ENTRAINMENT: Using Sound for Emotional & Energetic Equilibrium

Christian Huygens, a scientist from the Netherlands, discovered Entrainment in the 17th century. He had a room full of grandfather clocks with pendulums. These pendulum clocks were of various sizes and shapes.

One day, he set them all in motion at different times and then left the room. When he returned the next day, he was surprised to find that all the clocks were in sync—with the movements of the largest of the clock. Just as the pendulums of the clocks changed their rhythms to match the largest clock, so we are constantly being affected and changing our rhythms through encountering vibrations. 

Our bodies have many rhythms. Our heart rate, pulse rate, and breathing rate are all examples of this. In fact, our brains have pulsations and rhythms that are measured in cycles per second, just like sound frequencies. 

So, what is entrainment? It is the process by which the powerful rhythmic vibrations of one object are projected upon a second object with a similar frequency, thereby causing that object to vibrate in resonance with the first object. 

“Our ability to have a world depends on our ability to entrain with it,” says George Leonard. Our ability to entrain or experience our harmony with the vibrations of those around us allows us to feel our connection with the world. Without entrainment—the basis of all communication—we would exist in isolation rather than in harmony with the universe. Healing then is fundamentally the restoration of harmony from disharmony, which allows us to reconnect with our own life energy or essence.