Sound has been used medicinally for thousands of years from ancient Greece to ancient Tibet. The practice of sound as therapy has gained popularity in Western society in the last few years, but the new age healing technique that you’ve probably seen on social media isn’t new at all.
Think about it– after having a bad day how often do you get in your car, play your favorite song and instantly feel a little bit better about life? Sound baths (or sound healing) has the same effects with a little more woo woo metaphysical science thrown into the mix. One hour of sound healing in a meditative state is the restorative equivalent to eight hours of sleep.
The Science Behind Sound.
Our bodies are made up of energy. This energy is altered throughout our days due to life’s stresses, events, and environmental factors that are our of our control. Our energy can be too low, too high, or be blocked and stagnant. For a healthy mind-body-soul it’s important that we balance and center our energy.
To put it into less metaphysical terms think of when you’re exposed to prolonged stress or anxiety. It lowers your energy physically, mentally and emotionally leading to a weakened immune system and in turn creates physical illness in the body. Sound healing creates a space to tune the energy of our bodies to a balanced state just as tuning an instrument keeps the harmonies balanced. A balanced body works in harmony.
The human body is made up of over 60% water, and water is a great conductor of vibrations. Each instrument (sound bowls, tuning forks, gongs and chimes) hold specific tones and frequencies that aid certain areas of the body. The frequencies in music create vibrations within the water in our bodies. This vibration breaks up blocks or stagnant energy while balancing out any energy that may be too high or too low. The frequencies also work to construct brainwaves that induce deeper meditative states, enhanced relaxation and the ability to calm and let go of stresses.
Who Benefits From Sound Healing?
Everyone! The benefits of sound baths or sound healing is so broad that everyone can enjoy it’s properties. I first fell into sound healing about 8 years ago through the use of binaural beats during meditation. I was desperate to find a natural approach to healing a lifelong battle with manic depression, severe anxiety and insomnia. I turned to meditation but had a difficult time silencing my mind and focusing on my breath. Forcing meditation only made my anxiety worse, but sound healing helped to induce me into a state of meditation and silence my mind without force. Since then it’s played a major roll in holistically healing mental illness in my life. In a way it actually gave me my life back.
Research has shown that sound therapy helps lower blood pressure, improves sleep, relieves anxiety and stress, reduces fatigue, releases energy blocks in the chakras, cleanses space, deepens meditative states and assists in spiritual growth. There has also been very promising research that sound bathing helps calm those with post traumatic stress disorder, autism, and depression.
Types of Sound Healing.
Most sound baths use a combination of percussion instruments that include gongs, crystal sound bowls, Tibetan singing bowls, tuning forks, drums and chimes. Binaural beats and solfeggio frequencies are sounds of different pitches generally mixed with dreamy meditation music or sound healing instruments. Some meditation practitioners will also add these digital frequencies to their guided meditations to enhance healing results.
Our sound baths use a combination of Tibetan singing bowls, chimes, solfeggio frequencies and light meditation music. Our free meditations consist of binaural solfeggio frequencies added to music without the use of physical instruments.
What to Expect?
Most people express feeling a deep sense of calm/ peace during and after a sound bath. Your breath generally deepens and slows once in a meditative state. You may feel as if you’re dreaming yet awake at the same time. In some cases you might actually fall into a deep sleep. Some refer to a sound bath as feeling trippy like they were on psychedelics– with visions and higher states of consciousness. (One of my favorite reasons to sound bathe)
