Nada Yoga — The Yoga of Sound Absorption
Nada Yoga is the practice of absorbing consciousness into increasingly subtle sounds until all external and internal sounds dissolve into the primordial silence from which all sound arises.
Nada Yoga (the yoga of sound) is the practice of using sound as a meditation vehicle — beginning with external sounds, progressively moving to internal sounds (anahata nada — the unstruck sound heard in deep meditation), and ultimately dissolving all sound into the primal silence of pure consciousness. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika describes five stages of inner sound that arise as the mind becomes still: the sounds of the ocean, drum, bell, flute, and veena — each indicating a deeper level of meditation. The ultimate inner sound is the Anahata Nada (unstruck sound at the heart) — a subtle, continuous sound that is neither created nor destroyed but is the vibratory nature of consciousness itself. Nada Yoga has therapeutic applications: sound healing, Nada Chikitsa, uses specific frequencies and instruments to balance the energy body.
Absorb the mind in the inner sound. As the mind dissolves into it, the great liberation dawns.
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika describes the anahata nada progressing from gross sounds — bells, drums — to subtle ones — flute, bee — as the mind is absorbed stage by stage into silence.
Hatha Yoga Pradipika