Good Vibes Only - Dive into the World of Sound Bathing
Written by Faye Peterson
Himalayan sound bowls photographed by Bara Wellens
Our relationship with sound runs deep. It’s one of the first external stimuli embryos encounter in the womb and its presence - from songbirds to sirens - forms the soundtrack to our daily lives. So, it's little surprise that the practice of sound bathing is riding high in the current wave of wellness trends.
Sound bathing - sometimes referred to as ‘sound healing’, ‘sound meditation’ and ‘sound therapy’ - enables individuals to immerse themselves in a series of soothing vibrations and gentle frequencies - purported to alleviate stress, enhance mindfulness and promote overall well being.
From ancestral drumming to spiritual chanting and religious music, sound bathing is a practice that leans heavily on the ancient uses of music as a meditative, spiritual and transformative medium.
With celebrities such as Robert Downey Jr, Charlize Theron and Adele cited as fans of the practice, sound bathing is shaking off its ‘new age’ mantle and moving into the mainstream of modern wellness therapies.
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”
But, is it really all good vibes and healing hertz at sound bath central?
In a bid to discover what’s behind the current buzz, I went on my own sound odyssey, dipping my toe into a number of sound bathing sessions, designed to provide immersive, meditative experiences to their participants.
ENJOYING A SOUND BATH - WHAT TO EXPECT
Despite the name, sound bathing involves no water or specialist clothing - so pack that swimsuit away now. But, be prepared to take a deep dive into sound.
From ‘singing’ bowls to gongs, tuning forks to rainmakers, drums and Koshi chimes or even a shruti box - participants in the classes I attend are encouraged to lie or sit in a comfortable position whilst being bathed in the ‘music’ of various instrumental mediums.
Breathwork, yoga, chanting or guided meditation are combined in many classes, with some advocates using heated relaxation areas, mood enhancing scents, lighting or visual projections to further enrich the experience.
Essential requirements for each class are comfortable clothing, an open-mind, a mat and a skillful practitioner. Optional extras include a blanket to keep you warm, an eye mask and a small cushion or bolster to support your head, neck or back during your session.
Before attending my first warm Yin yoga and sound bath class practitioner, Lenka Norris, offers a note of caution: ‘‘sound baths are not a replacement for regular medicine or registered therapy,'’ she advises ‘‘but they can be used as a complementary addition’’.
Although most participants find the process of sound bathing pleasant and relaxing, it can be an intense and emotional experience.
Everyone’s journey through sound is unique to them - as I was about to discover.
RELEASING TENSION IN COMBINATION WITH YIN YOGA
Photo by Shashi Chaturvedula on Unsplash
Luxembourg-based Yin yoga and sound bath practitioners, Lenka Norris and Jana Ipfling are independently leading the group sessions I attend.
Lenka uses Tibetan Singing Bowls throughout her practice, whilst Jana concentrates on their crystal counterparts. Although both instructors skillfully mix up the use of various ‘instruments’ throughout their sessions.
Not much of a yogi? No problem. Both Lenka’s and Jana’s classes are bookended by Yin yoga sequences. It's a practice that favours slow, limited movements that makes it perfect for beginners and reluctant yogis.
The principles of traditional Chinese medicine are incorporated into Yin yoga. At its core lies the Taoist concept of yin and yang or, in simpler terms, opposite and interrelated forces found in nature.
Jana tells me how Yin yoga can help release long held tensions in the deep connective tissues of our bodies - known as the fascia. Yin postures can be held for periods of three minutes or more to encourage this flexibility.
These types of exercises are used to put pressure on the meridian or energy lines in our body known as the primary vascular system (PVS).
Jana explains how the practice of sound bath compliments Yin yoga. The addition of vibrations and frequencies work in conjunction with our own bodies pressure to contract and release these meridian points to facilitate the unblocking of vascular or emotional channels.
ACCESSIBLE MEDITATION THROUGH SOUND
Lenka Norris photographed by Bara Wellens
Lenka’s class is the first on my schedule and it is well-attended.
Comfort is key feature and this is no exception. The yoga room is gently heated to a cosy but not oppressive temperature and a selection of bolsters and pillows are freely available for all to use throughout the class.
The Yin segment of the session passes quickly and, as the group stretches out in the appropriately named ‘corpse’ pose on our mats, Lenka begins her sound bath with guided meditation. Her voice gradually fades into the background to be replaced by the rolling sounds of the singing bowls. Lenka moves throughout the room with a series of ‘instruments’, occasionally stopping to play a bowl or Koshi chime in close proximity to the participants.
