughter. Our caretaker's words. Those sounds comforted us in a vast world that was still unfamiliar and daunting.
 
It was also the sounds of nature that welcomed us to the Earth. The birds. The wind. The rain. The stars. (Yes, if you listen closely enough, the stars sound like twinkling chimes.) All of the natural world shares with us its melody - and we, too, contribute to that orchestra, as all beings contribute their rhythms. 

Sound creates movement; they go hand in hand. The rustling of a tree branch swaying in the wind, the splattering of rain drops into abstract shapes on your window - and you, dancing, free and aligned with the beat of your favorite song. Sound moves us as it moves through us.
 
Sound is sacred and believed by many spiritual traditions to be the catalyst of all creation. The old testament of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam states: "In the beginning, there was the Word," and that was all. In Hinduism, the word "Om" (AUM) is believed to be the primordial sound of creation - the original vibration of the entire universe, existing even before forms came into being. Aristotle and the Pythagoras discussed musica universlis, a philosophical concept regarding the movement of the celestial bodies and the divine music they created as they slowly twirled. Whether the practice be ancient or contemporary, most spiritual traditions incorporate songs, musical instruments, mantras, dance, hymns, or chants into their meditations and prayers. 

Because of its primordial, natural, resonant, poetic nature, sound is medicine for the soul. But not only is the soul affected by sound, so too are the mind and body. There is a science to sound therapy. When we are stressed, our body becomes flooded with hormones that make it difficult to self-soothe, access creative problem-solving skills, and make aligned choices reflective of our truths. One of the most powerful yet gentle ways to exit that discordant state is through sound. Our bodies respond so well to the vibrational frequencies of sound because there are 30 trillion cells inside us, and all of those cells are naturally vibrating at their own, innate frequencies. Cilia, the antenna-like structures on the surface of cells, respond harmoniously to specific healing frequencies; and then, quite therapeutically, our cells begin to produce nitric oxide to signal the surrounding muscles to relax. As the nervous system also becomes soothed, there is a deeper sense of ease throughout the body and mind, and we become better able to process our inner worlds with self-love and clarity. We become more opened to our own deep wisdom found within.