Sound is audible energy – we can hear and sense it as a vibration in our bodies. Soundscapes and music alter our consciousness and have a big impact on our brainwaves, even if we aren’t aware of it.

Sound can provide us a bridge to the unseen world and guide us beyond everyday noise. We are strongly influenced by sound. Sometimes it moves our bodies before we even realize it, sometimes it creates communities and connects us. Sound can be a source of consolation and comfort, even a loyal ally that helps us survive extreme circumstances. Even though we can’t see it, sound can touch our hearts. Sometimes it speaks to us in the form of full-body goose bumps, raises tears in our eyes and purifies our mind, body, emotional being and spirit.

A pleasant soundscape tunes our mind and consciousness to the state of active listening – into frequencies that help us connect with our true selves and true emotions. The Yin Your Skin soundtrack provides a meditative space where you can receive nurturing effects of yin yoga and listen to yourself. That’s why we call it a healing soundscape.

Sound is a profound part of our being and our life. Everything has a frequency: our bodies, tissues, nerve cells and even our thoughts. The word sound can also be an adjective describing something firm and steady – sound advice is always something we should listen to. During the first nine months of our lives, we grow safe and sound, listening to the rhythmical soundscape of our mothers’ heartbeats. We learn to associate it with peace. That’s why our innate instincts tell us to soothe our babies with steady, rhythmical movements and soft singing.

We’re listening and monitoring our surroundings all the time because our survival brain is constantly assessing the safety of our environment and staying alert in case of potential threats. Our ancestors learned to monitor rustling sounds that might indicate the presence of a beast of prey. In the modern world, the biggest sonic stresses for our brain is the incoherent rumble of traffic and uncontrollable everyday noise, which sometimes feel impossible to escape.

The chaotic noise of cities and work environments raises our stress levels, taxes our sleep efficiency and puts us in overdrive mode. However, we don’t need to become victims to our sonic surroundings. Even in the middle of a metropolitan pulse, we can significantly affect our soundscape. Improving our sonic wellness is exactly like improving our eating habits or training routines. All we need is a bit more awareness, a handful of good strategies and nurturing sonic ingredients for our brain – in this case, high quality soundscapes and a good sound system.

The hearing mechanism of our ear needs a medium because sound cannot propagate through a vacuum. Because seventy percent of our bodies consist of water and sound travels five times more efficiently in water than in air, the frequencies of sound have an impact on our entire bodies.

Our tissues and muscles, for instance, have their own frequencies. They respond sensitively when we introduce certain frequencies to them. When the tissues start vibrating as a result of sound, blood circulation and metabolic processes gain strength. Muscles can also relax and warm up. This kind of resonance occurs when two objects have a similar vibrational frequency – in other words, when resonating, two objects exchange energy. This translates even into our everyday language – ideas and thoughts can resonate with us, and we can literally feel ourselves being on the same wavelength with someone.

Sound healing can be easily associated with spiritual mysticism such as Tibetan singing bowls, gong baths or other ancient practices like yogic mantra chanting. The Finnish sound healing tradition is deeply rooted in shamanism, where a shaman acts as a medium between people and the unseen spirit world. The connection is usually initiated through rituals of sound and performed in nature.

The most prominent instruments of a Nordic shaman are his or her own voice and drum. The steady beat of a shamanic drum alters the state of consciousness and brainwaves, and can lead both the shaman and the listener into a trance. In other words, sound can provide a gateway into one’s subconscious mind – and its fascinating realms where new potential and deep healing can unfold.

Shamanistic elements and nuances can also be found in The Kalevala, the national epic of Finland, consisting of oral folklore and mythology, wrapped in hypnotizing rhythms. Kalevala is a creation myth, strongly infused with nature and music. Väinämöinen, the central character, is a shamanistic hero with the magical power of song, music and creating instruments. Many of his adventures resemble shamanistic journeys, most notably the one where he visits the belly of a giant to find songs for boat building.

