Kerry Alisa Young
I am a sound healer. I think I always have been; it just took me more than 40 years to own it. When I was a child, I would climb up trees or onto roofs and sing at top volume thinking that I was the only one who could hear. Years later my sister let me know that my entire family listened to my outdoor concerts.
My father was a folk singer when I was a child. He had huge speakers that he used for concerts. When not needed for performance, they sat in our living room . I would play Chris Williamson and Diana Ross records over and over again. I would sit in front of the speakers, as close as I dared, and listen to every lilt, every push and hold, every inhale and exhale. I got to the point where I could sing just like them! At least it sounded like I could when I was five inches away from a blasting 4'x3' speaker.
Through the years I sang in choruses and community musicals, then eventually in weddings, clubs, and festivals. I followed the other calling that ran in my veins and became a massage therapist. I filled my office shelves with various tuning forks, bowls, drums, rattles, and chimes—music from around the globe. Eventually the music and instruments found their way into my massage practice. I began using the vibration of tuning forks on people when my hands could not send energy deep enough. I drummed my hands on stubbornly tight trap muscles when my thumb could not convince them to release. I pored over which CD was right for which client on which day. I watched their breath rise and catch and hold. I learned to play their bodies as if they were instruments. I held and pushed and lifted their tension, pain, and suffering while they laughed and cried and moaned and meditated and finally—exhaled.
I spend time with each client using instruments to heal their body/mind/spirit. I have also recently begun offering sound healing circles. We use a bowl or a drum to tone with. The harmonies created in a group setting are extremely powerful. Using vocalization brings the healing to a whole new level. I am looking forward to exploring this new level of sound healing with myself, my family, and my community. As I move more fully into the woman and healer who I am, I am able to support people in moving more fully into themselves and our world into better harmony.
