A friend of mine recently sent me a link to The Healing Frequencies of the Human Body. It starts out:
Humans have understood for centuries that sound has a profound effect on the human body and mind. Ever since our discovery of music and shamanistic chanting, we have been pushing the boundaries of how the healing effects of sounds and frequencies can be measured.
So what are the healing frequencies of the human body? Certain frequencies of sound are used as part of therapies in order to manipulate human brainwaves to promote healing of the body and mind. Sound frequency healing has been used to treat several different kinds of ailments such as insomnia, anxiety, depression, and disorders of the nervous system.
The article lists 11 frequencies “that are regarded in alternative medicine to be particularly healing to the human body,” including 40 Hz, 174 Hz, 285 Hz, 396 Hz, 417 Hz, 432 Hz, 440 Hz, 528 Hz, 639 Hz, 852 Hz, and 963 Hz.
So, could using these frequencies as your CW sidetone improve your health? 40 Hz is probably too low to be practical, but the other frequencies might be usable. Here’s what the article has to say about these frequencies:
- 174 Hz. 174 Hz is associated with the reduction of both pain and stress.
- 285 Hz. 285 Hz is considered to be instrumental in the healing of cuts, burns, and other physical wounds.
- 396 Hz. 396 Hz helps transform negative feelings, such as fear, grief, and guilt, into positive, joyful ones.
- 417 Hz. 417 Hz helps remove negative energy, such as the energy surrounding a past trauma or negative energies in the ambient environment.
- 432 Hz. 432 Hz leads to greater levels of mental and emotional clarity and a higher level of spiritual development.
- 440 Hz. 440 Hz aids in the listener’s cognitive development.
- 528 Hz. Also known as the love frequency, 528 Hz is a sound associated with blessings.
- 639 Hz. 639 Hz produces positive feelings and encourages clearer communication practices and situational awareness.
- 852 Hz. 825 Hz keeps the mind from overthinking and helps remove intrusive thoughts, and negative thought patterns.
- 963 Hz. 963 Hz is known as both the “pure miracle tone” and the “frequency of the gods.” and is associated with higher spiritual development.
Personally, I think 396 Hz, 432 Hz, and 639 Hz show the most promise. We all need more positive, joyful feelings, greater mental and emotional clarity, and certainly better communications! I’m going to give them a try. Beginners, on the other hand, might want to try 852 Hz as their sidetone. Overthinking and negative thought patterns can certainly be a hindrance to learning the code.
Being an engineer, I wonder what the tolerance is on these frequencies. For example, is 433 Hz OK, or does the tone have to be exactly 432 Hz? And, what about spectral purity? Fortunately, my Flex 6400 allows me to set the sidetone with 1 Hz resolution. Of course, to achieve that 432 Hz sidetone, I have to zero beat the incoming signal very accurately.
What do you think? What tones will you try?
Richard Barnich says
Someone should notify Icom. My rig only adjusts in 25Hz increments.
Rick K8BMA
Corey McKay says
So, if you use 528Hz as the sidetone, does that mean you are now operating in a Love Shack? 🤣
Dan KB6NU says
Yes!
Bob, W6BP says
Seems legit.
Paul kw1L says
Will check my mood ring before operating CW for I setting my CW sidetone frequency. If the mood ring shows negative thoughts I will set my cw sidetone to 852 hz.
Rob W4ZNG says
My cat’s usual sidetone is 285 Hz. If I’ve had a bad day, she lowers it to 174.
Chuck K4RGN says
It’s harmless nonsense.
Lou says
Well, I wonder how they arrived at these frequencies. But I can confirm that definitely CW is therapeutic. It does help in recovery from trauma, in anxiety and distraction, and has proven very helpful, but not sure that applies to everyone, obviously you have to have a love and skill at CW. For example, it’s easier for me to drive and send/receive CW and not have focus issues, than talk to someone else sitting in the car.
As to the benefits of each frequency, all I can say from my experience, that maximum gain :) can be obtained by using the RIT or a proper VFO and ideally an older rig with real sweet non-digital sound of CW, and any drift, pile ups, tuning around, will land you on many of these frequencies and others, to benefit from all above.
In fact, if you have a chirpy RX or listen to a chirpy TX (how I miss those!) you’ll get multiple benefits simultaneously.
And of course there are those yet undiscovered frequencies which are actually not a “one-size-fits-all” but you have to find out for yourself: rune across CW and set it where it feels best at that moment, and you’ll find definitely your mood improves.