Healing from paralysis-Music (toning) to activate health

Madhu Anziani and Erik Peper

In April 2009, Madhu Anziani, just one month prior to graduation from San Francisco State University with a degree in Jazz/World music performance, fell two stories and broke C5 and C7 vertebras.  He became a quadriplegic (tretraplegia) and could not breathe, talk, move his arms and legs and was incontinent.  He also could not remember anything about the accident because of retrograde amnesia.  Even though he was paralyzed and the medical staff suggested that he focussed on how to live well as a quadriplegic, he transcended his paralysis and the prognosis and is now a well-known vocal looping arts and ceremonial song leader/composer.

His recovery against all odds provides hope that growth and healing is possible when the mind and spirit focus on possibilities and not on limitations.  Alongside physical thereapy he utilized energy healing and toning/sound vibrations to recover mobility.  Toning, the vocalization of an elonggated monotonous vowel sound susteained for a number of minutes tends to vibrate specific areas in the body where the chakras are located (Crowe & Scovel, 1996; Goldman, 2017). Toning compared to mindfulness meditation reduces intrusive thoughts and mind wandering. It also increases body vibration sensations and heart rate variability much more than mindfulness practice (Peper et al, 2019). The body vibrations induced by toning and music could be one of the mechanisms by which recovery can occur at an accelerated rate as it allows the person’s passive awareness and sustained attention to feel the paralyzed body and yet be relaxed in the present without judgement.   

Watch Madhu’s inspirational presentation as part of the Holistic Health Lecture Series by the Institute for Holistic Health Studies, San Francisco State University. In this presentation, he describes the process of recovery and guides the viewer through toning practices to evoke quieting of mind, bliss within the heart, and a healing state of being.

For an additional discussion and guided practice in toning, see the blog, Toning quiets the mind and increases HRV more quickly than mindfulness practice.

Madu Anziani is a sound healer who endured being a tetraplegic (paralysis affecting all four
limbs) and used sound and energy healing to recover mobility. He is a SFSU graduate and most
well-known as a vocal looping artist and ceremonial song leader/composer.

http://www.firstwasthesound.com

http://madhu.bandcamp.co

REFERENCES:

Crowe, B.J. & Scovel, M. (1996). An Overview of Sound Healing Practices: Implications for the Profession of Music Therapy, Music Therapy Perspectives, 14(1), 21-29.

Goldman, J. (2017). The 7 Secrets of Sound Healing. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House Inc.

Peper, E., Pollack, W., Harvey, R., Yoshino, A., Daubenmier, J. & Anziani, M. (2019). Which quiets the mind more quickly and increases HRV: Toning or mindfulness? NeuroRegulation, 6(3), 128-133.