IF YOU DON’T FEEL ANY TROUBLING EMOTION when you tune into a particular internal organ, either you don’t have a problem with that emotion, or you’re not yet aware of it. If you feel some physical imbalance or constriction in a particular organ, this could be caused by external factors, such as extreme climate, poor diet, environmental toxins, a previous injury, and so on. Regardless of whether you do or do not feel an emotion or an imbalance in one or more organs, you should still do all six sounds. This will keep all your emotions, your body, and your chi in balance.
The power of the Healing Sounds is in the sensory, physical experience, not the cerebral understanding of them. So, once you’ve learned the six parts, concentrate on making the sounds, doing the arm movements, smiling to the relevant organs, imagining the colored lights, and feeling the energetic release of the emotional or physical imbalances. Don’t worry about remembering all the particular names of the painful emotions or even the positive ones. Be in the now of what happens in your body. When the emotions or their messages are ready, you will feel a kinesthetic nudge, or receive an image or a verbal insight.
Wait at least an hour after eating, with this exception: If you’re having digestive discomfort, you can immediately do a series of the fifth sound, HOOOOOO, until you feel relief. To do the entire Six Healing Sounds practice, make sure you won’t be interrupted for thirty minutes or so. Once you’ve learned it, it may take only twenty minutes — or longer if you wish to deepen your practice. Wear loose-fitting, comfortable clothes — natural fabrics, like cotton, silk, or wool are best for chi flow. Stretch fabrics that are at least 70 percent natural are okay. Tight clothes restrict our chi. Wired bras do the same and may be related to the high incidence of breast cancer. Choose a warm, quiet spot. Turn off your phone. Dim the lights. Take off your watch and jewelry and loosen your belt. Select a straight-backed chair that allows your feet to rest on the floor. For comfort, put a pillow on the seat.
Unless you are already warmed up from your exercise routine, it’s best to do a quick warm-up before doing the Six Healing Sounds. The following standing warm-up will get your chi activated and flowing, so that the Sounds will be even more effective.
1. Keeping both feet on the floor, shake your whole body vigorously. Make a silly sound. Do this for one or two minutes.
2. Gently hit the top of your head with your fists twelve or more times.
3. Hit your thymus gland area with alternate fists twelve or more times.
4. Slap your lungs with your palms twelve or more times. Women should slap their chests in a circle around their breasts.
5. Gently hit your kidney area (on your back, just above the waist) with your fists twelve or more times. Then, with your palms, massage that area. Then rest your palms there and warm that area.
6. Gently hit your sacrum (above your tailbone) with your fists twelve or more times. Then massage it with your palms. Then rest your palms there and warm that area.
7. Place your palms on your belly. Laugh out loud using the sound ha. Feel your belly expand when you laugh. Then laugh like a chicken. Finally, laugh like a dog. Laughing activates your lymphatic system, liver, and thymus gland, which improves your immunity to disease.
8. Close your eyes and breathe silently through your nose into your belly. Feel it expand when you inhale, and contract when you exhale.
Sit on the edge of your chair, freeing the genital area, and keep your eyes open. Move your legs comfortably apart, and put your feet solidly on the floor. Keep your back straight, but not rigid.
Sound #1: Sadness into Courage
A. Always begin the Sounds with the lungs and large intestine, whose season is fall. Sadness and depression reside in these organs. Start by getting in touch with your lungs: close your eyes and put your hands on your rib cage. Inhale slowly through your nose. Exhale through your nose. Notice if you feel any sadness, depression, constriction, or other physical imbalance in your lungs. If you do, ask for the message of this feeling. The answer may come immediately or at some other time. When you know the message, let its wisdom guide your future actions.
B. Now open your eyes. Inhale again deeply through your nose as you slowly move your hands a few inches away from your chest, turn your palms up, and raise your arms up toward your head.
C. Bring your palms above your head and rotate them to face the ceiling, holding them about six inches apart. Gently press upward with the heels of your palms; gently bend your elbows and press them out, away from the body. Bend your head back as far as is comfortable. Feel a gentle stretch from your palms to your elbows to your shoulders to the area of your lungs.
D. With eyes still open, exhale slowly, softly, and evenly, making the sound SSSSSS (breath only, not vocalized) until you have exhaled all of your original breath. Visualize any sadness, depression, constriction, or imbalance leaving your mouth like a cloudy gray substance going into the earth to be transformed. (Don’t worry about polluting Mother Earth. She transforms our negative energy into positive energy.)
