Sound Healing Practitioner Spotlight: Nora Coyne

In this blog we are talking to Nora Coyne, one of our wonderful sound healing pratitioners from Sound Healing Galway. 

Nora Coyne practices Intuitive Energy Healing through sound and other modalities.

Gong Yoga, Sound Baths, 1 to 1 Sound Healing Sessions, Sound Healing for Special Needs Adults & Children, and Sound & Yoga Summer Camps are some of the many ways Nora uses sound in her practice.

Nora has a Practitioner Diploma in Integral Sound Healing which adds to her wealth of experience as an energy healing therapist.

How has your sound journey developed since you have qualified?

"I initially intended on using it for work on my clients but have gone on to do lots of further training and now run Sound Retreats, Sound Baths and Sound and Gong Yoga Classes.

I also work with my clients and with special needs adults and children, and collaborate with other sound healers, I take sound into schools for both national and secondary schools, and my latest project is working with mothers to be with yoga and sound."

What inspired you to train as a practitioner with the Sound Healing Academy?

"I have always worked with vibration in various forms such as colour, crystals, aura soma and aromatherapy and after feeling how Tibetan bowls worked for me on a session in London, I knew it was something that would work well in my clinic and with my clients. So in a way, understanding sound has always been my main path."

Where do you hold your sessions and why did you choose this location?

"Connemara and Galway City, I chose it because I wanted to bring massage and healing home as it is the birth place of my parents and a rural place where my heart has been forever, I wanted to bring therapies into the rural areas to people who wouldn’t usually have the option of receiving them.

Helping a flow of energy like a river flowing over the ruggedness of people  who have worked hard for many years to enable them to feel the power of sound. I have had amazing results with sound with this wonderful community."

I would like to hear about your workshops with children. Take us through one of these sessions. How do they react to the instruments? How does it differ to working with a group of adults?

"With children, they are so open to sound, always open to the outcome and have a real resonance with instruments. I firstly explain to them about each instrument and what it does and then I let them try them out themselves first and then let them use them on each other.

They are amazing the way they naturally know what to do, its as if they have always known and just remembered. If we are using the bowls I will let one of the children lie down and then let one child play the bowls on the other. I also use them in our children’s yoga classes during their relaxation time which they love as they say it is "tickley"!

My best results are working with children with special needs on a 1 to 1 basis, an example would be when I show them how to use a tuning fork, to tap and bring it up to the ear once or twice they then do it themselves, or if I give them a drum, I tap my drum and most of the time they will tap their drum the same, the school is absolutely amazed at how calm they are afterwards."

When working with children, how do you encourage them to engage and more importantly lie still? Do you adapt your sessions to allow for this?

"In my sound baths, I work with children aged from 3 to 11 in one class, and from 11-18 in another class.

With the younger children they take longer to settle but if you start with a gentle drum it grounds them, fairly quickly. I usually tell them that if they are good I will play the bowl on their front and back and that usually works. I play the ocean drum and rain sticks for them earlier and not so much of the gong but more of the bowls and chimes.

They also love the rattles and thunder drum. I would say on a good day they can lie for 40 mins and on a hyper day they probably lie for 20/25 mins. If that is the case I let them play with the instruments on each other for the last 10 mins to keep them interested in the class.

With the 11-18 year old group, they are actually much easier to relax, the seem to just go with it, it is very similar to an adult class, maybe a couple of minutes to settle first then they can lay for 40-60 minutes."

More recently you have collaborated on pregnancy yoga retreats with sound baths. How has that experience been?

"Its beautiful to be honoured to hold space for these wonderful women, to be allowed to be part of their journey and to play for the wonderful life they are bringing into this universe. We used instruments based on flow and grounding mainly and one gentle Maitreya peace gong with whale and dolphin sounds, rain sticks and ocean drums.

We were told after our last one by every mother in the room that their baby calmed at the same time as I played the ocean drum, so the relaxation was synchronised between them, I remember Tony telling us before about menstrual cycles synchronising and it seems the same thing happens in babies too. It was a beautiful moment. They have all rebooked."

What do you hope to achieve in one of these group sessions?

"To help these beautiful women to feel peaceful and relaxed and help them feel pain free and comfortable. To help rejuvenate and revitalize them and let them feel like they are at one with their little bump and bonding beautifully with sound while they are with us for that time.

We heard back after that they all slept well that night. Two didn’t want to leave!"

You promote yourself mainly through Facebook. Have you found success with this? Are there any other platforms you would recommend to those trying to promote their group healing sessions?

"Yes, Facebook has been great for me, I also use Eventbrite, you must pay small fees, but you do get out to a wider audience and of course twitter too, my favourite is Facebook though and to do one or two small holistic fairs or events a year too helps keep your therapy out there."

What has been your biggest hurdle since launching your sound healing business?

"Trying to explain to people who know nothing about sound and are a bit wary, now what I do is let them see and feel rather than talk first and the actions of the instruments is enough."

Transitioning from practicing on case studies to paying clients can feel quite daunting. Do you have any advice for those currently training with the Sound Healing Academy?

"Yes, get student insurance and offer your services to local charities to get the practice, and believe in yourself, as you are receiving wonderful training from great teachers with a wealth of knowledge. 

Also, you can always ask them anything you need to know! I still ask Tony things if I am not sure, and he is always there to help, as I am sure the other teachers are!"

What’s in store for you this year?

"I am collaborating with a Kundalini Yoga teacher for a special retreat in the summer and I am starting up Gong Yoga classes in the next couple of months and running some mini 1 day Sound and Healing and Sound and Yoga Retreats as well as up-skilling my gong training in the summer."

What’s the best place for people to connect with you and check out what you do?

"I run clinics and sound baths in Connemara, Salthill and Galway City and my Facebook pages which are Norah Coyne or Sound Healing Therapy Connemara Galway Ireland.

I have a website, a Facebook Account or mobile: 0870563411.

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