The whole session gives the impression that time has stood still. I feel leaving both relaxed, yet strangely disoriented and detached from the proceedings.
For those of us like me, who find meditation difficult to access sound bathing can act as a gateway or backdoor for the monkey-minded and uninitiated into this zen realm. I was sceptical, but as the class concludes I leave a sound bath convert.
MATERIAL WORLD - THE SEVEN METALS OF SINGING BOWLS
Practitioners and their instruments form a large part of this wellness experience. As such, I was intrigued by the bowls Lenka uses and her method of playing.
Each of the seven bowls she plays are all individually handmade by artisans in Nepal. They are composed of notes in the C major scale and every bowl is made from 7 metals: copper, tin, lead, iron, zinc, silver and gold. Metals chosen to match the seven energy centres or chakras said to exist within us. For every 100 bowls made, only around 12 will be selected as suitable to be used for sound bathing purposes.
SIREN’S CALL
‘’I was looking for yoga, but sound bath found me,’’ Lenka recounts. After an initial booking for a regular yoga class accidentally led to her attending a sound bathing when schedules became mixed-up.
A handful of sessions later, Lenka took a leap of faith, travelling to Nepal to learn the art of sound bathing for herself. At a meditation centre in the foothills of the mountain range, Annapurna, she completed her training to become a certified sound bath practitioner. Like any instrument it takes training, technique and a certain je ne sais quoi to truly make the bowls sing. But, for Lenka this is not a 9-5 job, it is her passion.
Koshi chimes compliment the playing of Tibetan bowls in Lenka's class. Each of the chimes are handmade in France and correspond with the four elements of earth, wind, air and fire. Every chime resonates at a specific frequency that is designed to enhance the sounds of nature. They are thought to relieve stress, reduce anxiety and improve sleep by creating a positive and peaceful atmosphere for listeners.
THE SCIENCE OF SOUND
Photo by Conscious Design on Unsplash
“What we have called matter is really energy, whose vibration has been lowered as to be perceivable to the senses. There is no matter. There is only light and sound.”
Lenka believes that ‘‘sound influences us. It affects and harmonises us on a cellular level.’’ But is there a science behind her belief in the power of sound? It would seem so.
Instruments used in the practice of sound bathing have their own frequency ranges. These frequencies tap into the full spectrum of our brainwaves: alpha, beta, gamma, theta and delta.
Brain waves and the frequency of sound are measured in hertz. Manipulating our cranial waves allows us to entrain our brain. This process can unlock the doors to different mental states. Altering these states can manipulate the specific functions they regulate.
Frequencies in the brain do not work in isolation and an imbalance in the production of individual brain waves can lead to problems with our overall health and wellbeing. Bodily functions need balance to work in their optimal range.
In its optimal state our brain’s gamma waves can increase our learning, processing speed and REM sleep; beta can sharpen our focus, memory and problem solving skills; alpha encourage relaxation and theta promote creativity, emotional connection and intuition. Whilst the brain’s delta waves are thought to boost our immune system and encourage deep sleep.
Anecdotal reviews and feedback from pupils of Lenka's and Jana’s sound bath sessions testify to this phenomenon; citing improved sleep, reduced stress and a feeling of re-energisation and realignment at the close of each class.
TOWARDS GREATER HARMONY
Himalayan bowls and Koshi chimes, photo by Bara Wellens
Studies show how all life exists on a rhythmic basis - circadian, solar, lunar or seasonal. This vibrational pattern pulses through us all and is central to many sound bathing experiences.
One of sound bath’s principles is to ‘‘realign, not just our physical, but our spiritual self’’ Lenka explains. Jana echoes these sentiments, explaining how ‘‘sound baths can be a tool [for individuals] to help find the balance within them’’.
Jana uses crystal bowls in many of her sound bathing sessions. Like a lot of the practitioners I met, she works in an intuitive way, openly using other mediums in her classes.
At my first session with Jana, she decides to challenge my expectations of sound bathing by using only a traditional Tibetan Buddhist mantra titled, Tara Mangalartha, at the end of her Yin yoga sequence.
‘Tara’ is a Hindu goddess or deity responsible for the restoration and regulation of nature's natural balance. The repetition of the words and the gentle intonation of the chant is hypnotic. There is no pressure to join in. This is an exercise in being, not doing.