E. Breathing normally now, rotate your palms down, release your shoulders, and slowly float your hands back to cover your lungs. Close your eyes and smile, inwardly and outwardly, to your lungs and large intestine: feel grateful for their vital work in respiration and elimination. Then, still smiling, with every breath imagine you are breathing into these organs a brilliant white light, for a total of three or six breaths.
F. Repeat steps A through E for a total of three or six times. After each sound repetition, return your hands to your chest, covering your lungs.
After your last repetition, sense that your lungs and large intestine are larger, softer, moister, and spongier. Sadness, depression, constriction, or imbalance have been released. Courage, right action, and letting go have been increased.
If the season is fall, do double the number of SSSSSS sounds.
Sound #2: Fear into Gentleness
A. Fear and nervousness reside in the kidneys and bladder, whose season is winter. Connect to the kidneys by placing your hands on your back, just above the waist. Notice if you feel any fear, nervousness, constriction, or imbalance in your kidneys. If you do, ask for the message of this feeling.
B. Now open your eyes and bring your ankles and knees together. Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose as you sweep your arms around to the sides.
C. Bend forward and place your hands just below the knees, with your thumbs intertwined. With your eyes open, round your upper back until your arms are straight, and look up at the ceiling. Feel a gentle stretch from your hands to your kidney area.
D. Contract your abdomen as you exhale softly, slowly, and evenly on the sound CHOOOO (breath only; after the initial ch sound, make the sound of blowing out a candle). As you make the sound, visualize any fear, nervousness, constriction, or imbalance leaving your mouth as a cloudy gray substance that disappears into the earth.
E. Bring your hands back to cover your kidneys again, and return your ankles and knees to their first position, comfortably apart. Close your eyes and smile inwardly and outwardly to your kidneys and bladder. Appreciate their crucial work in cleansing your blood, maintaining your water level, and supplying energy to all your internal organs. Continue smiling as you imagine breathing blue light into your kidneys and bladder for a total of three or six breaths.
F. Repeat steps A through E for a total of three or six times. After each sound repetition, return your hands to your kidney area.
After your last repetition, sense that your kidneys and bladder are larger, softer, and moister. Fear, nervousness, constriction, or imbalance have been released. Gentleness, calmness, willpower, and wisdom have increased.
If the season is winter, do double the number of CHOOOO sounds.
Sound #3: Anger and Its Variations into Kindness
A. Anger and its variations dwell in the liver and gallbladder, whose season is spring. With closed eyes, connect to your liver and gallbladder by pushing in gently, under your right ribs; you’ll feel your liver there. The gallbladder is below your liver. Sense if there is any anger, jealousy, resentment, frustration, stress, constriction, or imbalance there. If there is, ask for the message of this feeling.
B. Open your eyes and inhale deeply and slowly through your nose as you sweep your arms out at each side, and then up.
C. Bring your arms above your head. Interlace your fingers and turn your palms up. Straighten your arms. Press up more on your right arm and lean slightly over to your left. Bend your head back gently and look up. Feel a gentle stretch from your right palm to your liver area.
D. Exhale softly, slowly, and evenly on the soundSHHHHHH (breath only, not vocalized), the sound we make to ask for quiet. Visualize any anger, jealousy, resentment, frustration, stress, constriction, or imbalance leaving your mouth as a cloudy gray substance that disappears into the earth to be transformed.
E. Release your fingers and push out with your palms as you sweep your arms down at the sides. Breathe normally.
F. Cover your liver area with your hands. Close your eyes and smile to your liver and gallbladder. Appreciate their essential work in digestion, regulating blood sugar, and the cleansing of toxins. Continue smiling as you imagine breathing a spring-green light into these organs for a total of three or six breaths.
G. Repeat steps A through E for a total of three or six times. After each sound repetition, return your hands to cover your liver area. After your last repetition, sense that your liver and gallbladder are softer, moister, and larger. Anger, jealousy, resentment, frustration, stress, constriction, or imbalance have been released. Kindness, generosity, decisiveness, planning, and precision have increased.
If the season is spring, do double the number of SHHHHHH sounds.
A. Arrogance and its variations reside in the heart and small intestine, which are dominant in the summer. Close your eyes and connect to your heart. Place your hands on your heart, located in the center-left part of your chest; it’s a little bigger than your fist. See if you feel any impatience, arrogance, mania (overexcite-ment), cruelty, hate, constriction, heat, or imbalance there. If so, ask for the message of the feeling.
B. The beginning arm movement is the same as for the liver. So open your eyes and inhale through the nose as you sweep your arms out at each side, and then up.
