Inner Sound: Definition, Explanation, & Meditations

Learn about inner sounds, what inner sounds sound like, and how to meditate on the inner sound.

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Anahata Nada is one term given to the concept of inner sound—or the constant background noise of all things. It’s kinda like the “white noise” of our reality. Given most people do not hear inner sounds, it is discussed rarely, inconsistently, and often only in passing in various ancient texts. In this article, I’ll aim to synthesize the many definitions and descriptions of the inner sound to gain more clarity on what it is and what it sounds like.

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What Are Inner Sounds?

Although the existence of inner sounds is recognized by nearly every spiritual tradition (Pereira & Reddy, 2016), the names and explanations for their existence vary widely. For example, across different texts, inner sounds may be called Anahata Nada, Shabda Brahman, sound current, cosmic sound, unstruck sound, divine ear, Aum, and other names, depending on the source. All of these sounds can be heard internally when plugging the ears (although they can generally be heard without plugging the ears also).

Anahata Nada Definition
A particularly interesting inner sound is the Anahata Nada. In Sanskrit, Anahata means "sound produced without touching two parts" (Wikipedia, n.d.-a). The Anahata Nada is thought to be the vibrational sound of silence, existence, or the universe itself (Wikipedia, n.d.-b). The Anahata Nada is often described as sounding like TV static or buzzing locusts.

Video: Anahata Nada Sound

Other Inner Sounds

In addition to Anahata Nada, there are other inner sounds. It’s hard to say what these sounds are, exactly, given different people have suggested they are a variety of different things. For example, these different inner sounds have been suggested to represent the different aspects of existence (e.g., the body, the mind, the world, etc…; Swami Satyananda Saraswati, 1967-68). This Swami suggests that if we are primarily aware of our physical body, the inner sounds we hear are likely to be the sounds produced by the heart, lungs, blood circulation, etc… If we are more aware of our mental and emotional experiences, we are likely to hear the sounds associated with mental processes (Swami Satyananda Saraswati, 1967-68). Or, we may hear both.

Others suggest that the inner sound is energy passing through an energy channel near the ear, and it is only interpreted as sound. These different energy currents are thought to be related to specific states of awareness, and therefore, listening to specific sounds can result in different states of awareness (Gustafson, 2000).

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The Neuroscience of Inner Sounds

Perhaps it seems odd that there is some “static” background noise that hardly anyone hears, but it’s not that weird when we think about how the brain works. Neuroscience has shown that the brain chooses what to pay attention to—and what to listen to (e.g., Hall & Moore, 2003). We can discover this ourselves by putting our ear up to a conch shell. The noise it produces is an amplification of the sound of airflow (Wikipedia, n.d.-c). When the wind picks up, most of us hear the sound of airflow (Gustafson, 2000). But it’s just those of us who place our attention on listening and subtler sounds that tend to hear the quieter, inner sounds.

The Physics of Inner Sounds

Physics also supports the concept of inner sound. Physics has shown us that everything in the universe is in constraint vibration. The physical objects we perceive to be solid, the empty space, and even our own bodies are simply oscillating sub-atomic particles (Pereira & Reddy, 2016). If your mind and world are quiet enough, and you pay enough attention, you can hear the vibration of just about anything.

Video: The Schumann Resonance - The Sound of The Earth

A fun experiment is to listen to the sound of the earth, which vibrates at 7.83 Hz. This is very similar to the inner sound of the human body, which vibrates at ~7.5 Hz (Ren et al., 2018). With focused concentration, you may be able to hear the inner sound that is similar to this.

What Do Inner Sounds Sound Like?

Other inner sounds have been described as sounding like a bell, harp, flute, sea roar, conch shell, or bumble bee (Yogananda, n.d.). They may also be described as high frequency, like fluorescent or halogen light, or of a very low frequency with a whirring quality. They may be harmonious or very rough. They may be barely audible or loud and deafening. When they seem close and loud, they may feel to vibrate the physical body (Gustafson, 2000).

Video: Inner Sound Similar to Conch Shell

Nada Yoga: Inner Sound Meditation

There is a whole yogic field dedicated to teaching people to listen more deeply and find the inner sound. It’s called Nada Yoga (Wikipedia, n.d.-b). In Nada yoga, we are generally guided by a practitioner to choose a sound object (like an instrument, song, or mantra) to be the focus of our sound meditation. We can do this with a formal meditation practice (i.e., by sitting on the floor on a mat) or we can do it during our daily life (I recommend doing both). For example, we may do a deliberate Nada yoga meditation for 5 minutes each afternoon. We may also pause to listen for a moment when we hear the wind rustling through the trees or the rain falling on the roof.

How Do We Begin To Hear Inner Sounds?

When someone with a fairly quiet mind—which is often produced through other personal growth efforts—begins to concentrate or meditate on sound, they can begin to hear the inner sounds (Buddhaghosa, 2020). Generally, the inner sounds are first noticed in the right ear, but they may be detected anywhere (Gustafson, 2000). With concentration, we can begin to locate sounds that seem to come from both ears and also sometimes from elsewhere in the body or space around the body.

