Panoramic Method

Transcript :

S Hi, thank you for joining us. Let’s begin by talking about how music helps us to be happier, healthier and live longer.

R Sure. Let’s start with Pythagoras.

So although music therapy has only been established as a profession relatively recently, the connection between music and therapy is of course not new, and sound healing has been around since ancient times, in all parts of the world.

In the western tradition, to name but one tradition, the idea that sound (in the form of music) can be given as a therapy in support of illness, was a concept espoused by Pythagoras of Samos 2,500 years ago. One of his biographers, Iamblichus.  Iamblichus reported that Pythagoras believed that music could be used in place of medicine and that it contributed greatly to health. It also seems reasonable to hypothesise that Pythagoras’ use of “music in place of medicine” was inspired by knowledge he acquired from the priest-scientists he encountered during his travels in Egypt, who regarded not just music, but sound itself as sacred.

S So, Pythagoras believed music could be medicinal and he was not alone in this belief. Many people have said, and continue to say the same thing.

However, if this fairly general statement were true, then perhaps we would not be so sick in modern times – for music is everywhere now – in shopping malls, in supermarkets, in cafes, on the internet, blaring out from your T.V and while you’re on hold on the phone.

So, if music is seemingly all around us, and if music heals, then how come so many people are sick?

R Exactly! Interesting observation – perhaps music’s ubiquity is part of the problem. Music is there even when we don’t want it and in places where it is unexpected and unwelcome – and perhaps in that case it’s no longer music, but rather simply just noise pollution.

If you hate brass bands (like me, for example) and you are forced to listen to them in some public space, then it may not be conducive to your general well being.

However, if we listen to music we actually like, in an environment of our choosing, and at a time that suits us, then it certainly does no harm. In fact such listening has been proven to increase the levels of certain hormones.

S But if it’s just a matter of hormones – can we say that it really heals? We already know that a specific style of music being played in a car can increase aggressiveness in a driver. Is that what we want?

R Well, in some cases, for instance, while performing a particularly gruelling workout in a gym, increased positive aggressive focus might be just the ticket – but in other cases like while driving to work … maybe not.

S What do we even mean by healing then?

R Well, we can say the goal of all energy medicine healing modalities, including Holistic Music Therapy, is not to directly heal the body — for only the body itself can ultimately heal the body — but rather to facilitate and cultivate the conditions within which the body can heal itself.

And it would seem that there is more and more evidence that sound and music therapy are valid, effective means of priming the body for healing.

S But how does music therapy specifically regard music?

R Music therapy regards music as primarily a tool, a means to an end —- that may or may not be effective – the answer to whether it’s effective or not is the same as for most other things in life – it depends.

And so in this regard, it’s the same as any other tool. We need to have some basic idea of what it is good for and how to use it, then such a tool may serve us well.

So try to imagine, for example, that you find a lathe left by your grandfather in the garage… It has a light bulb holder, so you can see what you’re doing when you work with it, but; in your ignorance of lathes, you mistake it for some kind of designer lamp. So you insert a light bulb into the holder, and are quite happy with the resulting light show, but of course – you’re really missing out – most of the potential of this tool will remain hidden to you until you discover what a lathe actually is, and then how to work with one, and thus you’ll discover the incredible potential it possesses for creating things.

Armed with a basic knowledge of the machine, you can create interesting and useful items. Then if you learn how to program such a machine properly, you will be even more effective with it.

It’s the same with music. We can achieve really significant effects on multiple levels if we know how to work with the possibilities that music provides. Our course summarises the possibilities available to us through music to slow down ageing, stop degenerative and civilizational diseases, prolong the active part of our lives and generally promote overall satisfaction, happiness and wellbeing.

R But could we explain more about Music Therapy?

S Sure! Music therapy is a very broad topic, and in our course we will deal with holistic music therapy, which differs from other music therapy modalities mainly due to its wide range of effects. We can notice its results on several different levels (mental, emotional, physical but also spiritual).

The term Holistic Music Therapy is sometimes used for different methods. Our specific method that we will show you in this video course we call The Panoramic Method.

