Week 6: Resonance and Good Vibrations

The 'Chaldni plate' demonstration here uses a cello bow and brass plates
to demonstrate the organization of sand at different resonant frequencies.
Photo credit: https://sciencedemonstrations.fas.harvard.edu/presentations/chladni-plates

Vibration

It is a cool thing that wave motion and vibrations are the fundamental stuff behind matter, and "the formation of matter is just one of the tricks that waves can do."(Crowell, Vibrations)

I'm currently in a time where wave motions are creating beautiful things in my life. I'm riffing off some "very good" vibrations (ie. more pleasurable than painful) these days. That is not to state that there isn't some discord even within my good life. For example, our mental-emotional layers also emit vibrational waves, including fear and uncertainty, and I believe that I can sense some of those waves especially in people that I am close with.

I don't believe vibrations are 'good' or 'bad', of course. They exist, as relatively and substantively as we ourselves exist. However, there seem to be life-giving and life-destroying vibrations, including active sonar that is destroying marine life due to improper use.

Resonance

It was cool to learn that resonance can destroy (our beloved Tacoma bridge) as well as create and harmonize (crystal healing bowls). I think the idea that sound at various frequencies can create healing within our bodies is a fascinating thing and should be applied therapeutically more widely, per the example of cancer cells being changed by sound frequencies. 

My own ideas of resonance have mostly to do with interpersonal compatibility (or non-compatibility) and in health and healing. As humans, we like to have pleasure and avoid pain. We also like to surround ourselves with people whom we have a 'resonance' with. In romantic partnership, I'm finding, it's important to be together with someone with whom you have a harmonious or constructive resonance, but too much of the same frequency can also become destructive. 

Energy and 'Ki' 

So, from an etymological standpoint, I cannot see how the terms 'energy' and 'Qi' (or here, 'ki') are not entirely interchangeable. Qi is energy in the body (and therefore, the 'mind' too) moving in life-sustaining and often routine patterns. Qi is within and without of the body, meaning it's also completely saturating and composing the external environments and materials upon which we depend.

The late Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama, who passed in 2015, was involved in clinical research into the relationship of the acupuncture meridians and the fascial tissue in the human body. The most interesting text to read would be Measurements of Ki Energy: Diagnoses and Treatment, available on Amazon used for a cool $180.00.  I would love to know more about his work, and will endeavor to find some for the class. His Institute's website might be a good place to start.