STRINGS OF HEALING
Gentle hammered dulcimer music to help heal the sick and comfort the dying
Harry Vayo, Certified Music Practitioner
I offer live therapeutic music at the bedside of the ill and dying in hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, or at the patient’s home. By focusing on the patient’s condition and needs of the moment, I choose music that will best enhance the patient’s healing. For example, I might play a soothing Irish melody to help ease the pain of a chronically ill patient, or a simple tune with a gentle but steady rhythm to help stabilize heartbeat and breathing in a person recovering from surgery. I have coaxed smiles and glimmers of recognition from persons with Alzheimer’s by playing familiar tunes from the old days. During a patient’s final hours of life I have eased the transition with soft, clear notes that linger briefly and fade gently.
Studies have shown that live music can
- Reduce blood pressure
- Stabilize heart rate and respiration
- Reduce the need for pain medication
- Enhance the immune system
- Decrease muscle tension
- Improve physical coordination
- Sharpen mental acuity
- Equalize brain wave activity
- Relieve anxiety
- Promote relaxation and sleep
- Accelerate surgical recovery
- Reduce length of hospital stay
As a Certified Music Practitioner (CMP), I am a trained professional and a graduate of the Music for Healing and Transition Program (MHTP). I am not a music therapist. Rather than treat or cure specific conditions, I create a relaxing and soothing environment in which healing may occur. I am fully insured through the Association of Bodywork and Massage Professionals.
My instrument is the hammered dulcimer, a hollow, trapezoid-shaped wooden box that I play by striking its many pairs of strings with small mallets. Its pure and resonant tone, sounding a little like a cross between a harp and a piano with the soft pedal on, is ideal for creating a sonic healing environment.
Every person I play for as a CMP is a whole and unique person with a rich life full of experience. I receive at least as much from my listeners as I give to them, and have learned profound truths by playing at the bedside. To read about some of my most memorable experiences as a CMP, please click on the "Blog" tab.
Give someone you love the special gift of healing music. A session may include 30 or 45 minutes of playing at the bedside in a hospital, nursing home, hospice setting, or at the home of the patient. Contact me at this website for more information.