Our method can be applied by anyone – you do not have to have a trained music therapist at your disposal to learn, use and benefit from it. The tutorials and theoretical materials in our course can be used by anyone who is interested in increasing the efficiency of their brain and gaining more control over their body. In this course, we introduce participants to the possibilities of self-prescribing appropriate music therapy activities and how to help your body deal with the stress that causes our body to turn off the frontal cortex and let only the oldest part of the brain work – the reptilian brain – that knows nothing other than fight, flight or freeze.

In this way the panoramic method is something akin to ‘music medicine’ – it can be self administered.

The panoramic method uses both passive and active components of music therapy. The active component is also beneficial for individuals (and quite possibly especially for them) who do not play any musical instrument, and have neither the basics of music theory nor any other musical experience. So we will introduce the listeners to the playing of various ethnic and traditional musical instruments, which, in addition to having certain specific characteristics, including the overtones and tunings – which we will talk about in the next chapters, are especially interesting because they do not require long years of conscious training, practice and advanced music theory to learn to play them, and so most people are able to master these instruments at a basic level in a short time.

R Yes, that’s so important that people can learn the instruments quite quickly. You mentioned overtones and tuning. Could you say more about that?

S Most of these instruments are in just intonation so-called natural tuning, and the combination of overtones in natural tuning has a very beneficial effect on our body and brain. The harmonies created through instruments in natural tuning are a very powerful tool for dealing with stress and help the brain to switch to relaxation mode, which will allow our body to restore cells and thus regenerate and rejuvenate the entire organism. We’ll talk more about this in the Overtones and Just Intonation chapters, as well as in the Brainwaves chapter.

R Another major topic of the panoramic method is rhythm, could you explain why rhythm is so important?

Rhythm is of course an essential component of all music and we believe anybody can develop a good sense of rhythm. On the physical level a good sense of rhythtm greatly assists the coordination of our brain hemispheres with a consequent increase in our cognitive abilities. It also helps with coordination and balance – two primary concerns for health as we grow older. Therefore, we use various percussion instruments and drums that are easy to master technically, thus allowing us to calmly focus on the rhythmic component of musical expression and not on the technical mastery of the instrument used to create it. Within this course you will play with rhythmic exercises involving your actual body – which you conveniently always have with you – that will help you increase the efficiency of your brain and help protect it from degenerative disorders. The exercises not only lay a basic, but firm foundation for further learning in this field, they simultaneously provide a means of progression for playing the actual instruments themselves. It is one of the fundamental concepts of the panoramic method that exercises should be fun and thus motivating.You will learn much more about this topic in the Rhythm chapter.

S So …. We could get better brains, be healthier and more coordinated, learn to play instruments, and have fun doing all of that?

R Exactly! Let’s talk about some of the other musical instruments commonly used in holistic music therapy and certainly in the Panoramic Method.

All musical instruments oscilate and therefore vibrate, so all the instruments we talk about in the panoramic method,work on the body through vibrations, and some instruments are especially rich sources in this regard. For example, there is an amazing instrument created by an ancient race that has occupied the Australian mainland for at least 65,000 years and it is widely accepted that they predate the modern human settlement of Europe and the Americas– of course I’m talking about the Australian Aborigines and their instrument the Yidaki, or didgeridoo. When played, this instrument provides us with deep vibrations in the neck and oral cavity, which have a positive effect on the flushing of metabolites and at the same time promote blood circulation to the tissues and thus support the cell renewal process. Playing this instrument provides us with very effective breathing exercises which are greatly beneficial for the entire respiratory tract, and have been shown to be quite effective for such debilitating conditions as sleep apnea and asthma. It can perhaps be said that didgeridoo playing is a kind of musical ‘pranayama’ which is an ancient system of breathing exercises from the yogic tradition, mentioned in texts as early as 3,000 BC in the Chandogya Upanishad.– prana translates to ‘life force’ or ‘energy source’, their description of the breath’s importance, and yama translates to ‘control’ – so ‘breath control.’

Didgeridoo playing can also facilitate meditative states which are able to be experienced if we train to play for longer (it takes a while to get used to it) 

These meditative states also support the renewal and rejuvenation of our cells.