It’s often easiest to hear these sounds when it’s quiet, especially at night time (Sant Mat, 2013). But, interestingly, the sounds are often also amplified during periods of very high stress or very low stress (Gustafson, 2000).

Nada Meditation Triggers
It can be helpful to use specific sounds as triggers to remind us to do our Nada yoga meditation (i.e., to listen more intently). For example, sounds like rain, a train, wind, or wind chimes can be great reminders to us to pause for a moment and listen. All you have to do is choose a sound, and when you hear it, just pause for a few seconds to pay attention to the sound. Concentrating on the inner sounds then further quiets the mind because when fully focused on the inner sounds alone, the mind can not ramble on with its inner monologue.

Listening to the sound meditation below may help you find the inner sound.

Video: Finding The Inner Sound Meditation

Inner Sounds Versus Tinnitus

The discovery of inner sounds can be quite a shock—the universe was humming along our entire lives and we simply failed to notice it! So, many people label their inner sounds as Tinnitus and develop a negative relationship with it. Indeed, once we begin to hear the inner sounds, they can get quite loud and interfere with our day-to-day lives (Swami Satyananda Saraswati, 1967-68).

If possible, try to view these inner sounds as a comforting backdrop to reality rather than an annoying interference with daily experiences. If they really are inner sounds, they will move and change over time, and won’t always be so weird and distracting. In time, they may even dissolve completely (Gustafson, 2000).

What To Do With Inner Sounds

As we begin to hear these sounds, the goal becomes to place our attention on them during meditation and become absorbed into them as much as possible (Sant Mat, 2013). This can quiet the mind further, resulting in more inner peace. Some suggest that if we do this well, the inner sounds won't follow us into our daily lives as much (Gustafson, 2000).

Over time, we may begin to hear the vibratory sound in all things. Indeed, as my inner sound meditation has developed, I have begun to hear subtler and subtler phenomena. I can hear clear sounds—as loud and formed as if they were in the room—along with my hypnagogic imagery, the pictures that begin to form just before falling asleep. I can hear the chug-chug sound of my ego mind when it is deep in thought. And I can hear a rush of energy moving down through my body after orgasm. It’s pretty fascinating.

Eventually, according to several spiritual traditions, hearing—and listening to—these inner sounds is a gateway to enlightenment (Yogananda, n.d.). After enlightenment, the person who has taken this path supposedly sees the whole universe in the form of sound (Swami Satyananda Saraswati, 1967-68).

Unlike Ramana Maharshi's self-inquiry, which is thought to be a direct path to enlightenment, and unlike other types of meditation, which are generally slower paths, the path provided by the inner sounds is thought to be a middle path. Although a guide can be helpful for getting started, it doesn’t require a guru or spiritual guide—the guidance, by way of sound, is within. Thus, it’s kind of an easy approach to developing spiritual awareness.

Listen: Ever present Inner Sound Meditation
https://amaravati.org/audio/day-7a-meditation-ever-present-inner-sound-nada/

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One Example of Hearing Inner Sounds

Below is a description of what happened to me over the course of about one year of consistent —5 to 60 minutes per day—of Nada yoga meditation.

First, I listened to the rising and falling of physical sounds, like a bell ring, the wind, or a train moving past. I also listened deeply to whatever music I enjoyed.
Two-ish months later, I noticed my first inner sound—a high-pitched bell-like ringing in my left ear while lying in bed at night. I asked my husband if he heard it and he said no.
Shortly after, I realized I could hear two sounds (a medium tone and the high-pitched bell-like ringing).
Then I started hearing a rumbling sound that felt to be coming from lower down in my body. And then I heard a static sound (kind of like TV static) coming from the top of my head. (This is the Anahata Nada).
These 4 sounds—the bell, the tone, the rumbling, and the static—became ever-present. I could hear them any time I paid attention to hearing them.
Then I started hearing the 4 sounds loudly and all day long. They were loudest at night, but anytime I shifted my attention inward, there they were.
Occasionally, I heard other inner sounds. My favorite is the inner sound that sounds like waves crashing. My least favorite is a buzz like an electric doorbell. The most subtle vibration I noticed is the vibration that occurs right before my ego starts an inner monolog. And the craziest sound I hear is the sound that makes dreams—beeping-like sounds that I hear occasionally right as I’m starting to dream. It jars me awake, so I can never listen to it for more than a second or so. Indeed, the entire world—including thoughts!—is made of sound vibrations. If we are just quiet enough, still enough, and attentive enough, we can hear the entire world.
As I increasingly focused on these inner sounds, they became just as loud as any external sound. I was no longer able to hear silence at all because any time I looked for silence, I only found sound (I do miss the sound of silence). This was interesting, but also occasionally annoying.
As I continued to listen to the sounds (in meditation and in daily life), the more vibrational they became. You know like when you feel the base of a loudspeaker vibrating your whole body? It’s very much like that. My whole body vibrated along with the inner sounds (this is especially true for the rumbling sound).
I have begun to notice that the sounds change in different locations. When I travel, they often get louder, sometimes new sounds arise in a different ear, and sometimes the sounds almost disappear.

