Feeling Stressed? Try a Sound Bath
Sound baths aren't just for the eccentric. This form of meditation uses certain frequencies to re-sync brainwaves for a more relaxed state of mind.
My first sound bath experience went like this: I lay flat on my back for an hour, as I let the resonant sounds of gongs wash over me. To my surprise, I found myself tearing up, heavy with emotion. But in the ensuing days, it seemed like a weight was lifted—I felt lighter, as if the tension were lifted straight out of my body. As the years went on, each session was a completely different experience, but the result was the same: I felt unblocked from whatever was bothering me at the time, like I was better able to handle every task or worry thrown my way. Was this some kind of cosmic transmission?
A popular form of sound meditation, a “sound bath” uses Tibetan singing bowls, crystal singing bowls, gongs, chimes, and bells to guide you through a meditative state. Sound baths have seen a rise in popularity, thanks to the purported benefits of soothing stress and tension, both common ailments of modern living that have only been exacerbated by the events of 2020.
As it turns out, turning to sound for healing is nothing new. Sound is a universal language that transcends culture, time, and space. “Since ancient times, sound was used as a tool to bring us from a place of imbalance to balance, internally. Physically and emotionally, in every culture,” says Christina Michele Rios, an intuitive guide and sound meditation ceremonialist practicing in Singapore.
We resonate with sound... If you examine our cellular makeup under a microscope, every single particle of our physical body is vibrating at varying frequencies. Sound restores our vibration to a state of harmony.
From the Ancient Egyptian’s sound rituals in the pyramids to Javanese gong customs, it is this very universality that makes sound so powerful. “We resonate with sound... If you examine our cellular makeup under a microscope, every single particle of our physical body is vibrating at varying frequencies. Sound restores our vibration to a state of harmony,” says Rios
And there is research to back it up. A recent study published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine found that hour-long sound meditations help to reduce tension, anger, anxiety, and increase spiritual well-being in adults.
But how does it actually work? “Sound Meditation works through entrainment, a process by which our brain waves synchronise with the sound wave patterns emanating from the instrument being played," says Rios. "Simply put, it drops us into deeper, slower brainwave patterns, providing a vehicle for us to access our deeper brainwave states, promoting deep meditation and eliciting the body’s natural healing capacity.”
Because we are so exposed to negative entrainment in our day-to-day (sounds from the news, media, and traffic), sound meditation fosters positive entrainment instead. And practicing it actually changes the brain’s physical structure. “The practice rewires the brain, boosting mind and body health. It reduces stress, blood pressure, and inflammation. And it improves attention, fosters empathy and emotional resilience, and promotes genes associated with DNA stability.”
In the same way a piece of music can affect people differently, the various sounds incorporated in a sound bath may have a different impact on each individual.
“Each experience will be different than the last as it is also dependent on what you are surrounded by, the energy in the room and also your physical, emotional and mental state that you are in on that particular day,” says Wendy Lum, a Certified Gong & Crystal Bowls Sound Healer of three years.
Image: Courtesy of Jyan Yoga
With our digital and information overload, sound meditation may just be the antidote to our over-stimulated mental states. At a time when we are unable to travel, this practice lets us travel inward. According to Rios, “it carves out time and space for our inner work. Once we release what feels heavy and misaligned, we are able to reveal what lies beneath—which is ultimately a deep sense of balance, self-love and self-acceptance.”
Here's how to practice elements of sound meditation at home, according to Rios:
Invest in a Himalayan or Crystal Singing Bowl
Instructions: Set an intention before you begin playing it. What do you wish to release? What do you wish to call in? For example: “I release fear and anxiety. I call in courage.”
Connect with the sound. Observe where you feel the vibration in your body. Neutrally witness what sensations and emotions the vibrations create. Lean into the sound, feel yourself merge with it, until you become one. Breathe deeply and fully. After you finish playing, observe any changes in your mind, body and soul.
Image: Courtesy of Christina Michele Rios
The easiest and most natural form of sound meditation: Simply meditating in nature
Put away your phone. Take off your socks and shoes. Sit cross-legged on the ground in comfortable position. Draw the shoulders back ever so slightly, and allow them to fall away from the ears. Allow your palms to lie gently atop each knee, facing up towards the sky. Close your eyes. Feel the root of your spine connect with the earth beneath you. Scan from your head to your toes, observing any tension present in the body. Be a neutral observer without labels or judgement. Tune into the sounds of nature around you, observe how they impact your inner state.
Being in nature, tuning into the sounds, connecting with the earth realigns us and creates equilibrium in seconds. It re-entrains our brainwaves to a slower, more harmonic and meditative frequency of 432 Hz—the frequency of nature.
Put on headphones and listen to binaural beats or solfeggio frequencies, particularly 432 Hz or 528 Hz
Sit cross-legged or lie down. Breathe deeply and slowly. Relax your body from head to toe, allowing it to melt into the surface beneath you. Feel your body connecting with the surface you are laying on. Inhale to the crown, exhale to the soles of the feet. Shift your awareness to the sounds you hear. Begin to observe the sound as a vibratory sensation. Notice where in the body you feel it. Become aware of how you interact with the soundscape in a vibratory way. Lean into it. Merge with the sound until you become one with it. Surrender to the sound, allowing it to take you on a journey within.
