The borders between land and water, mountain and sky and forest and plain have long been considered to hold special meaning and have been honoured with offerings, shrines and temples for millennia. As we emerge from lock-down we find ourselves at another significant crossing place and many of us are feeling anxious as we move into this new phase. In …
After our very successful sleep and anxiety courses in 2020, we are truly delighted to bring to you our brand new course on Insight Timer, How singing can boost your immune system. With the Covid-19 pandemic taking its toll on many of us over the past year, it’s more important than ever right now to keep our immune system at …
As a holistic therapist I always consider the mind, body and emotions when I’m working with a client. A lot of healing (or ‘wholing as I prefer to call it) can be done through reflective practice and releasing resistant thoughts but over the last 35 years or so of clinical practice, I have seen many people get to a point where …
At The British Academy of Sound Therapy (BAST), we use different kinds of soundscape for a range of different therapeutic outcomes. But what is a Soundscape and what is the therapeutic benefits of performing or interacting with one? What is a soundscape? There are different types of soundscape. Bernie Krauss, the grandfather of soundscape recorders, began archiving natural soundscapes from …
A tone poem is a simple song made from non-sensical language. They need to be easy to sing and join in with and simple to share. The aim is to unite people in song, dissolve barriers and open hearts and minds. Tone poems are non-sensical words because this echoes the sharing of language that would have happened as people met …
Mental health is important at every stage of your life, it includes your emotional, psychological, and social well-being and affects how you think, feel, the choices you make and your behaviour. It also has an influence on how you bounce back from difficult situations that we all face from time to time. If you are feeling anxious or overwhelmed, you …
I’m very pleased to say that I have now created a sleep track called ‘SOMNUS’ and I’d love you to be among the first to hear it! Somnus is the Roman god of sleep so when thinking of a name for the track it seemed appropriate. There are two versions – SOMNUS X (10 minutes) and SOMNUS V (5 minutes). SOMNUS …
A blog by Lyz Cooper It is thought that the Hominins of the Middle Pleistocence era (781,000 – 126,000 years ago) were capable of vocalisation, making the voice one of the oldest instruments in existence. Over the hundreds of thousands of years that have followed we have evolved many neural pathways, giving rise to a vastly expressive voicescape that has …
Written in 1884, Root refers to the healing power of the voice – in this case both physically and emotionally. Fast forward almost 135 years and we now know more than ever before about the healing potential of the human voice. Sound and voice therapy are in the midst of a boom – there is now so much interest as …
There is a growing understanding of the positive impact that arts-based therapeutic sessions can have on health and wellbeing. There are now many different organisations championing the arts for health and wellbeing in many different ways – from organising trips to museums with exhibits that partially sighted people can touch, to knitting for good mental health – there are so …
This year I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the studio working on a brand new relaxation programme incorporating therapeutic music and sound therapy. This programme is called ‘LifeSonics Relax’ and it will be launched in the New Year. I’ve written two albums, ‘Cosmic’ and ‘Glow’ and there are another two in the pipeline. Over the next few months …
Do you use music in your therapy room? If so, what is your preference – classical, new age, traditional, contemporary? Something else? Have you ever how and why certain tracks or sounds are better at relaxation than others? Have you ever struggled to find the ‘right’ music for your style of treatment? I have been working with therapeutic sound and …
I have just received an email asking me how and why I developed the voice and movement techniques called ‘Vocal Processing Techniques’ used in the Holistic Voice Therapy and Transformational Voice Therapy Diploma Courses. Having worked with these techniques for many years they have become second nature to me and I rarely take time to step back and ask myself …
As it’s migraine awareness week and as someone who experiences migraine myself, I know how debilitating they can be. Mine tend to be silent, that is, a migraine without the pain, but over the years I have developed ways to use therapeutic sound and music as a way to reduce the frequency of attacks and these days I only get …
In 2017 the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH) called for the introduction of a national sleep strategy and what they referred to as a “slumber number” – the ideal amount of sleep people should be aiming for each night. However, as many of us who have had 8 hours sleep a night will confirm – a night’s sleep is …
If music be the food of love play on William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night Tonight all over the world millions of lovers are tucking into their Valentine’s day meal, or a box of choccies that their nearest and dearest has lavished on them. Think of how much more enjoyment you could get out of this experience with the added boost of …
“…music occupies more areas of our brain than language does – humans are a musical species” Oliver Sacks Sound is such a powerful vehicle for eliciting and communicating human emotion. In this post I will talk about how, as a sound therapist and therapeutic music composer, I use sound and music to boost your mood, enhance mood state and help improve …
Millions of people worldwide benefit from managing their health and wellbeing with alternative approaches, many of which are thousands of years old. I have been involved in holistic therapies for over 30 years and it is wonderful to see how the interest has grown over this time. I have worked with many therapies in my time but in 1994, following …
This week we’re focussing on getting creative, and in particular how you can use sound to get the creative juices flowing. We hope you’ll see how versatile sound can be, and how it can help with relaxation as well as improving the imagination. Following the relaxing rhythms, create a playlist of upbeat and inspirational music – start with slower tempo …
While some us might not want to admit it, Autumn has officially begun with the 2016 Autumnal Equinox starting in the UK. With darker nights and drearier days looming upon us, we thought it would be a good idea to remind you all why Autumn isn’t all that bad… This track is one of my favourites on my album ‘Emergence’. …
As the holistic and alternative medicine fields expand, there’s never been a better time to get involved and develop your skill set through a Sound Therapy Diploma course. Whether you’re an occupational therapist, nurse, or just someone with an interest in relaxation therapies, the Sound Therapy Diploma courses on offer at The British Academy of Sound Therapy could really suit you. …
How a simple session with a specific therapeutic sound sequence can reduce pain, improve emotional well-being, calm and clear the mind and a whole host of other positive benefits. BAST now has data to support the effectiveness of therapeutic sound.
Lyz Cooper MA, MSc, FICNM Introduction This article intends to provide some insight into musical expectancy and how we, at The British Academy of Sound Therapy (BAST), use it to help improve health and well-being. I will also give some tips as to how to bring sound and music into your life to help improve your mood-state. Despite our upbringing, …
Find out how and why the way our language evolved over millennia has resulted in our voices being so beneficial for improving health and well being.