Stereotypical associations of sound healing are just one way to look at the topic. Sound healing can be applied to modern pop music as well. Lots of mainstream artists, songwriters and music producers use certain frequencies, brain-altering strategies, mathematic patterns and psychoacoustics in their art – we’re just rarely aware of it.

Sound affects not only our muscles and tissues but also our brainwaves. Coherence is an important concept in terms of brain function. Our brain can work in a coherent (organized) way or in an incoherent way (unorganized). Yoga, meditation and a harmonizing soundscape are great ways to create more coherence, synchronicity and connection between mind, body and spirit. Yin Your Skin brings all these wonderful practices together as a holistic wellness experience.

When our brain functions in a coherent way, our mind and body become coherent as well. The more often we take the time to calm our brain down from beta-waves into more peaceful frequencies – alpha, theta and delta waves – the better we are able to stay in a coherent, present state of mind. This helps us recover from our daily activities and stress effectively, even effortlessly. From a present state of mind, we can act creatively and get new insight about the world and ourselves. We can stay connected to ourselves and others, our environment, our purpose and our own truth.

Yin Your Skin yoga lessons are accompanied with a magical, visually breath-taking journey to Nordic nature and all its seasons, far away from daily life. The enchanting and healing soundscape harmonizes and tunes you into your own inner voice.

When we’re stressed and exhausted, it’s easy to lose connection to ourselves. In these moments, sound healing can help us drop back into our hearts – and guide us back to the state of listening and hearing. Yin Your Skin has its own sonic realm. The soundtrack is composed and produced by Finnish pop artist IRENE, who is also a third level Reiki Master. IRENE’s roots are deep in Sea Lapland, near the Arctic Circle, and on the Yin Your Skin soundtrack, her voice paints northern, minimalistic harmonies for clarity and peace. These sounds hold space for your journey through the practice, a variety of ambiences and energies.

The Yin Your Skin soundtrack features soft, full-bodied, cinematic piano sounds, airy vocal melodies and hypnotizing patterns that invite you into deep rest. The entire Yin Your Skin sonic realm gravitates your heart into its restful pulse, grounding you into a state of clarity.

One of the Yin Your Skin sonic signatures is the historic Rhodes pre-piano. During World War II, Harold Rhodes was deeply moved by the suffering of wounded soldiers and wanted to design a compact musical instrument to support their healing. Small enough to fit on a hospital bed, the instrument was cleverly made with tines crafted from small aluminium tubes which Harold scavenged from the wings of a wrecked plane. He instituted an accompanying music therapy program for which he was later awarded the Medal of Honour. The pre-piano was used in Air Force hospitals by over 150,000 soldiers.

After a few years, Harold grew frustrated with manufacturing problems. He shut down the company and, in a drastic career change, took up farming. Fortunately for us, Harold couldn’t stay away from music and arrived back on the scene over a decade later with the Rhodes® Piano Bass and soon after, the full-sized Rhodes® Electric Piano. The rest is history, and we hear it every day on our radios.

Only a small number of pre-pianos were ever produced, and far fewer survive today. Thanks to the meticulous work done by Spectrasonics, we can still play and record the healing tone and energy of this beautiful instrument.

The intention of sound healing is to reconnect us to our own inner voice. According to the philosophy of genuine beauty, all natural beauty grows wild, free and untamed – this applies also to our voices. The Yin Your Skin soundtrack has been recorded following and appreciating the same principle. Recorded in Helsinki, it’s all organic: not a single note has been artificially pitch-corrected afterwards. IRENE has captured the bird and swan songs in Lake Vaskijärvi, surrounded by the magical silence of nightless Midsummer night.

For the most holistic and high quality experience, we warmly recommend listening to the The Yin Your Skin soundtrack mindfully, with good headphones.

References:
+ Campbell, Don & Doman, Alex: Healing at the Speed of Sound
+ Cooper, Lyz: What is Sound Healing?
+ Dispenza, Joe: Becoming Supernatural
+ Hämeenniemi, Eero: Kun musiikki täyttää mielen
+ Perry, Wayne: Sound Medicine