A Sound Meditation Practice for Divided Times
This essay follows last week’s reflection, “How Did We Get Here?”, in which I explored the roots of our present instability.
Analysis alone is not enough. This companion reflection, “Peace in a Warring World: A MediSounds Practice,” turns from understanding to embodiment.
When we look at the world, the violence, the polarization, the endless conflict, we may wish to go back to the way things were, and anyway, what can we actually influence?
Here’s an idea: Much of the outer conflict mirrors an inner one.
We are often divided within ourselves, between competing goals and emotions, between personal needs and others’ expectations, between fear and trust, anger and love, striving and surrender. These inner tensions quietly shape our relationships and our world.
If we bring greater peace to ourselves, we improve the quality of our own lives. Moreover, we exert more influence than we realize. Inner coherence changes the quality of our presence, and that presence affects everyone we encounter.
Wholeness, calm, and self-acceptance are what we are all seeking.
At the center of the torso, just below the rib cage and above the waist, lies the solar plexus.
Biologically, the solar plexus is a complex network of nerves located in the upper abdomen, behind the stomach. It plays an important role in digestion and is deeply connected to the autonomic nervous system, which regulates stress and calm. A blow to this area can literally knock the breath out of us.
Energetically, according to the Kabbalistic Tree of Life system, this region corresponds to the sphere of harmony and balance, where opposites are reconciled.
It is fitting that this center governs digestion. Here we metabolize not only food, but experience. It is where what feels opposed can be integrated.
Peace is not foreign to us. It is one aspect of our nature, though we often forget how to access it.
MediSounds is a meditative practice that uses the power of the human voice to achieve clarifying and healing meditative states. The human voice can be an instrument of consciousness; it carries transformative power.
Tonal vibrations are directed with intention to specific energy centers in the body to achieve specific results.
This simple MediSounds sound practice reconnects us with the positive, energetic attributes of the solar plexus area. We can join our voices with others in a group for a marvelous effect, or we can do it on our own. Practiced before sleep, it can encourage rest. Practiced daily, it educates us and becomes a stabilizing influence that permeates our lives.
William Turner, Sunrise Over the River, 19th century
The Practice
1. Settle
Sit comfortably in a quiet place. Place your hand lightly over your solar plexus to bring awareness to the area.
2. Set Intention
Gently set these intentions:
Release struggle.
Let go of trying.
Once you set your intention, there is no need to keep those thoughts in your mind.
3. Breathe
Take three slow, natural inhalations and exhalations.
Allow your shoulders to relax and your body to soften.
Notice the small pause between the inhale and exhale — the quiet space where nothing is happening.
4. Sound
Gently make the rounded sound of “O” (as in oh).
Direct the sound with intention through the solar plexus. Your intention will shape your pitch; there is no need to search for the “right” tone.
Let the vibration move through the body and outward into the space around you.
Sound O three times in a relaxed manner. Take as many breaths as needed in between each sound.
Do not try to fix yourself.
Do not try to fix your relationships.
Do not try to fix the world.
Do not strive for peace.
Goal-orientation and force are antithetical to this practice.
Let the sound do the work.
5. Pause
After three sounds, stop and notice how you feel.
Repeat the cycle twice more, for a minimum of nine sounds.
Never strain your voice.
Never force the sound.
Genuine peace emerges not from suppression, but from integration.
Even a brief touch of this state has restorative power.
This is a beautiful meditation before sleep.
It is also a quiet act of service.
We can talk and talk about peace, or we can be peace.
You can read more in my book Kabbalah of Prayer, Sacred Sounds and the Soul’s Journey, available at www.shulamitelson.com/books-cds/
©2026 Shulamit Elson