
It was while traveling in Hawaii that Integrative Health advocate, Melanie Adams, founder of Fort Worth-based Amelelani Harmonics, discovered the beauty and sounds of alchemy quartz crystal singing bowls and their use as tools in mindfulness. This began an unexpected journey down a path that has enriched her life and made a difference for others.
"My experience with sound therapy provided deep mind-body healing, a dynamic shift in my energy and sleep patterns, and provided me with a sense of calm and a renewed point of view in managing my chronic autoimmunity and illnesses," Adams says. "It was an invitation to healing that no prescription has ever filled and offered a supportive space for me to realize "I can do this." I realized very quickly that I had discovered my passion and my purpose."
Crystal singing bowls are made from pure silica sand, which is quartz in nature. One creative process places this quartz into a centrifugal force spinning mold, where an electric torch integrates the individual particles of silica into a unified whole, forming a crystalline matrix. Advanced alchemies imbued into bowls can include gemstones, precious metals, rare earth, rare quartz crystals and minerals.
"There are a variety of quartz crystal singing bowls on the market, and no crystal bowl has the same note as another," Adams says. Bowls are played with a variety of tools, including mallets.
Therapeutically, sound therapies work by physiological response to the soothing sounds. Varying frequencies of sounds can be used for specific desired outcome, and for different areas of the body.
"Having chaired numerous music-based fundraisers benefiting the local Cancer Research Foundation of North Texas, Texas Chapter March of Dimes, and Cook Children's Medical System for over a decade, I had the privilege of experiencing first-hand how music transforms lives of those suffering by providing resonating joy," Adams says.
"As a volunteer, Artist in Residence and friend of the sound studio at Cook Children's, bringing music into the clinical setting has provided great personal rewards that help put my own illness in perspective, and always provides children and their families with the therapeutic and soothing benefits of music."
Adams collaborates with area yoga studios, music and occupational therapists and organizations to incorporate sound meditation into their programs.
"I had a wonderful experience with Amelelani Harmonics," says Beth Hutson, CEO and Art Director at Hutson Studio in Fort Worth. "After my session with Melanie, I felt more focused, energetic and creative. The quartz singing bowls are gorgeous works of art, and they are also extremely soothing and uplifting."
In the clinical setting, sound therapy can alleviate anxiety, assist in pain management and distract from procedures.
Dr. Wayne E. Martin is a licensed clinical social worker, a Senior Fellow of the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance, and the psychophysiologist on the pain team at Cook Children's.
"I found the various sounds produced by the bowls deeply relaxing and very pleasing to hear," Martin says. "I could imagine these sounds played in the background while someone is learning to relax or in the mental foreground as the main focus of the meditation time. They have a deep and moving sound. I could imagine them being helpful in a range of circumstances."
Adams" work has influenced children with ADD/ADHD and learning differences at Starpoint School, Texas Christian University, with an opportunity to stop, look, listen, relax and refocus.
Adams developed HE^AL, here+alive©-a program she has taught in workshops that combines meditation, movement and sound therapy in supportive environments.
Taking her initial course in Mindbodyness at TCU was an expansive and enjoyable privilege, Adams says. "Continuing my education in Integrative Health is a primary goal, as it is an ever-changing landscape, and becoming more knowledgeable will allow me to bring more practices into the work I share with others."
The amelelani.com website launched this year to offer a source for the resonant beauty of sound tools in complementary alternative medicine and wellness modalities.