The power of the mantra works in the same way as a singing bowl: decreasing stress, increasing relaxation, focusing our mental attention and working upon our parasympathetic nervous system to regulate the functions that enable our very existence, such as blood pressure, breathing, digestion and so on. It’s no surprise that chanting and ritual singing has existed in various communities and ancient religions for thousands of years before the existence of ‘sound bathing’ as we know it today.
AN EXPERIENCE FELT WITH ALL SENSES
One of Jana's classes was once interrupted by a huge thunderstorm. Rather than abandon the session entirely, she chose to incorporate the storm and its sounds. And, why not! Numerous studies testify to the calming effects of nature on human physiology. Even time spent listening to noises from nature can elicit the same feelings of calm and connectedness as actually engaging directly in the natural world. The exercise reinforces how we can find solace and serenity in the eye of a storm - provided we are not in any ‘real’ danger.
Nowadays countless internet channels can be found to stream nature noises to listeners online - from singing bowls to Koshi chimes - one wonders what is the point of paying for the experience of a sound bath when you can hear it for free?
‘’It’s not the same’’, says Lenka. ‘’Watching the ocean on a screen cannot be compared to the real experience of sitting by the sea.’’ You may feel moved and you may have your own unique experience, but the vibrations and reverberations of sound move differently through a screen than they do from an actual instrument. Some things cannot be replicated in their entirety online - a sound bath is one of them.
HEALING HERTZ?
Sounds do much more than just soothe our souls. ‘‘Our bodies are made up of 75% water’’, says Jana. ‘‘How sound affects water, affects the way our body is influenced by sound.’’ Sound literally ‘move’s us.
“Future medicine will be the medicine of frequencies.”
Registered physiotherapist and osteopath, Robert Dumont, confirms this phenomenon. Regularly using ultrasound to treat his patient’s ailments when appropriate. Why? “Because it reduces inflammation, by making the body synthesise inflammatory substances and decreases pain as our nerve endings act on the vibrations from the ultrasound to saturate and over stimulate them,’’ he says. Ultrasound, he explains, can destroy rigid scar tissue, working to speed up our healing process. At above 20,000 hertz, ultrasound is not something that we humans can hear, but our bodies feel and act on the sensation in relation to the applied frequency and sustained intensity.
The accepted idiom: ‘you are what you eat’, could well be revised to reflect the fact that many of us are the very culmination of the vibrations and sounds we actively consume. If, as Jana believes, “the outer world is just the mirror of our inner one,’’ then the sounds we choose to consume can and do influence us. Anyone who has found themselves irritated by an annoying noise, re-energised at a rock concert or soothed to sleep with a lullaby can testify to this. Yet, we are all individuals and the sounds that soothe one person can quite easily irritate another.
In a time where everyone seems to have a side hustle, it’s refreshing and, I find, increasingly rare to uncover ‘authentic players’ in the wellness industry. At no point during the proceedings was I pressured to buy a set of singing bowls, be converted to the healing power of sound or wear branded yoga apparel to ‘enhance’ my experience.
Sound bathing “is not about the practitioner, it is about the practice,” says Lenka. “The practitioner is just a vessel for the sound.’’ Each practitioner I visited was heavily invested in sharing their craft rather than selling it to me.
LOST FREQUENCIES
As scientists reveal new techniques to destroy cancer cells using ultrasound and the possibility of using acoustics to choreograph heartbeats, now is the time to sit up and take notice of the power and promise of sound.
Although sound baths are not miracle cures, the statements and studies around their benefits are both broad and encouraging. But, as Jana reminds me, ‘‘it is not just about the science behind the sound, it is as much about the intuitive and insightful moments.’’
Where science ends, belief begins! Somewhere on this crossroads stands sound bathing - delicately balanced with a foot in both camps.
LEARN MORE
Lenka Norris — yogaloft. Luxembourg
Jana Ipfling— yogaloft. Luxembourg
Himalayan Bowls - Handmade Himalayan Singing Bowls
Bains de gong | Landakademie - Valerie Schiel - Gong and Sound Bath
Please note:
If you have concerns or worries about participating in a session, a prior consultation with a doctor or healthcare professional is advised before signing up to practise. In addition, people with pacemakers, neurological conditions, such as epilepsy or bipolar disorder, and women in the first 3 months of pregnancy are instructed not to take part.