Sandra Katala is a massage therapist with a long list of certifications and interests. In this special interview for MysticMag she explains how she discovered her purpose to help others live a more balanced life, what is vibrational sound therapy and empowering the clients to heal themselves.
Check out this special interview now!
When did you discover that you wanted to dedicate yourself to the healing arts and help people in that way?
My parents demonstrated the quality of “service” a lot, growing up. We were taught, through example, how to offer a hand. I have vivid memories of my Mom taking care of family members before they passed on. She showed me how to feel comfortable holding space when people are at their most vulnerable. As a result, I’ve found myself in that caretaker role many times over the years, with folks who were very ill or crossing over. I lost my father to cancer when I was just 15. In the months and years leading up to his death, the responsibility of taking care of him fell on all of us. I remember feeling really inspired by the amount of relief my Mom got from a one hour massage my Dad purchased for her. That really impacted my life at a young age.
At 18, I enrolled in classes for massage therapy and felt like something clicked into place for me. Death has been a frequent visitor in my life, one of them, a close personal friend who took his own life. Grief sort of broke me open and allowed me to rebuild myself stronger. Emotional pain is what led me to dig deeper and keep learning. I was led down different rabbit holes into many alternative massage and energy modalities such as Acupressure, Shiatsu, Therapeutic Touch, Polarity Therapy, Reiki, Integrated Energy Therapy, as well as others. Massage showed me time and again that our bodies show us where we hold our emotions.
Massage has always led me to discover myself in deeper ways. I wanted to help create lasting change with my clients, instead of seeing someone once, and sending them on their way. Leaving behind the busy corporate Spa industry was the next step in fine tuning the work I was doing. Later, after meeting my husband, I discovered drumming and vocal toning. This led to the last 12 years of studies about the healing effects of sound and music. Through the tools I learned, I started to practice better self-care so that I could improve my own health on all levels. Massage and sound started to merge for me more and more and I became passionate about helping others to live in a more balanced way.
Now, years later, I reflect on this gift that’s been with me for over 26 years. There have been many lessons in my life. Without a doubt, the times of pain and suffering, sadness and grief, have been the most monumental teachers. In answer to your question, I guess I have been learning each step of the way that I wanted to dedicate myself to helping others live a more balanced life.
Can you explain to our audience what is vibrational sound therapy (VST)?
VST combines powerful vibration and tones to induce an immediate relaxed state. This gentle on-body sound work mainly uses Himalayan singing bowls placed over clothing. These bowls have a very long sustain when struck gently. The induction of the sound waves directly into the tissues of the body along with soothing ambient tones has clients reporting effects ranging from a meditative state to deep relaxation and pain relief.
VST is so gentle and relaxing that most people will fall asleep at some point during the session. The brain wave state of clients undergoing a sound massage will change naturally and in reaction to the modality as positions are changed and different bowls are introduced. Small tremors and shakes are common as people enter and exit the Theta (associated with meditation, REM sleep, and deep relaxation) and Delta (a deeper form of sleep, also associated with hypnosis and ritual) brain wave rhythms. During normal sleep, people will oscillate between both of these states.
How can sound immersion help with issues like anxiety, insomnia and PTSD?
Often, clients with issues such as severe anxiety and PTSD may have an aversion to being touched physically. Using both on-body (VST) and off-body (immersion) sound, I have often found this to be more effective than traditional Massage Therapy in creating a space to fully relax without triggering the “fight or flight” response. Sound Therapy can help induce sleep states and quiet the busy mind that is often associated with insomnia. VST and sound therapy are excellent alternatives to massage, while still having profound effects on the body (through deeper and deeper states of rest), the mind (affecting alertness and perception), and emotions (relaxed/meditative states of mind can help us control our emotional responses to outside influences). Those who undergo a state of deep relaxation often report a feeling of mental freshness and emotional lightness that they carry with them after the session is over.
Like other kinds of meditation, sound therapy can help us become more internally aware. Using sound therapeutically can lead to entrainment, a form of beneficially modified brainwave frequencies. Therapeutic sound can help balance the left and right hemispheres of the brain and help you get to the root of your issues. Understanding and using sound therapeutically can help have lasting effects on our overall well-being. Working from the inside out, sound impacts us on a spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical level.
What can people do on a regular basis to release energy blockages and be more present?
I often suggest that my clients hang a self-care calendar as a daily reminder to do at least one thing to benefit their health (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual). Something as simple as taking an epsom salt bath, dancing, gentle movement & stretching, smudging yourself or your space with sage, or going for a walk in nature can do wonders for you.
We need a space in our lives to get in touch with our breath, our thoughts, our feelings, and the messages our body is sending us. Using self-care sound tools like tuning forks, drum, your voice, or singing bowls regularly can help you learn to induce a state of relaxation and focus in times of stress. Receiving Acupuncture, getting massages and receiving sound baths can go far in helping you to find a space to become aware of your stress level. We can literally train ourselves to respond differently to stress over time.
It’s very important that you point out that you want to empower your clients to heal themselves. What is the first step to start healing yourself?
Set aside time for yourself! Become “still” enough to shift into the awareness of how you actually feel. The body is giving us messages all of the time, but we usually don’t listen until it becomes a problem. Aging happens, but HOW we age is truly up to us. Take ownership for your body and make it a priority to work on your wellness every day, in some small (or not-so-small) way.
Awareness is key. We have to start seeing ourselves as more than just our physical bodies. When something is out of balance in our emotional, mental or spiritual body, signs often show up in the physical to grab our attention and let us know something needs to change. Having someone offer you relief is great, but you really have to be an active participant in your own healing. In this age of self-proclaimed “Sound Healers” and “Shamans”, there is unfortunately a lot of ego in the healing community. This is a big reason I chose to become a Licensed Vibrational Sound Therapist, because I believe it helps to raise the standards and legitimize the work of sound as a healing modality. A practitioner is only as effective as they practice their skills to be. In their desire to get better, many people give their power over to others. I think it’s really important to look to the wisdom within to heal yourself. You can seek professional guidance, but they can only help you to the degree you are willing to help yourself. The truth is, nobody is going to save you but yourself…
Do you have a special message to our audience in these challenging times?
The world just seems to be getting noisier. As a society we are overstimulated with things that affect us negatively (technology, social and news media, traffic, pollution, stress). Most of us are under-nourished with things like mindfulness, meaningful connections, time in nature and healthy touch. It can be challenging to carve out the time to “indulge” in self-care, but it is so necessary to keep ourselves balanced in an unbalanced world. It is essential for survival! My message to anyone who’ll listen is to play, find your passions, and keep discovering! Massage, sound, and hands-on healing have taught me so much about how important it is to take this business of taking care of ourselves seriously. Life is now, go enjoy it!
If you would like to find out more about Sandra Katala and Playground for the Soul, visit www.playgroundforthesoul.net
