What Sound Can (and Can’t) Do: Sharing Common Misconceptions in Sound Healing Therapy
I’ve been doing this work for a long time, and every year I see more confusion out there about how sound healing therapy actually works. There’s so much information online — charts, frequency lists, fancy claims — that it can make both practitioners and clients feel like they need special bowls, or special healing talents or formulas to be effective.
So I wanted to share what my experience has been - not as a gatekeeper… just as someone who’s been around the block and wants people to feel grounded about using sound for wellness.
1. The 432 Hz vs. 440 Hz Debate
This might be the most talked-about topic in sound circles. Some people say 432 Hz is “healing” and 440 Hz is harmful or “out of alignment.” I’ve been using bowls tuned to 440 Hz for years, and I haven’t hurt anyone yet.
We’re really talking about a tiny pitch difference. Instrument makers measure that in something called ‘cents,’ which are just tiny units of pitch. There are 100 cents in one musical step. Most people can’t hear a bowl being off unless it’s more than 10 or 15 cents. And the difference between 432 and 440? It’s about 32 cents — just a little more than a quarter of a musical step.
The nervous system isn’t measuring that. It’s responding to tone, pacing, and how safe the person feels. If someone prefers 432 for personal or aesthetic reasons, that’s completely fine, of course.
2. “This Frequency Heals That Ailment”
This is a big one, especially online.
You’ll see charts claiming things like:
174 Hz heals pain
396 Hz removes fear
528 Hz repairs DNA
It sounds impressive, but it’s not how the body works.
Sound healing doesn’t “fix” specific problems the way a medication targets a symptom. It supports the nervous system. It can help someone feel calmer, more regulated, more aware of themselves. That alone can create meaningful shifts — but it's not because a certain frequency is doing surgery on the inside. However, I believe that our intention trumps any specific frequency. Jonathan Goldman, a pioneer in the sound healing industry, coined a phrase:
FREQUENCY + INTENTION = HEALING
People heal in connection, relaxation, and safety… not because of one magic note - although, given a powerful enough intention, who knows?
3. A $1,500 Alchemy Bowl Isn’t Automatically “More Healing” Than a $250 Frosted Bowl.
Do expensive bowls exist? Absolutely. Do they sound beautiful? Many of them do.
But a bowl doesn’t create healing on its own. A bowl creates sound.
Healing comes from:
the relationship between the sound and the person
how the practitioner uses it
the intention and pacing behind it
the nervous system feeling held and not overwhelmed
A skilled practitioner with a $250 bowl will offer more benefit than someone waving around a $1,500 bowl with no sense of attunement. The tool is helpful, but it’s not the source.
And in my opinion - your voice is often more powerful than any bowl in the room.
4. Chakras Are Not Color-Coded Switches
You know, a lot of people don’t realize this, but the chakra system we use in the West is really a simplified version of much older teachings. In the original yogic texts, like the Upanishads and the Tantras, there wasn’t just one single chakra map. Some systems had five chakras, some had six, some had more.
The seven-chakra rainbow system most of us learned — red, orange, yellow, and so on — is actually pretty modern. It was streamlined in the 1970s and 80s to make it easier for Westerners to understand.
And honestly, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a helpful framework. But it’s symbolic, not literal. Chakras were never meant to be physical structures or energy switches you turn on with a certain frequency or color. They were more like inner themes or points of awareness used for meditation and self-inquiry. Chakras are not “turned on” with a specific note. But you can help someone feel more grounded, more open, or more connected — and that’s often what these symbols are pointing to.
5. What Sound Healing May Support
Sound healing therapy may help:
downshift a stressed nervous system
increase a sense of safety
support emotional release
improve internal awareness
activate the relaxation response through the parasympathetic nervous system
improve vagal tone
enhance the quality of sleep
It doesn’t diagnose, cure, target, or treat. It supports. It creates conditions that facilitate the body’s own healing abilities.
It doesn’t need mystical claims to be meaningful.
6. The Most Powerful Instrument Is the One Inside Your Throat
I love my bowls. I use them almost every day. But if you ask me what creates the biggest impact? My voice.
The human voice carries intention, emotion, resonance, breath, and presence. It’s the only living instrument. It’s relational in a way quartz crystal can never be. Sometimes a simple hum does more for someone’s state than the most beautifully tuned instrument in the world.
Bringing It Back to What Matters
Sound healing doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t need specialized frequencies or expensive tools. Using sound in one form or another for wellness, healing and expansion is everyone’s birthright.
At its heart, it’s about helping people feel safe enough to soften — to breathe, to notice themselves, to settle back into their own rhythm. If we can keep our work rooted in clarity, honesty, and presence, then sound becomes what it’s meant to be:
A support. A companion. A way home. An evolutionary process - not a fix-it tool, as my friend Vickie Dodd said.
Where can I learn more practices like this?
My Calm in 10 audios are a beautiful place to start — three short, intentional sound journeys you can use daily to reset your body and mind, and invite you to use your voice for your own wellbeing. They’re designed to help you shift from overwhelm to ease in just ten minutes.
Explore Calm in 10 - 3 - 10 minute audio tracks to help you come home to yourself →
Explore my upcoming sound baths →
