Kathy Harmon-Luber is a certified Sound Therapy and sound Healing practitioner, Reiki Master, and an inspiring author and wellness guide whose passion is helping people navigate the challenging terrain of the healing journey. Last year Kathy launched a best-selling book, “Suffering to Thriving: Your Toolkit for Navigating Your Healing Journey ~ How to Live a More Healthy, Peaceful, Joyful Life,” which is full of wisdom gleaned from decades of healing from her debilitating health crises. Kathy helps others find their compass and chart a course for navigating illness, injury, and loss – learning how to not only cope but to become more resilient, joyful, and thriving. She has appeared in Yoga Magazine, Authority Magazine, MindBodyGreen.com, Woman’s World Magazine, and numerous podcasts and radio shows. Connect with her at www.SufferingToTHRIVING.com.

Can you tell us more about your journey into becoming a certified Sound Therapy and sound Healing practitioner and Reiki Master? What inspired you to pursue these paths?

For decades I’ve been on a pretty challenging healing journey. At 21, when diagnosed with hereditary spinal problems, orthopedic doctors told me I had the spine of an 80-year-old! At the same time, I was dealing with chronic autoimmune diseases, and several sports and dance injuries.

About 20 years ago, I began going to sound baths and drum circles, primarily for managing stress. The more I learned and practiced sound healing on my own, the greater the results I had in my overall health. So I took a deeper dive and got certified as a sound healing practitioner and Reiki master, so I could share the gift of vibrational medicine with others. 

Sound healing is not only a growing trend in health and wellness but a scientifically proven healing modality that’s being incorporated into integrative medicine departments of hospitals and nursing homes across the US and Europe. Modern medical research is confirming what Indigenous cultures, the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, and traditional ancient holistic practices like Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine have long known: energy and sound therapy can be deeply healing and restore balance to our bodies and minds. 

I’m a classically trained musician and integrate Native American flutes, the majestic gong, ancient frame drum, and lyrical Zaphir chimes into my sound healing sessions with crystal and Tibetan bowls.

Your book, Suffering to Thriving, has become a best-seller and is filled with wisdom gleaned from your healing journey. Could you share some key insights from your book and how it can help individuals facing health challenges?

In 2016, I was living the life of my dreams: working with nonprofit organizations that make the world a better place, hiking, swimming, biking, performing classical flutes on weekends in our community, exhibiting my photography at galleries and museums, and traveling. 

But it all came to a crashing halt in December 2016, when a spinal disc ruptured very badly. It was the 4th inoperable disc rupture, leaving me in debilitating pain and bedridden for five years. I was miserable physically and emotionally. I worked hard to find tools to help me cope. Eventually, I gained a new perspective. I amassed practical tools for finding strength, patience, resilience, acceptance, and purpose.

I realized that unnecessary suffering is a choice. Being seriously ill, injured, or in pain does not mean we have to unnecessarily suffer in our minds. In other words, I could choose to complain, be angry, or be bitter—for a single moment or my entire life. In every moment we have a choice. I chose to thrive.

 Navigating illness, injury, and loss can be incredibly challenging. How do you assist people in finding their compass and charting a course for healing and resilience? What are some practical steps or tools you recommend?

When we’re deep into our healing journey, the pain, loss, and suffering can be immensely challenging and overwhelming. Over an extended period—like when you have a chronic illness—it’s easy to lose hope and want to give up. It’s essential to develop what I call a Thriving Mindset. My book presents a Thriving Toolkit of 38 short chapters, each one a simple-to-implement tool for resilience and well-being.

One powerful tool is “Your Mind is Your Medicine.” By medicine, I mean finding the medicine for not only health but a thriving life. Energy follows thought—it’s what powers the manifestation of our dreams. Our words—whether spoken, written, or thought—have an energetic charge and the power to create our dreams or tear them down… empower or hurt others… heal or cause disease. The magic lies in choosing our words intentionally, to create the world we wish to live and thrive in—and to create a healthy, joyful life.

