Avi Sherbill is the founder of SoundRx, a certified sound practitioner, and personal development coach. His background in music production, sound engineering, and film composing has led to a deep appreciation of the healing power of vibrations. Although he grew up in the orthodox Jewish community as a Rabbi’s son, Avi left that life in search of his own meaning in life. He rediscovered his passion for sound after he attended just one soundbath, and since then has been creating unique sound healing experiences to help others tune into their higher essence.
How do you achieve higher consciousness?
I wonder sometimes if consciousness is really higher or lower, but I believe the gong is the greatest way to elevate consciousness.
If you can cut yourself off from the noise of social media, TV, and whatever else and tune into the gong, you can free yourself from your reptilian mind even if for a moment.
Yogi Bhajan, who brought kundalini yoga to America, said, “After 90 seconds with the gong, you can’t hear the mind because you enter into a total blanket of sound.” The gong is an ego annihilator. And when our mask falls, our true nature comes forward.
And if not a gong, then be with a baby or puppy. You immediately ascend. You’ll see that with people who make sounds and coo at a baby—that is them without ego, that’s them being in a pure flow or higher consciousness.
Why is gratitude so important?
Gratitude is perspective. If you believe you are in heaven, you’re in heaven. If you believe you are in hell, you are in hell.
We all ebb and flow with gratitude, of course, but if it’s our anchor, life becomes easier. Life becomes fuller, regardless of what you actually have. And we’re able to flow. I guess that’s higher consciousness too.
One’s reality is achieved through the thoughts one believes in their head. How do you take a thought and manifest it into your dreams?
There’s the visualization practice most people are familiar with when it comes to manifestation. But if you’ve been traumatized in any way, visualization can only take you so far. We have to address our core beliefs first.
A lot of our beliefs are shaped by childhood experiences. If you grew up with a parent who was bad at money and lost your home to foreclosure, you might hold a belief that anything you do eventually manifest will just slip through your fingers.
So before the manifestation is this pre-manifestation work of basically destroying your old belief system that is keeping you stuck.
Everyone has a past…sometimes, it can be quite dark. How would you suggest letting go of your past so that you can achieve great results for the future?
I myself had quite a dark past. I had traumas and addiction issues that for many years I didn’t think I would overcome.
But getting sober meant I had to open myself up to the origin of my pain. It’s the hardest thing to do—to feel that pain or trauma again from childhood. We’ve created so many defense mechanisms to never feel that again, but re-feeling and reprocessing that is also where the healing is.
Allowing the pain to be there, to belong, and almost befriending it instead of running from it is the way to true freedom in my experience. When we learn we can trust it, we can free ourselves from it.
What is the best way of connecting with someone?
I love sitting with someone in silence whether in meditation, a soundbath, or breathwork as a way of connecting. If you are in a state of disconnect or not feeling grounded, how can you connect with another? When you do a practice that connects you so deeply to yourself, it allows you to open up and connect with another at such a deeper level.
We have been conditioned through culture to go to a bar, grab a drink, to “network” instead of searching for that comfortable silence.
How would you recommend anybody to take their life to the next level?
Learning to create safety in the nervous system is the greatest portal to upleveling your life. I think anything that isn’t addressing the nervous system first is antiquated.
Creating safety in the body will take your life to the next level more than anything else. If you don’t feel safe in the body, you cut off access to higher cognitive levels—meaning, you have less access to creativity, connecting to others, and the ability to be curious and compassionate for yourself and others. You are in survival mode.
There’s research that shows if you let a child explore on their own and let them take risks on their own (like jumping over a rock or riding a bike over a hill), their IQ and confidence skyrockets. It’s because they’ve learned to feel safe in their own body. Find safety in the body, and watch everything else fall into place.
What are your views on psychedelics?
Psychedelics are one of the most potent tools for healing. There is so much ancient wisdom in these plants, and I love seeing them be integrated back into our society for healing and optimizing flow states.
I’ve seen it unlock so many things for people. I’ve also seen it pulled into this narrative of trendy things to do, so for me, it’s really about how you integrate the medicine afterwards.
If you are taking visions you get as things to carry over into your life, it is more than just a beautiful experience, it can be life changing.
Do you have any meditation/mindset practices that you do?
I do yoga or qi gong every morning—no matter what. I do the Butetyko Method (a slower, gentler form of breathing than Wim Hof and all nasal breathing) at some point in the day.
I also tone throughout the day. Expressing sound is a powerful way to change brainwave states and de-stress the body. Even humming for 5 minutes has so many benefits to it. My kids love taking part too.
Another thing I prioritize are catch-ups with my fiance every night. We take turns talking for 5 minutes of whatever we want (usually how we felt that day) without the other person cutting in or adding their input.
Who inspires you?
So many people inspire me. Inyat Khan, Ostedt Alahi, Neville Goddard. Anyone who is turning their life into art, I get so inspired by. I get inspired by people who are challenging themselves, who aren’t just indulging in their most basic desires or thoughts.
And at the risk of sounding indulgent myself, my children inspire me. I just want to be present in life in a way that I’ve never felt before.
What projects are you working on now?
I launched Heal Yourself, Heal Others (HYHO), a sound healing training that allows people to become conscious sound practitioners, which has been so exciting and nourishing. It has been amazing working with people all over the world doing these trainings.
I am also working on a project involving NFTs and soundscapes that I am deeply excited by. I started to do virtual sound healing sessions where I have had over 6,000 people join, and I come from a music production background, so merging healing and the digital space is the thing that excites me the most. Being able to bring healing into the metaverse and beyond is something that I think is the future of healing in this new age.
What does beauty mean to you?
Beauty is inner peace. As Dr. Gaynor wrote, “They have a pill for everything except inner peace.”
When we see someone who is physically in-shape, we respect it because we know it takes discipline and commitment.
It’s the same with spiritual hygiene.
It’s less obvious than a 6-pack, but when you are with someone who has cultivated awareness, clarity, and stillness of themselves, you feel that energy. It vibrates. And that is incredibly beautiful.
How would you describe success?
My rabbi was once asked what he would do differently if he had only 12 months to live. He said, “I would be doing exactly what I am doing right now.” If living your purpose in the present isn’t success, I don’t know what is.
Where can we find you?
If I’m not doing a soundbath or juicing celery, I’m online @getsoundrx
