When Sound Becomes the Bridge: Reflections from the Mid-America Hypnosis Conference

Chicago held a soft hum that weekend, a pulse beneath the busy corridors of the Mid-America Hypnosis Conference. As I unpacked my drum, tuning forks, chimes,  and the small electronic looping machine, I could already sense that this gathering was not just another event. It was an initiation.

From Hypnosis to Harmonics: The Path of Remembering

When I first began teaching hypnosis and neuroscience-based coaching, my work was all about language, the power of words to rewire the nervous system and reshape belief. But somewhere along the way, I began to notice something: people didn’t need more information. They needed integration.

Their minds were full. Their bodies, however, were asking to be included in the conversation.

That realization called me back to my roots, to the years between 2008 and 2010, when I was an active sound healer. I performed with massive crystal bowls, weaving tones that reached into places no sentence ever could. Then one day, a bowl shattered during transport. It felt like an era ending, a sound gone silent before its next octave.

Years later, imagination began whispering again.

It said, Combine what you know with what you remember.

And from that union, SHE Dance was born — Somatic, Hypnotic, Ecstatic Dance — a 7-step journey for nervous system reset and embodied transformation through rhythm.

Each movement, each sound, is crafted to open neural pathways through 7/4 time and 111 beats per minute, a rhythm that gently nudges the nervous system into coherence. The Sound Sigils that accompany this dance aren’t songs; they’re living frequencies, designed to activate the body’s natural intelligence and return it to flow.

Presenting “The Neuroscience of Imagination”

When I stepped into my presentation room at the conference, titled The Neuroscience of Imagination: How You Can Use It to Do the Work for You, I felt a familiar electricity, that threshold between worlds.

The audience gathered, hypnotists, therapists, medical professionals, coaches; each one curious about the unseen.

I shared how imagination is not a fanciful escape but a biological process that changes the brain. When we imagine vividly, our neural circuits respond as if the imagined is real. This is why guided imagery, hypnotic suggestion, and sound immersion can initiate actual physiological shifts. Imagination, when embodied, becomes transformation.

And so, I invited the group to experience it.

We moved through agreement, imagination, and simple rhythmic gestures using idiomotor signaling with a pendulum. The atmosphere softened. You could feel the collective exhale, the moment when thought surrendered to presence.

Afterward, people came forward with tears, with awe, with stories of what their bodies remembered when given permission to move.

The Vendor Booth: Sound as Medicine

Between sessions, I stood at my vendor booth, a sanctuary of instruments and frequencies. The sign read Dance as Medicine: Somatic, Hypnotic, Ecstatic. People stopped, some curious, others magnetically drawn. They picked up chimes, played with tuning forks, or simply sang with me.

One therapist brought out his own small flute; together, we improvised. Another guest closed her eyes and began to sway as I played a tone. The space became alive, a small portal of sound within the larger hum of the conference. Laughter, resonance, and deep silence wove through it all.

For those moments, I wasn’t just demonstrating. I was remembering, and helping others remember, too, that healing doesn’t always require words. Sometimes, it requires vibration, rhythm, and the courage to listen differently.

The Unexpected Lesson

Then came Sunday, the final day, and what I thought would be a closing celebration. The keynote speaker, a pioneer in the field of hypnosis, took the stage. I admired this person deeply and had long respected their contributions.

When the Q&A began, I felt a strong nudge from within, that whisper of intuition saying, Ask.

So I did.

I asked about techniques and resources for working with deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, how to facilitate trance when closing the eyes severs the main channel of communication. It’s a question rooted in compassion and curiosity, one that has lived in me for years.

The response I received was not what I expected.

Instead of engagement or exploration, my question was made into a joke. The moment turned dismissive, a mockery, not just of my inquiry but of an entire community. The silence that followed stung deeper than I anticipated.

For a brief moment, I was furious. Hurt. Disappointed. I felt the energy of the room collapse, that subtle way that sound can wound when used carelessly. I left that session heavy-hearted, asking myself, How can I find the jewel in this?

Finding the Jewel

Later that evening, as I sat in my hotel room, the question returned, not from my mind, but from my deeper knowing:

Can I meet this rupture with the same presence I teach others to hold in dance?

Because every sound, even dissonance, has its place in the composition.

So I breathed. I listened. And I realized something profound: the Universe had just handed me a new assignment.

Within 24 hours, deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals began reaching out to me. They had seen my post about the experience and wanted to collaborate, to pioneer new methods of hypnosis and sound work that include sign language, rhythm, and visual resonance as pathways into trance.

They wanted to explore how movement and light could substitute for auditory cues, how hypnosis could evolve into a fully embodied, multi-sensory art form accessible to all.

What began as a moment of public dismissal transformed into a collective invitation. A new frontier was opening, and I could feel the pulse of something ancient rising: inclusion as vibration.

The Bridge Between Worlds

Sound, after all, is not limited to hearing.

It’s vibration.

It’s pattern.

It’s movement.

The body feels it, the heart translates it, the field responds to it.

Deaf individuals already understand this truth more intimately than most of us ever will. They sense rhythm through touch, through sight, through energy. Hypnosis, in its purest form, is not just about words, it’s about resonance. When we remember that, communication transcends modality.

I’m beginning to imagine a new kind of hypnotic experience, one that blends somatic movement, vibration, and visual entrainment, a synthesis of sound and silence, of hearing and seeing, of language and light.

It’s not about replacing one sense with another; it’s about expanding awareness of the whole field.

Integration: Returning to Coherence

As I drove home from Chicago, my car full of instruments and my heart full of both awe and ache, I felt the rhythm of the weekend echoing through me.

Every conversation, every note, every unexpected rupture had tuned me deeper into my own coherence.

The conference wasn’t just about presenting a topic.

It was a living experience in how imagination, sound, and embodiment continue to evolve.

It reminded me that transformation rarely looks tidy, that sometimes, the medicine arrives disguised as misunderstanding.

And that’s the real beauty of sound as a teacher: it invites us to listen beyond the noise, to find the harmony inside even the most discordant moments.

Looking Forward

What happens next is still unfolding.

Collaborations are forming. Conversations are beginning.

And somewhere between the frequency of compassion and the rhythm of inclusion, a new language is being born, one that doesn’t depend on hearing, but on feeling.

I believe hypnosis, like sound, is meant for everyone.

Not as an exclusive technique, but as a bridge, a way to return people to their own internal music.

So as I continue to refine SHE Dance and explore these new frontiers, I carry forward one simple truth:

Every frequency has a purpose. Every voice deserves to be heard, even in silence.

Closing Reflection

If I were to summarize the Mid-America Hypnosis Conference in one phrase, it would be this:

The sound was not just something I shared, it was something I became.

And as I step into the next octave of this work, I invite you to join me, to explore rhythm as medicine, imagination as transformation, and silence as sacred sound.

You can find my current offerings, Sound Sigil transmissions, and upcoming events at Deni-Van.com

Together, let’s listen, not just with our ears, but with our whole being.