Chapter 6 · 1 / 4
Tuning Body and Mind with Sound
From the OM of the Upanishads to dhikr, shingon, the Six Healing Sounds and the sacred songs of the Ryukyus. Why sound belongs in a place devoted to tea, and what to know before practising safely.
The lessons are narrated in Japanese.
How to turn on English subtitles
- Start the video and click the CC button to switch captions on.
- Open Settings (the gear icon) → Subtitles/CC → Auto-translate.
- Choose English.
These are machine-translated from the Japanese captions, so expect some roughness — particularly around tea terminology. The text on this page is a proper translation, so read the two together.
The Upanishads, the ancient scriptures of India, teach that the beginning of the world was a vibration of the cosmos, and that the fundamental sound of it was OM. This is understood as a reflection on the origin of all things, made from a philosophical and cultural standpoint.
So why talk about sound in a place that brings together tea and qigong?
Because the sound of the voice, of words, comes before every movement, inward and outward. A voice made with intent calls up the qi — the life energy — that answers to it, and settles it. And settled qi acts in turn on the state of our physical body, on our emotions and on our senses.
It is known from experience, for example, that the deep breath and the vibration in the throat when sounding OM lead naturally into the kind of deep breathing that supports parasympathetic activity, and that this brings many people into a relaxed state. Doing this in the moments before you brew tea gathers your attention into the here and now, and prepares you to feel the flavour of the leaf more deeply.
The phenomenon of particular syllables acting substantially on body and mind has been taken seriously in many cultures of the ancient world: the mantras of India, the dhikr of Islamic mysticism, the shingon of esoteric Buddhism, the Six Healing Sounds of China, the sacred songs of Okinawa and the Ryukyus. The syllables differ from culture to culture, but what they share is the recognition that sounding correctly is an important element of maintaining health.
Sound is a simple tool and a powerful one. But what is offered here is a matter of wellness. It is not medical treatment and is not intended as such. If you have any concern about your health, consult your doctor beforehand. If you feel unwell during the practice, stop at once and rest. The most important thing is to listen constantly to your own condition and your own senses, and to work within what is comfortable.
In this lesson we set out the basic procedure and the points to watch, so that you can practise these vocal techniques safely and comfortably, with the cultural context in view. We hope the practice becomes an occasion for observing and settling your own body and mind.