How classical music helps heal, de-stress and achieve inner balance

Mukta Munshi

The two sisters, Kamakshi and Vishala, grew up at a home which was charged with music notes, crests and troughs of sound. The reasons are not far to seek. They had a live example before them – their father, who left his flourishing business to plunge into the world of music. “Our childhood was infused with art & culture with a lot of singing and music thrown in,” says Kamakshi. “I remember we used to be sitting at the table and creating music, eating together and really bonding over these things and deriving happiness out of it,” adds Vishala. No wonder, both the girls studied music till the Visharad level from the University of Lucknow, and then founded The Sound Space, a platform which specialises in teaching Indian classical music to kids and adults. The learning modules are focused not only on teaching Indian music in a deconstructed form but also on other aspects like de-stressing, achieving inner balance and healing.
“Music doesn’t hold the importance it should, especially in the education system which treats it as an extra-curricular activity. We believe the other way round, especially during the formative years,” says Kamakshi, adding that the ultimate aim is to bring music therapy to the forefront across the globe. The two recently created healing music and also developed music techniques to strengthen various chakras of the body.

Love for classical, genesis of The Sound Space
We grew up listening to semi classical music, ghazals, etc and then went on to study Indian Classical music because classical is the base from where all other genres emerge. It gives you a holistic understanding of music. Once we went deep into it we realised that it can also have a beautiful and deep association in every child’s life. The point is how to present it, make it enjoyable and sustainable, which led to the setting up of The Sound Space. It is our dream to make music a part of everyone’s lives. It started off as an experiment where we explored different ways in which music can impact one’s life and now it’s moved on to become a full-fledged company that infuses people’s lives through education, events, therapy, etc.

Acceptance level of music healing
A lot of people are looking for alternative therapies, new ways of healing so the market is definitely expanding. Music in itself is such a powerful thing that it draws people, bringing them together. Everyone enjoys music, more so as each of our sessions has an element of relaxation and therapy. Music healing has been accepted really well by many though there are some people who are skeptical about it.

Chakra healing with music
We use Bija Mantras to strengthen the chakras of the body. The Bija Mantras are seed sounds. They have a certain vibration, if you pronounce the seed sound correctly and sing it at the right frequency it can have a mojo impact on the body. If someone comes to us with a problem, we assess the person completely and then try to figure out the origin of the problem; we then create sound vibrations that help them heal. We also use ragas that help in the overall health.