Let me tell you about myself: Part 3
This blog is the final part of a three-part series about Natalie's background and moments that have been the most influential and transformational in exploring sound and spirit.
Changing Careers
When I was doing my sound-healing certification and diploma course work through the Sound Healing Academy, while still teaching high school music students full time, I immediately knew that this was my calling. It changed how I approached my own personal self-care, how I approached music, and how I was able to communicate and help others who might be receptive to sound healing.
The case studies required for the diploma were the most transformative part of the training. I worked with 10 people, 4 sessions each. That’s 40 sessions, working with individuals, to document the benefits of sound healing. The word “heal” or “healer” can be problematic, as it emphasizes the practitioner, when a session is actually a collaboration, so I would prefer to say a “facilitator” rather than a “healer.” Some of the individuals I worked with in the case studies had life-changing experiences, such as overcoming lifelong social anxiety, breaking through a 10-year writing block, releasing childhood trauma, walking for the first time in 9 years without a cane. Some had what felt to them like transcendental experiences, in which they would see colors, travel to far off places. Even my Mom, who was one of my case studies and began as a skeptic, said, “Wow, this is not woo-woo at all, something really happened!” No matter how much I read and studied various protocols, techniques, and approaches, it was from the actual doing and learning by doing—the experiential immersion and feedback from the people I was working with—that I understood the power of these practices. Experience is truly the best teacher.
So how did I make the leap from being a high school teacher to being a sound healing practitioner? Another busy school year had wrapped up. It was a successful year on the surface, with an amazing orchestra trip to Europe and superior ratings at competitions. But it was also another year of exhaustion, burnout, and low personal creativity and inspiration. The one thing that filled my cup was pursuing sound healing. I was at a pivot point, with all the symptoms of confronting a huge choice. Should I wait? How would I know when the moment was right? Do I give up a stable job with good benefits? What will people think? Despite my doubts, it is true that every time I have made a major leap—each one scary—I’ve never regretted it. My sense of values, my instincts, my longing for something deeper, my desire to offer service to others were knocking very loudly at the door. Did I have all the answers? No. Did I know how I’d make the transition to being a full-time sound healing practitioner? No, but I had ideas. So when would there have been a better time? Is there ever a perfect time? I turned in my resignation to the public school district, made all the announcements to colleagues and students, and with a lot of fear and relief, I set out fully on this new path.
On a New Path
The first step was boots-on-the-ground work in my community. Sound healing was not familiar to people in general, and this was especially so in Iowa. I would offer “introduction to sound healing” talks and short sound meditations (sound baths) at as many places as possible: yoga studios, metaphysical shops, retirement homes, lecture halls, integrative medicine clinics. Initially, there’d be a few people in attendance, but within a few months I found there was so much interest that I was presenting to standing room only. I did get questions from people who were skeptical about sound healing early on. There were all kinds of reactions. I learned that the answer to the question, “what is sound healing or sound therapy?” must be tailored to the questioner. If the person had a holistic, alternative medicine background, I could compare it to Reiki—it’s like “sonic Reiki,” amplifying energy with sound. If they had no holistic experience, maybe I needed to respond with a more scientific, data-driven answer. Or, even more generally, I would point to how everyone has experienced the effects of sound and music, both from everyday experiences—the sound of rain, the ocean, the sound of an alarm clock, a siren, to music that energizes them, helps them relax, reminds them of a person or event. Or maybe they’d even experienced it medically through ultrasound or infrasound. Ultimately, skepticism would become curiosity.
Along the Ganges River, Rishikesh, India, 2017
The second step to fully committing to this new path to both practice and teach sound healing was research, reading, experiencing, and approaching music in a more purposeful and intentional way. I am definitely a “forever” learner, and now that my path is clear, I take as much training and engage in as much research as I can, going down every rabbit hole I find. Nada Yoga, the yoga of sound, was one of them. I wondered, what can that be? Yoga … and sound? Sounds good! So in 2017, just months after leaving my teaching position, I traveled to Rishikesh, India, to complete my Nada Yoga teacher training. I was immersed in classical Indian music training, learned sitar, Nada Yoga philosophy, but was most challenged by the hours of asanas. After the weeks of training, I traveled to Nepal, to explore Kathmandu, the city of temples, and check out Himalayan singing bowls. When I returned, I was determined to assimilate all I learned and to go further with my own research and practices, and within a few months I was teaching a series of Nada Yoga classes at a local yoga studio and also teaching certificate and Diploma workshops with the Sound Healing Academy.
Since then, I have expanded my learning by attending master classes and training sessions in sound, gongs, tuning forks, chanting—pretty much all the advanced training available—so that I can dig deeper. I have also explored other modalities more deeply and have become trained in Reiki, craniosacral therapy, acupressure, Qigong, advanced level certified Bio-well technology, and more. As many of us discover with these modalities, they are interconnected, they integrate well and are different ways, in alternative languages, to help people create shifts and long-lasting changes in their lives.
Sounds Heal Podcast is another aspect of continued learning. I created the podcast back in January 2019, initially as a project that allowed me to follow my own interests. I wanted to connect with others, learn different perspectives in this diverse field. Now 5 years later, with an episode each month, I have realized how vast this field is. Guests, all experts and explorers in the field of sound work have ranged widely from sound healing practitioners and music therapists, musicians and composers, to doctors, psychotherapists, inventors, and dolphin researchers. For me, the discussions and viewpoints are inspiring. Through my own passions, research, networking, recommendations from others, and people reaching out to me, I realize that the number of guests I could interview is nearly limitless. In preparation for an interview, I do a deep dive into the person’s background, which takes me in so many different directions, which leads me to all kinds of new possibilities. No matter how much advance research I’ve done to prepare, I always learn new things during the interview and find new avenues to explore. I do appreciate hearing from listeners, receiving feedback on what they have found inspiring, as well as recommendations for guests I should connect with. I am honored that this podcast has become a wide-reaching, valuable archive of information.
