Why I Love Teaching Sound Baths.
Over the past eighteen months or so, I have delved into the delights of sound bath ‘healing’. I use apostrophes because the word ‘healing’ has always made me feel slightly uncomfortable….I’ll come back to this point as I explain more to you.
Sound healing is an ancient practice; through the centuries across almost every civilisation in some form, there has been a connection to the benefits of sound in the form of music, singing, chanting — but there’s now growing interest and research in the West where it’s recognised as a form of relaxation and self- care, with many benefits for the circulatory and nervous systems.
Sound waves wash over us in the form of vibrations every second of every day without us often even realising. Some frequencies have a calming resonance while others are loud and jarring. The sound of nails screeching on a chalkboard sets our teeth on edge whereas a loud crash startles us, causing us to jump in fear. These cause disharmony in the body. Whereas the soothing sounds or frequencies of crystal singing bowls and Koshi chimes are optimum to humans, penetrating deeply into our tissue, improving blood circulation and regulating muscle tension. It’s been recognised as even aiding enduring, emotional conditions such as anxiety and depression by releasing the feel- good chemicals, serotonin, and endorphins in the brain.
When played sensitively, sound baths can slow down our brain waves, taking us from our heightened Gamma state through layers of wakefulness such as our thinking mind state, Beta, and into our more relaxed pre-sleep state of Alpha, then our dreamlike state of Theta; the feeling we have between awake and asleep.
When explaining the feeling of crystal bowls, I often make the connection to how we feel when a song on the radio instantly transports us to a time, a place, a person. This can be a highly charged emotional feeling of happiness or sadness which can instantly trigger the sympathetic ‘high alert’ nervous system. In comparison, the soundwaves which wash over us from crystal singing bowls have the effect of bathing us in optimum soothing vibrations without the emotional connection; there’s no start or end, it’s simply a feeling of continuous vibration which has a beneficial resonance on the body and mind.
Back to my issue with ‘healing’! I’ve always been very cautious of using the expression ‘healing’ in my sound baths. I’m not a medical practitioner, I can’t make guarantees that you’ll feel healed. But what I do feel comfortable to offer you is a space to be, a space that’s as safe as I can possibly make it. You’ll be invited to use comfortable blankets and supports, you’ll be in an environment which is quiet, warm, uninterrupted, you’ll have time to settle into your body and space. My intention is to simply hold that quiet, relaxed space for you as carefully as I can. The healing comes from you; I invite you to take what you need from the experience. You may simply need an hour of rest, to press the pause button and pop on the ‘do not disturb’ sign. It may be an opportunity for you to restore your balance and harmony, to regroup. Or it may be your time to heal yourself in the way you recognise and feel nourished by. You have the space and time to take what you need, because you’re unique and special and you know yourself best. The experience of a sound bath will be very personal to you, to your physical and emotional state on any given day. It’s also unique to me as the facilitator; I hold the space for you with my best intention to create a safe environment, I play the bowls from my heart, instinctively and intuitively and with a positive intention. We experience the sound bath’s energy together, which is a magical and trusting experience for us to share.
You can see our Sound Bath schedule here if you’d like to join our next one.