I have no idea where this is heading, but I just keep listening and I’m sure I’ll find out one day.

At one point, I got a Hz detector to figure out the exact frequencies of the sounds I was hearing. I’ll include these below. The sounds below are similar to the inner sounds I hear, although they change sometimes, so it’s hard to explain precisely.

Video: High-Pitched Inner Sound

Video: Medium Tone Inner Sound

Video: Low-Pitched Inner Sound

Benefits of Listening To Inner Sounds

Sounds can have many benefits. For example, one study showed that after undergoing sound meditation, participants reported significantly less tension, anger, fatigue, and depressed mood (Goldsby et al., 2017). Another study showed that sound meditation resulted in greater relaxation and less acute stress (Philips et al., 2019). Overall, sound vibrations appear to be a powerful tool for reducing emotional distress (Ramnanan, 2021). Listening to inner sounds, specifically, is hypothesized to have a variety of positive impacts including enlightenment (Buddhaghosa, 2020; Sant Mat, 2013).

Listening to Inner Sounds Can Be Done Anywhere
Nada yoga meditation might just be the easiest meditation practice because there are sounds everywhere. You can pause at any moment to listen and pay attention to the sounds around you. If your mind stops even momentarily, then you’ve just done a short meditation. Personally, I found this to be an easy and accessible way to build Nada yoga meditation into my life and, eventually, begin to hear the inner sounds.

To learn more, watch the video below.

Video: How To Reach The Inner Sound

Articles Related to Inner Sounds

Want to learn more? Check out these articles:

Books Related to Inner Sounds

If you’d like to keep learning more, here are a few books that you might be interested in.

Final Thoughts on Inner Sounds

Listening to the inner sounds is likely just an advanced stage of active listening. In addition to actively listening to other people, we’re actively listening to the entire world. We put our full attention on the sounds we hear and aim to maintain complete presence so that we can be fully absorbed in them. In doing so, we may experience greater relaxation, a feeling of being more connected, and possibly, even enlightenment.

Spiritual Disclaimer

Although meaningful knowledge can be found through spiritual insight, we humans filter this knowledge through our own mental frameworks. Even the best, most advanced spiritual teachers have access only to reflections of Truth, which still maintain some distortions. My truth may not equal your truth which may not equal another person’s truth. So, always check in with your Self or intuition to verify whether the spiritual information you receive resonates with your Truth.

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References

Buddhaghosa, B. (2020). The path of purification: Visuddhimagga. Pariyatti.
Goldsby, T. L., Goldsby, M. E., McWalters, M., & Mills, P. J. (2017). Effects of singing bowl sound meditation on mood, tension, and well-being: an observational study. Journal of evidence-based complementary & alternative medicine, 22(3), 401-406.
Gustafson, E. (2000). The Ringing Sound: An Introduction to the Sound Current. Conscious Living Pr LLC.
Hall, D. A., & Moore, D. R. (2003). Auditory neuroscience: The salience of looming sounds. Current Biology, 13(3), R91-R93.
Pereira, C., & Reddy, J. (2016). An essay on ‘fracto-resonant’ nature of life. NeuroQuantology, 14(4), 764-769.
Philips, K. H., Brintz, C. E., Moss, K., & Gaylord, S. A. (2019). Didgeridoo sound meditation for stress reduction and mood enhancement in undergraduates: a randomized controlled trial. Global advances in health and medicine, 8, 2164956119879367.
Ramnanan, S. A. (2021). The power of a sound mind: Exploring meditation and sound therapies for treating the emotional impact of tinnitus.
Ren, W., Peng, B., Shen, J., Li, Y., & Yu, Y. (2018). Study on vibration characteristics and human riding comfort of a special equipment cab. Journal of Sensors, 2018(1), 7140610.
Sant Mat. (2013). The Sound Current of Enlightenment in Buddhist Mysticism. Retrieved 9/30/2024 from https://medium.com/sant-mat-meditation-and-spirituality/the-sound-current-of-enlightenment-in-buddhist-mysticism-d3967dfb3d40
Swami Satyananda Saraswati. (1967-68). Lecture on Nada. First International Yoga Teachers Training Course at Munger. Retrieved 9/30/2024 from https://www.reddit.com/r/UnstruckSound/comments/jnmjjp/swami_satyananda_saraswatis_lecture_on_nada/
Wikipedia. (n.d.-a). Anahata. Retrieved 9/30/2024 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anahata
Wikipedia. (n.d.-b). Nada yoga. Retrieved 9/30/2024 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C4%81da_yoga
Wikipedia. (n.d.-b). Seashell resonance. Retrieved 10/2/2024 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seashell_resonance#:~:text=The%20resonant%20sounds%20are%20created,airflow%20and%20ocean%20movement%20sounds.
Yogananda, Paramahansa. (n.d.) Aum Technique. Retrieved 7/1/24 from https://yogananda.com.au/g/g_aum.html

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