Likewise, Nature is medicine, creativity is medicine, and sound is medicine. Each of us must find our own best medicine.

From this foundation, we work on acceptance of “what is”—which doesn’t mean you surrender to being ill forever but accept that for this moment, this is your situation and find peace there.

Every person’s journey is different, but generally speaking, we navigate dealing with loss, changing the mindset from inability to ability, and living from a place of gratitude. An important part of the process is letting go of what no longer serves us, to make room for a new life to emerge. 

Our bodies know how to heal. So we work on deep listening to our Inner Healer, aka Intuition—not only for healing wisdom but for following our bliss and being our most authentic selves. Above all, we learn to anchor and integrate robust self-compassion and self-care into our daily lives.

These are just a few of my book’s 38 practical tools for navigating your healing journey.

Having experienced debilitating health crises yourself, can you share some personal experiences that motivated you to become a wellness guide and help others in their healing journeys?

As mentioned earlier, my quest for answers on my healing journey led me to explore complementary protocols, including sound healing and Reiki. As a lifelong musician, I’ve surrounded myself with music, but several years ago I began to witness the healing power of sound for myself. That and Reiki are daily practices for me. I love sharing sound and energy healing—how transformative they can be when orchestrated in a highly individualized way for each client.

The first couple of years I was flat on my back with the spinal disc rupture, I kept a journal of inspiring quotes, and complementary modalities I tried, and I started getting these downloads of healing wisdom. I began to recognize that I should share this wisdom with others. That’s how my book was born.

You have been featured in various publications and podcasts, including Best Holistic Life Magazine, Yoga Magazine, Authority Magazine, MindBodyGreen.com, Woman’s World Magazine, and more. How has this exposure impacted your mission to help people thrive in their healing journeys?

When I was writing my book, I often thought that if it resonated with just one person, it was worth the effort. But as the book got out into the world and I began hearing from people how much it’s helped them on their healing journeys, I wanted to reach the widest audience possible.

Being featured in publications and podcasts has helped the book reach a larger number of people in need that I couldn’t reach alone. It gives me such satisfaction to be of service to the community and our world in this way.

Sound therapy and sound healing are increasingly gaining recognition for their therapeutic benefits. Could you explain how these practices work and the positive impact they can have on one’s well-being?

Everything in the universe is energy—atoms vibrating at a frequency ranging from low to high: trees, rocks, food, music, our planet, ourselves. Because we are energy beings, vibrational medicine—like sound and Reiki—can address physical, mental, and emotional imbalances. What’s more, our human bodies are 60%—85% water, a superb conductor of sound, and even more conductive than air.

Researchers have found that music and sound can reduce pain, lower blood pressure, supercharge the immune system, and decrease inflammation, which often is the root cause of pain and disease. Studies demonstrate that sound can elevate dopamine (the brain’s happy drug) and lower the stress hormone cortisol, after only ½ hour of listening.

There’s solid scientific research that demonstrates the effects of sound on the body. Researcher James Gimzewski of UCLA has published that every cell in your body sings—every cell has a frequency. You’ll hear people in sound healing say that your body is an instrument—but this new research is more like your body is an orchestra of sound frequencies! So yes, every cell sings, except when there’s a challenge. When cells are diseased or injured, they actually “sleep,” and when that happens, they’re not reproducing and maximally doing their role in maintaining your health. 

The good news is that “our body’s cells can be energized and purified by the very thing they emit: Sound.” With low-frequency sound, dormant cells awaken and come into balance. In other words, sound can restore them to health.

The lowest frequencies of sound support our vascular system to absorb more oxygen into the blood. That’s especially good for the healing process and pain reduction. It’s thought that this low frequency mimics the heart beating. Sonic scientist John Stuart Reid and doctors from Rutgers University have proven that 20 minutes of music regenerates old red and white blood cells. 

Current new research out of MIT has demonstrated sound at 40 Hz increases blood flow in the brain cleans plaque—and helps relieve chronic pain. Researchers suggest this frequency may hold the key to advances in preventing and treating dementia and other brain conditions.

