Beyond Sound Healing: The Music Method That Rewires the Psyche
Sound healing is great, but sometimes we need something that doesn’t just relax us, but actually transforms us at a fundamental level. It’s about using sound and music in a targeted, psychological way to shift emotional blocks, gain personal insight, and navigate life transitions. Thats why I developed the Subconscious Music Method (SMM), a simple but powerful process that uses sound as a transformational healing tool.
Let me explain.
Have you ever woken up with a song on your mind? A tune you’re humming but don’t know why or even what the song is? Does the song stay with you the whole morning or night and you can’t budge it? It’s likely a message from the deep unconscious. It asks you to listen to the message that the song is speaking because a part of you seeks catharsis. I call this phenomenon Subconscious Music Method (SMM). This process help you understands the hidden layers of tension deep in your psyche, those responsible for moods and depressions. Experiencing them directly can aid health and well-being.
The structure of the psyche
Your psyche is complex. It involves emotions, mood, memories, thoughts, energies, desires, and regrets. We think we are one person with one personality, but in reality, we are a whole array of personalities that move through us. Our central ego tries to stay in charge, to centralise our experience so we feel whole and unified, but other personalities break through and we experience moods, uncommon thoughts, desires and yearnings, rage or trepidation. We shift between these states like sand through an hourglass, and these complexes alert us to the parts which need healing.
Our personality contains various characters that emerge at different points in our lives. These energies rise and fall through us at different moments, seeking expression unique to our character and life circumstance. Jung (1980, ps.81) suggested these archetypes live in the collective unconscious, the deeper part of the psyche shared by all human beings which is timeless and eternal. These archetypal characters are often depicted in our fairytales, mythologies, and films. They also express themselves through music, as messages from the unconscious to our ego self, seeking acknowledgment for healing.
This is not a new phenomenon. Shamans use songs to bring back a person’s lost vitality, known as soul loss (Frazier 1950, p.114). South American shamans use sacred songs (icaros) to guide them into the invisible underworld to meet with spirits, bringing back knowledge that is helpful and healing to the client (Eliade 1964, p.509). In our Western age, where shamans no longer rule, the unconscious structures still function the same way. It seeks our attention, and we may dive deep into the subconscious to bring back knowledge. One of the ways this occurs is using the Subconscious Music Method. This method uses song to explore the deeper areas in the subconscious, giving them expression to evoke healing. This is a natural process that occurs spontaneously, although it can be induced.
In the following section I will explain these two methods and how they can be used to aid health, well-being, and self-development. It is a practice I have used in my life for over 20 years, and has never failed to provide amazing outcomes.
1. Spontaneous Subconscious Music
Spontaneous subconscious music occurs when you wake up with a song in your mind, or when you find yourself at the supermarket humming a tune. You may not know why this song has emerged, or even what the song is. Often, we ignore this ‘inner music’, but through the Subconscious Music Method, we learn to treat it as a message from the unconscious. In other words, a deeper emotion is seeking expression and it uses music to make itself heard.
Why is this important?
Carl Jung, the famous psychoanalyst, suggested that the whole purpose of life was individuation, which is to make the unconscious conscious. This means to bring into awareness those parts of us that are hidden and seek expression (Jung 1980, p.222). This is the root of shadow work (becoming aware of the hidden aspects of the psyche), and also the midlife challenge of making way for the Self. The Self is the larger part of us that wants expression and wholeness, and rewards us with power and purpose (Jung 1980, ps.10-11, 25, 27, 32). From a Jungian perspective, there could be nothing more important to our health and development that to give hidden energies expression in safe and nurturing ways.
Inner music is an antidote
The song we are humming is a message. How do we work with it? The process is quite simple, but the hardest part is paying attention to the song in the first place. The song emerges spontaneously from deep within, as a song we find ourselves humming, singing, or attracted to. It may also come through in our dreams, our daydreams, or when we are least focusing on it. At other times, it may be a song on the radio that we deeply resonance with and can’t get out of our head. It connects with us in a profound way and we notice it. This requires self-awareness. If this is hard for you, then meditation helps us becomes more self-aware, so when we hear that song or feel that connection, we are present to notice it. Then we are able to act on the inner message.
