What Is A Sound Bath Meditation?
If you are no stranger to yoga classes, chances are one of your sessions may have ended with your instructor sealing the practice with healing sounds of gongs or chanting; a short and sweet immersion into a sound bath. This is just a small sampling of the power of auditory therapy, which can offer tones and music as a means of healing and relaxation, a practice that dates back through different cultures and time periods, from Tibetan singing bowls to Greek sound vibrations and Aboriginal didgeridoos. Increasingly these days, therapists and wellness practitioners are harnessing the purification and benefits of this concept in full on sound bath meditation seminars, some of which can last up to hours on end.
Sound bath meditations are clearly having a moment — just take for example how eCommerce retail leader Shopbop just invited a gathering of its Los Angeles based influencers to a sound bath healing at the Santa Monica Proper Hotel. From the trendiest brand activations to yoga studios to bachelorette parties, sound baths are arising everywhere we turn, and for good reason.
A sound bath utilizes tools such as crystal and gemstone bowls, cymbals, gongs, as well as singing and chanting in order to create repetitive tones and notes at varying frequencies, as participants settle into a comfortable position, metaphorically ‘bathing’ in the vibrations. Many participants find the sounds are helpful in allowing them to tap into a deeper meditative state, as the sounds provide a central focus to pull us away from the distracting thoughts and wandering minds that can be difficult to turn off when we attempt to meditate.
Sound Bath Meditation Benefits
However, beyond just the benefit of finding attaining a meditative state more available than meditating without the sound bath environment, this is an experience that offers further benefits. The frequencies of the sound bath don’t just vibrate around you: they vibrate within you, as well. This can help activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is key in relaxation. When our parasympathetic nervous system is activated, our heart and respiration rates decrease as digestive aid increases. Overall it creates a better environment of natural homeostasis within the body, which is the best state for the body to be in in order for other benefits to arise: the body’s natural ability to heal itself of phenomenons such as chronic pain, fatigue and more. The normal beta state we experience, which is alert and reactive, is soothed into various other states: theta, a meditative state; delta, a deep sleep state; alpha, a creative state - all of which can enhance our health and happiness. Participants cite feelings across a spectrum, from having just experienced a massage, to reaching new realms of consciousness, or simply feeling more grounded among many other positive outcomes.
If you are looking for new ways to add to your self care routine (and let’s be honest — how many of us would deny ourselves that luxury given the state of the world in 2020, a time in which we need more self care emphasis than ever before?), a sound bath is a great new experience to try. Simply necessitating just an open mind and relaxed, loose clothing, the ambient environment will no doubt offer vastly more than it requires, as you open up and reconnect with yourself and a new path forward.
Guiding Light Holistic Wellness offers Sound Bath sessions as part of our wellness retreat offerings. To be kept up to date on upcoming retreats, be sure to follow @glhwellnesss on Instagram for more information.