Soul Voice: Expression into Freedom
by Karina Schelde

I had my first initiation with sounding two decades ago, while giving a bodywork session to a client in my Healing Centre in Denmark. I had been working with the client on an intense pain in the abdomen area, and even after two previous sessions I was still not able to relieve any of the pain. Suddenly sounds started to pour out of me in a sensation as if I was going to burst into a song that had, for a long time, been waiting to be expressed through me.

It was like nothing else I had ever experienced. It felt like the sounds came not only from the Earth but from everywhere. I was overwhelmed, as I had no idea that I was capable of expressing these awesome sounds. It felt as if the sounds did not belong to me, but rather that I was the instrument that Source used to bring the sacred sounds into my client. Most of the time I was in a trance state, captivated by the sound initiation I was experiencing. It lasted about ten minutes and then it was over—the sound stopped by itself—my client’s pain was gone and I was convinced that I had heard my true calling.

The Breathing Voice

From the moment Liz enters, she talks incessantly and in a high-pitched voice, fluctuating in staccato. My first approach is to get her to slow down, to breathe, and to stand solid on her feet. I ask her to visualize she has the roots of a redwood tree, and to let these roots penetrate deep into the Earth. Then I ask her to breathe deeply, not only into her own body, but also into the Earth as if she was breathing together with Mother Earth. She weeps as the breath brings her back to body awareness. She tells me, “I just need to cry, I don’t know why, and I don’t need to know why.”

After a while, I have her read aloud from a love poem. I ask her to read with significant breaks after each sentence, to make the break a breathing break and to feel what she is reading. Her voice is already becoming more natural and deep. Thereafter, I ask Liz to make a break after each word she utters. She takes to it persistently, her voice becomes softer and flowing, and her face changes. She looks lighter and younger. Suddenly, she looks directly into my eyes as she says, “I have been lying to myself and I can’t do it any longer!”

I now ask her to read the poem with as much feeling in her voice as she can. She proceeds and is overwhelmed. In her tears, memories surface and I ask her to breathe consciously through the sound of the grief she is experiencing, a way to bring greater awareness into emotional release. Liz is able to continue with remarkable resonance in her voice.

I ask her to sing the poem intuitively, making up a melody. She hesitates, but after I give her an example of how it may sound, she dives in.

Finally, I ask her to improvise how she would sing the poem to a beloved, using partly her own words as well. I also demonstrate and guide her into expanding an unusual range of tones while deep breathing. In doing so, her voice becomes dramatic and at the same time very real. Liz says she feels in contact with her authentic voice as never before. It is obvious the tone and the frequencies of her voice have drastically changed. Liz counts her session as a life-changing experience.

Anger and Grief Release in Action

I am working with Mathias who has chronic pain in the pelvic area, which has caused him stress and discomfort. After a couple of warm-up exercises including Anger Release, I ask him to sound directly into the pain with his own sounds and focus on matching the feeling of the pain to the best of his ability. I guide him to make the sound that feels good and resonant. It is like the sensation of being met, as if the sound knows what the body needs.

I now ask him to intensify the sound by exaggerating its feeling, visualizing “peeling off the layers of an onion within.” I instruct Mathias to talk to the pain through the sound. Tears come to his eyes and he weeps. Mathias is brought back to a car accident from which he has never completely healed, where his hip was injured. I guide him and encourage him to dive further into the sound without any judgments or considerations whatsoever, to be experimental with his sounds and surrender.

Through my guidance he understands the magic power of intentionally working with his own sound, which enables him to more strongly reactivate the “dead cells” of his chronic condition. Enormous relief in various waves of emotions is evident.

We finish the session with harmonious and soothing sounds.

After a series of sessions, including guided practices between the sessions, Mathias became a new person, pain-free, and with a new perspective on life. Mathias explains, “I have not only cured my chronic back pain, but also regained hope and faith that everything is possible when I make a serious commitment.”

Karina Schelde is an internationally recognized pioneer in sound healing, and master teacher in voice healing therapy. A dynamic and passionate facilitator and lecturer, Karina has synthesized 25 years of professional experience in alternative healing into her unique Soul Voice™ method. Join Karina at an Introductory Workshop in Regina, March 23 & 24. Visit www.soulvoice.net.