C. Raise your arms above your head. Interlace your fingers and turn your palms up. Tilt your head back and look up. Straighten your arms and press up more with your left arm, and lean to the right. Feel a gentle stretch from your left palm to your heart area.
D. Exhale slowly, softly, and evenly on the sound HAWWWWWW (breath and vocal cords are used). Visualize any arrogance, impatience, mania, cruelty, hate, constriction, heat, or imbalance leaving your mouth as a cloudy gray substance that disappears into the earth.
E. Release your fingers and push out with your palms as you sweep your arms down at your sides.
F. Cover your heart with your hands. Close your eyes and smile to your heart and small intestine. Appreciate their essential roles in circulation, cleansing, nourishment, and digestion. Still smiling, imagine breathing a radiant red light into these organs with every breath, for a total of three or six breaths.
G. Repeat steps A through F for a total of three, six, or nine times. After each sound repetition, return your hands to the chest to cover the heart area.
After your last repetition, sense that your heart and small intestine are softer, moister, larger, and cooler. Arrogance, impatience, mania, cruelty, hate, constriction, heat, or imbalance have been released. Joy, gratitude, trust, compassion, and love have grown.
If it’s summer, do double the number of HAWWWWWW sounds.
A. Worry and its variations lodge in our stomach, spleen, and pancreas, which are dominant in late summer. Close your eyes and place your hands just under your left rib cage. You’ll be touching your stomach; your pancreas is behind your stomach, and your spleen is inside the left ribs. Notice if you feel any worry, anxiety, shame, self-pity, constriction, or imbalance there. If there is, ask for the message of this feeling.
B. Now open your eyes. Inhale as you turn your fingers perpendicular to the floor, and press them gently into your abdomen, just below the ribs. Place your right hand slightly left of the sternum, and your left hand in line with the nipple.
C. Round your back and look up at the ceiling. Exhale softly, slowly, and evenly on the sound HOOOOOO (breath and vocal cords). Visualize any worry, anxiety, shame, or self-pity leaving as a cloudy gray substance that disappears into the earth.
D. Return your hands to below the left rib cage. Close your eyes and smile to your stomach, spleen, and pancreas. Be grateful for their roles in digestion and absorption. Still smiling, breathe normally as you imagine you are breathing golden yellow light into these organs, for a total of three or six breaths.
E. Repeat steps A through D for a total of three or six times. After each sound repetition, return your hands to your abdomen to cover these organs.
After your last repetition, sense that your stomach, spleen, and pancreas are larger, moister, and softer. Worry, anxiety, shame, self-pity, constriction, or imbalance have been released. Openness, fairness, intention, and stability have increased.
If it’s late summer, do double the number of HOOOOOO sounds.
Sound #6: Stress into Relaxation or Sleep
The last sound is the triple warmer sound. It doesn’t relate to a season or color. It evens out the temperature of the three energy centers of the body. The upper warmer covers the area from the head to the bottom of the rib cage; its energy is hot. The middle warmer covers the area from below the rib cage to the navel; its energy is warm. The lower warmer covers the area from the navel to the feet; its energy is cold. Doing the sound makes all three areas warm, which is the ideal body temperature. It also releases stress and induces relaxation. Many Taoist practitioners have cured insomnia by doing all six sounds, with a special emphasis on this one.
A. If you’re doing the sounds just before bedtime, turn off the lights and lie down on your back, under the covers, with your arms by your sides, palms up. If you don’t want to fall asleep, lie down on your back on a comfortable surface with your palms up. If you only want to relax, but can’t lie down where you are, just lean back comfortably in a chair.
B. Close your eyes. Move your hands, palms up, to a few inches above your thighs; don’t touch your body. Then slowly raise your hands to above your forehead as you take a single deep breath, directing it into your abdomen and allowing the abdomen to expand. Your chest will expand at the same time.
C. Slowly, softly, and evenly, exhale on the soundHEEEEEE (breath and vocal cords). At the same time, keeping your hands a few inches above your body, move them down the midline of your body. Let your hands and the sound act as if they are a roller, deflating first your chest, then your solar plexus, then your abdomen. Bring your hands back to your sides, palms up. Then send the sound into your arms and legs and out through the tips of your fingers and toes. Visualize any stress as a cloudy gray substance leaving your body and disappearing into the earth.
D. Rest and breathe normally as your body temperature becomes evenly warm.
Repeat steps A through D for a total of three or six times or until you fall asleep. After a few sequences, you can just leave your arms by your sides and let the sound alone act as if it is a roller, compressing your chest, solar plexus, and abdomen. If you’re doing the sound for relaxation, repeat the steps until you feel calm and peaceful.
