Connie Henning about sound during Pregnancy

The prenatal period is, for most people, far from whole. The feeling of primal trust seems to be connected more with the time before – the sense of cosmic oneness that is so often described during or after a sound massage or sound meditation with singing bowls. This feeling from the "time before" should naturally flow forward into the boundless floating of symbiosis in the womb. From there would come contact with the mother, in which this symbiosis continues, then the path into the family – as a young child – and later the gradual loosening of that symbiosis and the stepping out into the world. Prenatal psychology shows us that this natural progression is often disrupted even during pregnancy, and that this disruption then continues throughout life. Natural tone instruments, such as the singing bowl, appear to reconnect us with that primal trust – with the sense of being held in the primordial soup – and to allow a nourishing and growing to take place. Sound work can therefore be a genuinely helpful support, particularly in work with pregnant women or even before pregnancy begins, for the healthy development of the child and for strengthening the mother-to-be. Singing bowls have a centring, gathering quality. They help us to arrive again in our own centre.

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Natural knowledge of birth and the newborn

The female body is, in evolutionary terms, so to speak "programmed" for giving birth. Women therefore carry this knowledge within them as a matter of course. Yet access to this resource, to these instincts, is often blocked. Our knowledge-oriented age demands recipes, clear procedures and delivers a corresponding abundance of information – while the profound importance of connection to feeling, perception and lived experience is frequently overlooked. And yet it is of central importance that the expectant mother – or the woman who wishes to become one – is in contact with herself and with the unborn child. To support and strengthen this connection is the intention of sound work.

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The natural process of pregnancy and birth is increasingly being technologised and seems at times to be treated almost as an illness. The trend toward planned caesarean sections is growing. It is as though there were a desire to banish everything natural from midwifery. In doing so, we deny ourselves an important opportunity. For through birth, mother and child have the chance to experience crisis as a positive learning step in life.

Connie Henning: Sound Massage in Pregnancy and Birth, in: Hess/Koller (eds.): Sound Methods in Therapeutic Practice, Peter Hess Verlag, 2009