Sound Therapy and Reiki Healing: A Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness
Some people see life through rose-colored lenses, but Tonette Asprer chooses to view – or rather, experience – life through vibrations. A percussionist and music graduate, Tonette began her career as part of the San Miguel Philharmonic after graduating from the University of the Philippines College of Music.
“It was a dream come true – but that dream shattered when the orchestra dissolved,” she shared. “That’s when I had to ask myself the hard questions in life.”
Like many young professionals, Tonette’s main goal at the time was financial security. “My main concern then wasn’t figuring out who I was, it was figuring out how to get rich.” And while Tonette laughs at the thought today, back then, the music graduate had – like many of us – practical reasons to hope for such abundance. Yet, what Tonette found in her journey was much more useful; she found mindfulness.
Today, the term itself – mindfulness – comes across like a mental health buzzword. But those who have put in the work can attest to how helpful it can be in improving one’s outlook.
“Mindfulness is looking at the present moment, without any judgment or attachment,” explained Tonette. It is experiencing sensations without shame, fear, embarrassment, or guilt. “Mindfulness will allow you to be more loving and more forgiving, towards yourself and others.”
Of course, building mindfulness takes time, practice, and patience. The 21st century individual deals with plenty on their plate, so much so that the concept of relaxation becomes not only alien, but difficult to do.
“When we’re young, we’re taught that we need to go, go, go, that we can do it, we can push through,” Tonette pointed out. “But even your gadgets – your phone and your laptop – slow down when too many applications are open. You have to declutter, and that’s the same for your brain.”
In that way, mindfulness is a way to clear one’s mind, to rest, to wring tension out, and even to create boundaries.
For Tonette, her ongoing mindfulness journey has been about ten years in the making. She first started with the life-changing practice of yoga in 2014; this led to her becoming a certified yoga and meditation teacher. But that didn’t stop there; Tonette has since dabbled in other spiritual practices such as reiki healing and sound therapy, founding V432 Wellness, which aims to give clients access to such tools.
“The full benefits of these practices are already inside your own mind, but we can help you draw it out to the rest of your body. And trust me, when you experience it in your own body, that will reinforce everything you know,” she said.
Of course, not everyone believes in such spiritual practices. Energy and vibrations are often scoffed at for being “new age” so while Tonette welcomes those who resonate with her practice, she also admits that people may or may not fall into the same beliefs, all according to “divine timing.”
“These practices – yoga, reiki healing, sound therapy – have been available to us for thousands of years. And yet, it was only 10 years ago that I found myself getting into it, when I was already 37 years old,” Tonette shared. “I do believe that everything happens – and is discovered – through divine timing.”
At V432 Wellness, Tonette and her co-founder, Jose “Isla” Antinero, welcome students to retreats, events, and classes focusing on reiki and sound healing.
“These are practices that help us get in touch with our truest selves, practices that help us get out of the busyness of everyday life,” Tonette said. They also have oracle and tarot reading available for those interested.
Those who avail of sound therapy can expect a relaxing, and sometimes even emotional, session that uses sounds and frequencies to bring the body and mind into a relaxed state. Tonette and Isla use sound bowls brought over from Kathmandu. They use these to tune into specific 432 Hertz frequencies, all of which resonate with the 7.83 Hertz Schumann frequency, which known for enhancing memory and improving stress tolerance in humans. Participants need only to lie back, relax, and allow the sounds to do their magic.
Reiki healing, on the other hand, is more intuitive. As Tonette puts it, reiki healing utilizes energies already in the body, plus kind intention, to heal and connect to the body or to others.
“It revolves around the premise that the body has an innate ability to heal itself,” she added. “You can heal just by touch and some even get to a point where they can send [healing vibrations] remotely, just by intention.”
A unique facet of V432 Wellness is how Tonette and Isla, both musicians, can combine reiki with sound therapy. “Reiki is intention based so every note you play [in sound therapy] can be infused with that blessing and prayer to heal,” she explained.
So how often should people be practicing these tools for mindfulness? Tonette says, every day, “Maybe today, you can do yoga, tomorrow sound healing, the next day mindful writing. But meditation, you need that every day.”
While not everyone subscribes to the same belief system that Tonette and Isla do, there’s no doubt that the teachers’ learnings are beautiful. For her part, Tonette has seen the beauty of kindness through her mindfulness practices.
“There is kindness in everyone, and goodness is always innate. We all have our own egos, and we need to be more forgiving and more compassionate towards everyone, including ourselves.”
Location: V432 Wellness, 2nd Floor, Matana Place, 28 Matino Corner Malumanay, Quezon City, Metro Manila
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