Cello
{A Written Practice}
Cello
Neglect is experienced as a lack of reciprocal connection, a lack of resonance, nurturance, attunement, warmth, and being seen. Because reciprocal connection is required to instantiate (etch in your neurobiology) a sense of self-regulation– we learn to regulate ourselves because someone else has helped us regulate– neglect can be as damaging to our ability to attune to ourselves and our needs, to deeply feel and know ourselves, as abuse. When we think about restorative practices to address this, there are several relevant and related dimensions.
Attuned relationship and reciprocal touch with a safe caregiver provide vibrational resources. For many of us who are adults, and didn’t receive this, touch can be a tricky thing. So finding ways to evoke or stimulate this that are within our control, and feel safe is very important. One of the most interesting ways that you can learn to do this is by learning to play the cello, or listening to cello music.
The cello is the instrument most closely attuned to the human body. An article in the Journal of the International Society of Life Information Science in Japan, titled The Effects of Sonic Vibration for Sound Healing on the Body, by Kita, Nakamura, Saitou, and Sakamoto (2010), explains that sound waves travel at a speed of 340m per second in air, but at 1500m per second within water (of which the human body is 70%). Within solids, such as bone, they travel at more than 5000m per second. Sounds that enter into the body ripple through body cells, one by one, in the form of waves, and travel through bones and body fluids.
When someone is playing the cello, not only are they bathed aurally in the sounds (listening with their ears), but the size and placement of the instrument, the way it is held by the body, and the placement of the hands on the neck and bow of the instrument, conduct vibration through the hands and the body.
The sounds massage the body at the cellular level with high quality sonic vibrations of 20 to 2000 times per second. Sounds of low frequencies at about 27.5Hz to 220Hz resonate better in the chest, abdomen, and lower limbs, as compared to the head. In fact, sounds of the cello that move listeners’ hearts are resonating at this low frequency range. This frequency is neuro-cardiological nourishment: food for the heart.
You might start your cello journey with the Prelude from Bach Cello Suite No.1 in G Major.
Related Practices:
See Hammocks. See Cello. This is related to all things Polvyagal. See the Science of Safety (Polyvagal Theory). See Clinical Applications of Polyvagal Theory. If you'd like a brief introduction to the theory, visit our Brief Illustrated Guide to Polyvagal Theory. For a comprehensive exploration of the theory with its developer, see The Future of Medicine and Mental Health, with Dr. Stephen Porges, PhD. See Polyvagal Mapping. With regard to healing traumas and down-shifting other distress states, see Healing Trauma, Coming out of Fight, Coming out of Flight, Coming out of Appease.Photography: Stein Egil Liland | Licensed from Pexels.com, used with permission.