1. Sadness into Courage — Lungs and Large Intestines
Eyes closed. Hands on rib cage. Sense any sadness, depression, constriction, or imbalance in lungs. Ask for its message.
Eyes open. Inhale deeply through the nose as you raise your palms, a few inches out from the body, to above your head. Rotate palms up; leave six inches between them. Head back, elbows bent. Feel stretch from palms to lung area.
Exhale softly, slowly, evenly on SSSSSS (breath only), releasing sadness and depression into the earth.
Breathe normally. Rotate palms down. Float hands back to cover ribs. Close eyes and smile to lungs. Breathe in white light.
Do all steps three to six times. Do double that number in fall. Cover lungs after each sound repetition. At end, sense that the lungs are softer, moister, spongier. Courage, right action, and letting go have been increased.
2. Fear into Gentleness — Kidneys and Bladder
Eyes closed. Hands on kidneys. Sense fear, nervousness, constriction, or imbalance. Ask for its message.
Open eyes. Knees together. Inhale through nose, sweeping arms around to place fingers below knees, thumbs linked. Bend forward, round back, look up.
Contract abdomen as you exhale on CHOOOO (breath only). Release any fear, nervousness, constriction, or imbalance into the earth.
Return hands to kidneys and place legs comfortably apart. Close eyes and smile to kidneys. Breathe in blue light.
Do three to six times. Do double this number in winter. After each sound, return hands to kidney area. At end, sense that the kidneys are softer, moister, and larger. Gentleness, calmness, wisdom, and willpower have increased.
3. Anger and Its Variations into Kindness — Liver and Gallbladder
Eyes closed. Hands under right ribs. Sense anger, jealousy, resentment, frustration, stress, constriction, or imbalance. Ask for its message.
Open eyes. Inhale deeply through nose as you sweep arms up at sides.
Arms above head. Palms up and fingers interlaced. Straighten arms and lean to left. Head back.
Exhale on the sound SHHHHHH (breath only). Release any anger, jealousy, resentment, frustration, stress, constriction, or imbalance into the earth.
Sweep arms down at sides. Cover liver area with hands.
Eyes closed. Smile to liver. Breathe in spring-green light.
Do sequence three to six times. Do double the number in spring. After each sound, return hands to liver area. At end, sense that the liver is softer, moister, and larger. Kindness, generosity, decisiveness, planning, and precision have increased.
4. Arrogance into Joy — Heart and Small Intestine
Eyes closed. Hands on center and left of chest. Sense arrogance, impatience, mania, cruelty, hate, constriction, or imbalance. Ask for its message.
Eyes open. Inhale deeply through nose as you sweep arms up at sides.
Arms above head. Palms up and fingers interlaced. Straighten arms and lean to right. Head back.
Exhale on sound HAWWWWWW (vocalized). Release any arrogance, impatience, mania, cruelty, hate, constriction, heat, or imbalance into the earth.
Sweep arms down at sides. Cover heart with hands.
Eyes closed. Smile to heart. Breathe in red light.
Do sequence three to six times. Do double that number in summer. After each sound, return hands to heart area. At end, sense that the heart is softer, moister, larger, and cooler. Joy, gratitude, trust, compassion, and love have grown.
5. Worry into Openness — Stomach, Spleen, and Pancreas
Eyes closed. Palms under left ribs. Sense worry, anxiety, shame, self-pity, constriction, or imbalance in stomach, spleen, or pancreas. Ask for its message.
Eyes open. Inhale deeply through nose and press in gently below left ribs with fingers perpendicular. Round back and look up. Exhale on the sound HOOOOOO. Release any worry, anxiety, shame, self-pity, constriction, or imbalance into the earth.
Eyes closed. Fingers perpendicular under left ribs. Smile to stomach, spleen, pancreas. Breathe in golden yellow light.
Do sequence three to six times. Do double that number in late summer. After each sound, return fingers to press in below left ribs. At end, sense that these organs are softer, moister, and larger. Fairness, openness, stability, and intention have grown.
6. Stress into Relaxation or Sleep
Lie down with palms up. Eyes closed.
Inhale deeply through nose to abdomen as you raise hands a few inches above the body to forehead.
Exhale slowly on the soundHEEEEEE (vocalized) as you move your palms, just above your body, back down to your sides. Let the sound and hands act as if they are a roller, compressing chest and then abdomen. Send the sound down your arms and legs, and out the tips of your fingers and toes, releasing any stress into the earth.
Do sequence three to six times. Continue doing until you reach a relaxed state or fall asleep.