As an author, wellness guide, and practitioner, what are some of the most common challenges individuals face when navigating their healing journeys, and how do you address these challenges in your work?

When things go wrong in our lives, or we hit an obstacle or overwhelming challenge, we tend to ask the wrong questions. Why me? What did I do to deserve this? What if this or that happens to me? What will become of me? It’s easy to fall into that downward spiral.

We need to ask better questions, from a place of infinite possibilities: What if this is a portal to something better? What if this is an opportunity to reinvent myself? 

What if it’s a chance to learn something new about myself? What if I can let go of what no longer serves me? What if I decide right now, to fall in love with my future? What step can I take today that my future self will be grateful for?

Wayne Dyer said, “When you change the way you see things, the things you see will change.” Asking the right questions enables us to see our challenges as gifts.

Asking the right questions helps us to see challenges in terms of ability, instead of inability. Yes, obstacles happen and rattle our confidence. But look at a tree growing through the sidewalk and encountering an obstacle, like a building. The tree doesn’t question whether it’s up to the challenge or not. It simply stands there in its power and keeps on growing. It might grow around a wall or grow toward a wee ray of light. It surrenders and it grows. We can learn from this, to stand in our power, focus on our ability, and what’s possible. You are stronger than you realize. What CAN you do? How can you use workarounds to do activities without pain or to transcend other obstacles? Focus on ability.

Your book aims to help people live a more healthy, peaceful, and joyful life. What are some practical tips or advice you offer to individuals who are seeking to transform their lives from suffering to thriving?

Let’s talk about how your healing journey can be a portal into finding your life’s purpose—which can bring peace, joy, and healing. I like to say, that our healing journey is embedded in our life’s journey, which is embedded in our soul’s journey—our purpose in life. Everyone faces a health crisis at some point. Illness, injury, and loss are part of life.

Your healing crisis—or any disappointment, disruption, pain, loss, or grief—has a bigger reason… perhaps a portal to a new life (new knowledge, skills, inspiration), an initiation, or a catalyst for finding meaning and purpose.

Alain de Botton wisely shares, “We should not feel embarrassed by our difficulties, only by our failure to grow anything beautiful from them.” 

Instead of experiencing that an “event” happened to you, try to see the bigger picture and learn why it happened to you.

Change begins with one breath, one thought, one intention, one prayer, one step. Get still and ask: What can I do to match my soul’s frequency? Listen deeply, then take one step in that direction.

There’s only one you in the entire universe—no one has your unique talents. I believe each of us is here for a reason at this particularly challenging time on Earth. Remember who you are and awaken to your purpose. Our world needs the unique gifts YOU were born to share. My book discusses how to illuminate the gift and write a different ending to your story. A better story is created from whatever your health crisis deals you.

Can you share a success story or a particularly inspiring transformation from someone you’ve guided in their healing journey that stands out to you?

I have lots of stories, from people finding relief from chronic pain/migraines to anxiety relief, finding inner peace, removing creative blocks, and accelerated healing from broken bones. Others report healing from cancer. One of my favorites is a woman who faced a big, risky surgery to build a cage within her ribs, to protect her organs from being crushed by spinal scoliosis. Several sound healing sessions helped her body not only prepare for surgery but also integrate reconstruction. Her surgeon remarked how quickly and optimally she healed. 

What’s next for you in your work as a wellness guide and practitioner? Are there any upcoming projects or initiatives you’d like to share with our audience?

I’m thrilled to share I’m collaborating with Dr. Charlyce Davis on a free webinar, “Healing the Heart Chakra.” Learn more at SufferingToThriving.com. 

What is your definition of a Pretty Woman Who Hustles?

She’s someone beautiful on the inside—kind, compassionate, confident. She creates and acts in alignment with her authentic self, knows her soul’s purpose, and shares her unique talents generously in service to the betterment of humanity and our world.