No matter what we’re dealing with in life, one easy and proven de-stressing technique is working with sounds that heal, in other words, using a process known as integral sound healing.
Sound as a therapeutic tool has been used since ancient times. Different healing frequencies and sounds can effect different parts of our mind and body. When this is done in an intentional way, it can greatly improve our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health.
In this article, we will talk to one of our wonderful Sound Healing Academy Associate Teachers, Eric Lindstrom, about his story of embracing healing sounds as part of his daily life.
How Healing Sounds Became An Important Part Of Life: By Eric Lindstrom
Eric Lindstrom is a Sound Healing Associate Teacher at the Academy, running sound healing workshops in North Carolina. He has had a colourful and interesting background since a young age, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to learn all about it from him!
What’s your background & how did your journey with healing sounds start?
I’ve been an explorer in ways of seeing for many years. I first found myself on the path of working in the healing arts eight years ago. Upon reflection, I realize that this path began many years before.
My mother worked at the International School Of Bangkok in Thailand early in life. There, I found myself immersed in a completely different world. Living in Thailand with its busy markets, filled with smells and sounds, its beautiful Buddhist temples with incense and chanting, and its royal palaces of ornate architecture and extensive history opened my eyes to different ways of being.
I had the opportunity to travel throughout Southeast Asia during this time, visiting India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, and a temple across the border in Tibet. The experience was profound. Those times established a foundation that would influence a lifelong journey of spiritual discovery and ways of healing.
I returned to America changed!
When I attended college, I studied Cultural Anthropology, concentrating on shamanic practices and traditional healing ceremonies. Throughout this journey, music has been in my heart. I have expressed myself creatively through music for over 20 years. I toured as a guitarist, gigged as a drummer, and now I play percussion in a marimba band, playing the traditional music of Zimbabwe.
Always seeking new ways of expression, I have expanded my playing with frame drums, African drums, handpans, Native American flutes, harmoniums, and any other instruments whose healing sounds frequencies draw me in.
I’ve worn many hats throughout my life: chef, landscaping, and sales, but I’ve always circled back to sound. I found the Sound Healing Academy and knew I had found a way to use my experience and skills. Through sound healing, I find that each of the facets of my being come together in a way that is both beautiful and beneficial to others. Using sound as a healing modality is an alchemy of personal experience and spiritual development.
It is the heart at the center, held with the palm of compassion for others. The elements of sound as a healing modality are ancient and rooted in connection. I am grateful for each experience, for they have taught me about connection, holding space and being present.
How has sound healing integrated into your life in the past few years?
The past few years have brought many changes in my life, and sound healing has been integral to adapting and moving with those changes.
Developing a relationship with healing sound is a practice and a meditative process. Working with others has revealed how amazing and efficacious this modality truly is. Each day brings new challenges, and centring on the vibrations helps me maintain a positive perspective and outlook.
As I continue this practice, I find all aspects of my life are influenced. My awareness of the surrounding sound field and my part in it continues to grow. In these subtle relationships, sound reveals itself as a magnificent information source and tool for understanding the human experience.
How have healing sounds impacted your family life?
My family is so incredibly supportive!
Healing sounds brought my wife and me together in a unique way. She opened a studio for the healing arts in 2018. As a gift for her opening, I gave her a gong, which was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. We began doing collaborative events, and eventually, our connection grew, and in a beautiful ceremony in the woods in 2020, we got married.
Our vows were made over a crystal singing bowl filled with water. We sounded the bowl together to consecrate our union, and the water was held as sacred and drank on special occasions to renew our commitment. On our wedding altar, we had a series of Himalayan singing bowls with fire offerings for each guest to ring and chose an offering. To close our ceremony, we circled together and chanted a mantra. Sound was an integral part of honoring and solidifying our connection.
Also, the birth of our child was supported by drumming and song. She first experienced sound in the womb as my wife, and I chanted mantras and sang songs to her. I introduced concepts of sound healing to help regulate my daughter, encouraging her to sleep when she was just a few months old. She has become fascinated by sound and has an incredible sense of it.
At just two years old, she asks to play the Himalayan bowls regularly and the gong. She has her drums and Native American flute. It is so wonderful to see her exploring sound, chanting mantras with us, and expressing herself creatively by writing songs.
What positive experiences have you had since working with healing sounds?
There have been many positive experiences on my journey with healing sounds.
Clients have expressed deeply profound revelations that have come forward during a session, as well as in dreams that have occurred following them. Others have experienced reduced pain and inflammation, increased mobility, mental clarity, blood pressure reduction and stress relief.
It is so fulfilling to know that through these sound experiences, healing and helping others are possible!
Any advice for people that wish to pursue a similar path?
The best advice I can offer to those who would like to pursue the healing modality of sound is to follow their heart!
Many can make sounds with a crystal bowl or other sound healing instrument, but the true work begins in the heart. It is important to educate yourself about working with sound and truly connect with the modalities you hold in your hands.
The Sound Healing Academy has been an incredible resource for me. Through their educational programs and the integral sound healing method, I’ve found guidance, great courses and wonderful support.
Listen to your heart, and you will be in tune with your path!
Final Thoughts
It is wonderful to see how sound healing can truly transform one’s life in such a positive and powerful way!
If you want to find out more from our teacher’s stories with healing sounds, make sure to read our articles on: