I presented a class recently at the City Literary College (www.citylit.ac.uk) in London called ‘Healing with Sound’ where students were able to explore using their voices to help themselves and others. When the voice is used in long tones or toning, the body becomes an instrument and vibrates with sound.

A great way to demonstrate this is to place the hands on the chest just below the collar bones and find a note that is neither too high nor too low, but somewhere in the middle. When the correct sound is found, a vibration is felt in the chest cavity.

We should not underestimate every day sounds. They all affect our body from the road workers with jack hammers, the hum of traffic or those that lift our spirits – singing in a choir, humming to a favourite song on the radio or the sound of the wings of swans flying overhead.

Take a moment to listen – and to hear.