Once we are aware that a song has connected with us, then next step is to investigate the song.
If you don’t know what the song is, track it down. Find the name, the artist, and get it on Spotify. Next stage is to find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed- this is the healing part of the process. Sit with the song and play it. If it has lyrics, then write these down. Sing along and become brutally present with it. Imagine the words are expression of your own inner self, an inner personality speaking through you to your conscious ego. It is a part of you seeking expression for a part of your life you have not been able to understand fully. It may be a present or past situation, and contains emotions and meaning you have repressed.
Imagine the music being an expression of the deep emotions within you, feel them, ride them, and let them immerse your body. The good thing about SMM is that there are immediate tangible results. No mindset training needed or years of learning. We are instantly rewarded with insight and sometimes a cathartic release of emotion. This enhances self-knowledge, and provides a feeling of deep connection with forgotten aspects of yourself.
The music and lyrics may ‘hit home’, and lead to tears that free a space within. A forgotten feeling, idea, or regret will be freed from the body and provide instant relief. Maybe you shut them off to feel strong, to protect yourself, or maybe it wasn’t safe or appropriate to express these emotions. If you need to explore this feeling more deeply, then always go a see a doctor, therapist, or councillor.
The outcome of SMM is like lifting a weight off your heart, removing a backpack you have been carrying for the past months or years. All of a sudden, a space emerges in you where joy and happiness can reside again. You feel lighter, more in tune, more connected. This process helps you create a deep relationship with yourself, built on trust and acknowledgment. You become aware that there are deep aspects of you that seek expression. It also changes your relationship to life, as you notice synchronicities as expressions of these inner energies trying to gain your attention. It encourages you to start a dialogue with these deeper aspects. Life becomes more meaningful as your connection grows and you start to know yourself better. A sense of wholeness emerges.
2. Induced Subconscious Music
The spontaneous arrival of inner music is powerful, because it suggests that the message from the subconscious is ripe for expression. The rewards are instantaneous if we can hear the call. This process can be an ongoing aid for health and well-being that we can use in our lives, helping us to better understand the deeper parts of ourselves. Think of your life as a giant canvas that is being orchestrated by the subconscious. This is how Jung saw life. Not as a series of random events, but as a narrative that we are unconsciously creating within and without (Jung 1980, p.10). Our job is to notice we are creators in our lives, and to become more aware and present.
We can develop this approach to become more aware of the music tastes we have, how they vary at different times in our lives, and what moods they present. What music are we drawn to this week, this month, this year? What music excites us today? Think of these musical desires, not as random events, but as expression aided by the subconscious. We are drawn to music in our lives because something within us feels connected to them. We can explore this music to become more aware of our internal narratives and dramas. Listen to its lyrics and tune into the feelings they present. We may even want to express these through art, such as painting, writing, or making music from that place. Analysis of these artworks gives us even more insight- this is the basis of my Sound-Soul workshops.
Summary
When you notice a song emerge, use Subconscious Music Method to explore the music. Explore its lyrics, tone, and mood and investigate why it resonates with you. What in the music is reflected in your current life events? What does the music’s mood say about you? What lyrical ideas resonate? Use these insights to gain a better understanding of your inner life, liberating pent-up emotions, repressed ideas, and memories we are harbouring. This makes way for more space and freedom in our hearts and minds, where joy can emerge. Joy naturally emerges when we aren’t weighed down by heavy emotions or pent-up thoughts, it is the consequence of catharsis.
Thanks for reading. As a gift, here’s a link to a FREE E-BOOK that teaches how to use music to quickly clear emotional and creative blocks, especial useful during life’s transitions.
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References
Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Translated by Willard R. Trask, Princeton University Press, 1964.
Frazer, James George. The Illustrated Golden Bough. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.
Jung, C. G. Psychology and Alchemy. Translated by R. F. C. Hull, 2nd ed., Routledge, 1980.