(Here can be a detour to some text about how the body works under stress and that it is actually set to a fight or flight state and has no capacity for regenerative processes)

S Tibetan bowls can also be an active music therapy technique, where participants play the bowl by rubbing (spinning) and sing syllables that have a relaxing effect on a number of muscle groups and internal organs. In this case, trance experiences can also occur, when repeated group singing of syllables with bowls creates a so-called angelic choir, which can induce exceptional experiences associated with this type of musical meditation.

The harmonic overtones contained in the sound of these instruments, in combination with our own voice, can cause the sonic effect of an “angelic choir”, which is when we begin to hear much higher tones being created than the human voice can possibly create. Thus we can discover something hitherto unknown to us in the safe environment of a music therapy activity, which of course we can stop at any time if we happen to be uncomfortable, but it must be said that situation hardly ever happens. Another instrument particularly rich in these overtones is the previously mentioned didgeridoo.

You will learn more about the topic of overtones and harmonics in the Overtones chapter. In that chapter we will also show you how to play the bowls, how to use them to enrich your body and mood, and we will show you how to meditate and sing with them.

R This would be a good place to mention our emotional health, which can be supported by playing in a group generally called a ‘Music Therapy Orchestra’.

In this orchestra we are going to use our unusual instruments in natural tuning, and our orchestra can be connected to any existing local drum circle or other community that you could undoubtedly find in your neighbourhood and join – or of course you could gather your own group of like minded people who want to drum and play together and start your own. This ‘Music Therapy Orchestra’ is highly beneficial from the perspective of our human social and emotional needs, because it tends to both engender a sense of group belonging and simultaneously a feeling of personal agency and self-confidence. When playing together with a group the individual both feels like an independent and respected part of the community when their voice (sound) is heard, yet at the same time they do not interfere with others and instead are able to resonate with them.

When playing together using these instruments it is possible to create a similar experience of oneness with the group that professional musicians usually experience and variously describe as ‘peak experiences’, ‘flow states’ or even ‘Zen beginner’s mind.’ Since it is actually not possible to achieve a note that is out of tune on pentatonic flutes or balaphones (even an unintentional, mistaken one), then any note the player plays will sound good. If it is the case that the other members of the group play instruments in the same tuning, then it is simply not possible to achieve unpleasant sounding dissonances, either on purpose or accidently.

The ease of use of these tools can be further taken advantage of to allow us to create a meditation circle. In such an environment, it is possible to experience altered states of consciousness, which people usually achieve by various means, including drugs or techniques like so-called ‘holotropic breathing’. The method we espouse provides more safety for sensitive individuals, because if the altered state becomes unpleasant, it is possible to simply disengage from it at any time and return to a regular state by stopping playing or leaving the room.

S In our course, we will also touch on shamanic traditions, from which some techniques have gradually evolved and some instruments still bear traces of their origins, such as the shamanic drum. We do not claim that all the ancient traditions that natural peoples have followed have a positive effect on our health, but some of them have definitely become a model for today’s music therapy sessions, and current science and practical experience show in many cases their positive effect and in some cases offer an explanation for the mechanism of action of these rituals on our brain and body.

R Lastly, we will speak of Holistic Music Therapy’s passive form ‘Music Therapy relaxation.’

This is where one person (a music therapist) plays the instruments in a certain order and the participants lie on the floor and receive the soothing sound of ethnic instruments in natural tuning, which allows their brains to settle into a mode of deep relaxation and possibly a state of altered consciousness. A demonstration of music therapy relaxation will be part of the course, but it is ultimately necessary to find a trained music therapist who has experience playing these instruments. It is not possible to ensure this activity on your own. We’ll just list it for completeness.

To finish up this introduction to the panoramic method we would like to explain the three fundamental sources the course is based on.

On the theoretical level we rely on published research in the field of music therapy, neuroscience, biology, psychology, and history. On a practical level, it is based on the experience of practising music therapists who work in this specific area.

On a background and historical level, we refer to the ancient musical traditions of various nations that have used music for healing or spiritual activities since the dawn of our species.

S So please, … join us on this musical journey of discovery and enrichment of life and we hope you receive as much enjoyment and benefit from watching and participating in the course as we had creating it.

And finally, We would also like to say a special thanks to Dr. Lubomír Holzer, because his CMLH method became the inspiration for creating the foundations of our own panoramic method.