Issues Are The Tissues

      

By Vickie Dodd, M.A.

Vickie Dodd, M.A.   Please note, when I speak of the “body,” I am speaking of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual consciousness contained in this skin and bones package we call our body. We work on the body because we can access all dimensions through the physical form. As we touch the body with sound, we can feel and see the changes that occur.                          All that has ever happened to us is recorded in our bodies as frequencies.   Whether engaged in self-care or as a practitioner in service to others, I need to come from a place of being empty, not an agenda of how I’m going to fix anything in those I serve. My intention is to listen, to sense from a place of not knowing. My job is to be as focused and present as possible in my listening, as I reflect an audible sound print of what the body wants to express.   As I touch someone’s magnetic field, I listen as if I am blind and reading Braille. I follow and see from my inner vision the pathways that wish to be expressed. This listening reveals a palette of pulse, rhythm, and timing of tempo, melody, shape, form, color, and even words. These outer soundings resonate with what is familiar in that person’s inner wisdom, inner teachings, and their own language.   The Formula Is Revealed   Students often want to learn techniques that will promise specific results. In Sacred Sound sessions, we do not know the formula until the body reveals it to us. Our work with sound is an emerging composition comprised of mixed elements.   The body is exquisitely intelligent and knows exactly what is needed—the timing, sequence, and tonal qualities. We are listening and trusting and following the innate wisdom of the body. We only know the formula of a session and what has occurred after the treatment is complete. The formula is being revealed during the session. It’s an active trust that the body will show us what it needs and wants.   We are following the body’s map. Our posture of listening is one of trusting. If we love what we want to know, it will reveal its teachings to us. Listening from love, and with love, takes time and trust and patience. We do not know beforehand what the body will reveal, because listening is an evolving formula, never a pre-planned formula. Mind wants to know ahead of time; body reveals what is in the moment. Listen to the tissue! I do not say, “I’m going to hum here, release sounds there . . .” I come to the body willing to listen and observe, breathe and move. Together we experience what arises. We only know what different approaches were used by observing the outcome. The body unravels and unwinds in its most accurate integrity for itself. While sounding for myself or my clients, I have found it helpful to record my perceptions in a journal in the order in which they make themselves known. I also observe how one action engaged the next.   It’s All in the Listening   Through keeping a journal, we start to see the sequencing of the formulas; we understand our perceptions; we see the patterns and rhythms, the characters, and subtle layers. The languages of the body are revealed, and the communication pathways are enhanced. The work becomes powerful because we start learning how the body wants to communicate with us. We develop a trust that there really is an inherent intelligence ready and willing to communicate with us. We are following the body’s map. We Sound to Get Quiet Enough to Listen We sound the noise, the static, the ongoing conversation, the worries. We sound that which may be in the way of our listening to our audible body. The body is listening to see if we will listen. The earth is waiting to see if we will listen. The trees and plant world are waiting to see if we will listen. May we be willing to slow down enough to receive our listening.   Our work with sounding is comprised of formulas; mixtures of listening, observing, asking permission, noticing rhythms, timings, shapes, colors, breath, messages from all parts of the body, as well as all our various characters, archetypes, and ages that are encased in this garment called the body. We are asking to be in relationship and to have communication with all aspects of Self. This way of relating to ourselves is the most intimate relationship we can have.   Core essentials of the listening practice are Love and Respect.   We come to the body desiring to be in relationship with that to which we are listening. Since the mind may become impatient, we must remember to be patient—to pause and give time and space to build a new relationship with the body. Basically, slow down and develop trust. This is not a race! Trusting relationships takes time.     “Ears are no good for this music, The whole presence must be open to it. It is a matter of vibrations.”     If You Love Something Enough Respect is truly the first and foremost important ingredient for accessing trust and listening. We can get lost in our zest for healing and doing what needs to be done. In this “eager to help” mindset, our passion can move us faster than the layer at hand. It is essential to pause and remember that possibly not all parts of this being may be on the same page—not all parts of the body are eagerly awaiting our touch and sound. We wait and listen, for that which wants to be addressed will indeed bubble up to meet us. Whether we are caring for ourselves, or as a practitioner caring for others, we support the practice of listening by noticing the rhythm of our own breath and allowing it to center us.   The essential teachings of listening are an ancient system of directly cultivating relationships and communication with the mineral, plant, animal, and human world. Find your own words, but the essence is always an invitation filled with love and respect.   Trusting the Innate Wisdom of the Body When we listen to what wishes and desires to be expressed, we touch the inner needs and the well of wisdom of the person we are sounding. Our intention is to access the innate wisdom of the body. As I sincerely want to listen and communicate, and truly want to be in relationship to this soul, I will express what is there. I need not embellish, enhance, protect, or judge what is being expressed. What is sounded is gold for the person receiving the sounding. The body knows if it is being listened to and accepted and loved for all that it is.   Essential Tools for Listening •    Love what is. •    Respect what is. •    Appreciate and accept what is. •    Ask permission to enter and listen—each time. •    Let the body know your intention to touch, listen, and sound. •   “Act as if” it is completely natural, reasonable, and possible to have a direct relationship with the bodies of others and ourselves.     Listening is the ancient art of communication. We can be in direct communication with the life that is around us and with our bodies. Consider how our ancestors knew which plant to pick and what was its nature and remedy. We go to a plant we want to know and ask permission from the plant to learn from it. Receiving permission, we express our intention. We do the same with a human body.   We say to the plant, “I desire to know you better.” We observe its color, flowers, number of petals, leaf structure, and stem. Is it round, square, fuzzy? We observe how we feel by truly being with the plant. We taste it and spit it out. Is it sour, sweet, bitter, drying to the tongue? What is its smell? Let us listen.   Like coming to know the plant we can also come to know our body. Where in my body has my attention been drawn? Interestingly, I’ll start noticing my liver or my stomach or my knees. In this moment, the plant is teaching me. I am aware of my body area because the plant is communicating with me there. The yellow flower of the dandelion brings an awareness of my liver and kidney area as I taste the bitter of its leaves and it tells me. “I am your first cleanser in the spring.” Or the willow may bring my awareness to my knees or bony structure and suggest, “I can help your limbs become more resilient and flexible.” These are suggestions to allow ourselves to trust our listening. The roses often teach through the sense of smell and color. The fragrance of rose fills our being with love. Wait, observe, and listen. I like to have a notepad with me, so I can jot down impressions. I have had the privilege of living in beautiful places where one can find fields of yarrow or arnica. My herbalist teachers took us on journeys to sacred spots, and we would lie in these fields and listen with all our senses. Even in our smaller gardens, we can sit by the plant and note what we sense. This is a lovely way to begin acknowledging we can be in communicative relationship with the plant life around us. There are many reasons we enjoy sitting with our backs resting against or hugging a tree: We receive much needed connection. Being with nature reconnects us with our own innate nature. We are developing our acuity with plants. Once we can listen to nature, we can listen to bodies more easily.   We are nature. About the Author: Vickie Dodd, M.A., has been a sound healing therapist, body worker, workshop leader, and internationally recognized pioneer of healing through sound for more than 50 years. She collaborated with Don Campbell in the Institute of Music and Health Education in Boulder, Colorado, and has created sound school trainings around the world. Vickie offers residential retreats on sound at the NatureBridge Campus in Olympic National Park and is an adjunct faculty member at the Globe Institute in San Francisco. She lives in Port Angeles, Washington. https://sacredsoundworks.com