Sound Healing Academy Diploma Workshop, Iowa, 2019
The use of sound for healing or health and wellness goes back to antiquity and can be found around the world in ceremonies and celebrations. The field is blossoming. It could be because I’m involved in it, but it does seem as if there are more and more gong baths, sound meditations and mantra classes than ever before. When I first started teaching and offering training workshops, I was the only Sound Healing Academy–certified teacher in the US. Sometimes there were two of us, but usually it was just me. So though I was teaching mostly in the Midwest, I started to travel all over to teach. It became apparent very quickly that we needed to expand our teacher pool to other regions—I couldn’t be in more than one place at a time to meet the demand. So, I became the Lead Teacher for the Americas. Not only was I teaching workshops (training students to become practitioners) but training and mentoring teachers, to teach these workshops in their own regions. And so I am still teaching, only the settings have changed.
Offerings
Although I have traveled widely as a sound healing teacher, my practice in my own studio is ongoing. I think the primary benefit my clients talk about is how relaxing a sound session or meditation is. It creates a space that allows people to slow down, quiet the chatter in their mind. Stress, multitasking, being scattered is such a huge part of how we operate. Freeing oneself for this time to just let go, focus on sounds, space, silence and good intentions has been one of the most common benefits. The process tends to reduce stress, alleviate tension and allows for many physical, emotional, mental and spiritual benefits.
One client who came to see me was extremely depressed, not sleeping, not eating. She didn’t tell me why, and that was okay. At the beginning of a session, a client and I will set an intention, a positive goal, for the session. To me, the intention is an arrow and the sound is the aiming of the arrow. The intention is like a beacon that I return myself to during the session. Through intention-setting and the use of sound, my goal with this particular client was to release whatever she didn’t need and draw in harmony and restore health wherever I could. When we are “off,” whether because of illness, injury, or emotional difficulties, we are out of tune. Our natural vibrations have gone out of sync. The cause can be a blockage of energy or depleted or overwhelmed energy. What I found for this client, while playing a Himalayan bowl, was that she had a blockage, emotionally, at her heart. I gently worked on releasing and smoothing out the sound, suddenly the sound got very, very loud, a big crescendo from the bowl like I had never heard, and she burst out crying. She released that overwhelmed energy. We checked in the next day, and she reported that she’d had the best night’s sleep and her appetite was back. Afterward, I found out she’d had a relationship problem. This all resolved immediately, and she was back in harmony!
Others come to me specifically for physical issues. Through the use of weighted tuning forks, I can do deep tissue massage and stimulation and acupressure. This has been extremely beneficial for those with neuropathy, knee pain, tendinitis, arthritis, and neck and back pain. I have seen some sudden “miracles” from just one session with tuning forks. I have also worked with several clients to reduce tinnitus (ringing in the ears). One person had sprained an ankle, which was badly bruised and swollen. It was her accelerator foot, and she was scheduled to make a four-and-a-half hour drive the next day. After a weighted tuning fork session in the evening and another in the morning, she was able to do it, pain free. For others one session builds on another, moving toward healing. I had a client that came to see me because he was having over 20 migraines a month. With the use of weighted tuning forks, the next month he was down to 5 migraines, and the following month, none. He hasn’t had a migraine since.
One of the most rewarding kinds of outreach work I have done is with dementia residents at a local nursing home. In the advanced dementia wing, it is amazing the transformation that overcomes the residents while I am there. When I arrive, they are in their own world, some sleeping or slumped over, perhaps staring at the TV. But after a few moments of me playing the violin, they will gather around, look at each other, smile, tap their toes, clap their hands, and encourage each other to sing along. The fascinating thing is that though so many memories have disappeared for them, the lyrics and melodies are still there. The songs remain! So from seeing them seemingly isolated, confused, frustrated, lethargic when I arrive, by the time I leave, I see clarity, positivity, and movement. Sometimes they dance with their caretakers!
Public Sound Bath, Cedar Rapids Public Library, December 2023
I’ve enjoyed offering public events at conferences, libraries, yoga studios, corporations, festivals and many other settings. Each event offers me an opportunity to consider what might be best for the situation, attendees, and intention of whomever invited me. Though the instruments I bring, the layout and structure of the event are prepared in advance, much of how the event progresses is intuitive and within the moment. Often after the group events, individuals will come up to me and comment about what they’ve experienced. It is always wonderful to have people share their impressions with me, as each person can have a widely varying experience. And they may not be aware how much my sense of what is happening in the space affects how I shape the session. I very much am directed by the intention of the session, my intuition, and how the energies of the people and sounds in the space interact.
I’m sure I benefit as much from the process as those who attend the sessions do. When I’m offering a sound healing session, I’m extremely intent—it feels as if I’m moving in slow motion. For me, the result of this intense focus is often an enhancement of self-awareness. I'm more likely to catch myself when I slip into negative self-talk or a bad habit and to realize that I have many tools to transmute whatever it may be. I do think I probably started this journey for my own transformation, and once things did set in and shift in my life, I couldn’t imagine not then offering these tools and helping bring these powerful and practical sound and wellness practices to others. I have become more motivated and do my best to be grateful rather than overwhelmed by all the possibilities that have opened up. I definitely find I have more confidence, more care and compassion, better communication, and clearer expression from a deeper level.
—Natalie Brown
