Sound bath, crystal singing bowls and sound healing

The use of music in sacred ceremonies and shamanic rituals has existed since ancient times. Everywhere, sound is used in all its forms to vibrate, gather, meditate, cultivate joy and heal.

It has recently been verified that sound can be used to influence and modify our brain waves. Altering these rates creates changes in consciousness, allowing for altered states of awareness. Vibration affects us psychologically, physiologically, emotionally, and spiritually.

What is a sound bath?

A sound bath is an opportunity to take a break, an invitation to turn off your phone, to return to calm and to listen without the need to respond or react. By allowing yourself to be fully present, absorbed in the experience, you may feel as if you are on a still ‘journey’. Close your eyes and listen; the sound will take you where you need to go.

Unlike a meditative practice that would require you to sit upright, focus on your breathing, recite a mantra, concentrate, the sound bath just requires you to lie down and listen. During the session, if thoughts arise, welcome them and then, with kindness, redirect your attention to the sound. Let the sounds envelop you. If you fall asleep you will still benefit from the vibration of the sound in your body.

To get the most out of the experience, come with as few expectations, judgements, or comparisons as possible, because if you come with preconceived ideas or if your mind is trying to figure out which instrument is making each sound, it will probably take you longer to settle into a relaxed state and feel the benefits of the practice.

Each sound bath session is unique. There is no composition or sequence. The sounds and instruments are used in a form of conversation with what is happening in the room: they vary according to the emotional state of the person playing, the energy of the group or the person receiving the sound bath.

What are the benefits of a sound bath?

When you immerse yourself in a sound bath and focus your attention on what you hear, your brain waves slow down. They go from a more active state (beta) to a more relaxed (alpha) or even dream-like state (theta). The sounds offered during the session are an invitation to immerse yourself in a deeper state of consciousness, an opportunity to cut yourself off from an excess of external stimuli and to take a step back from what is happening inside you.

A sound bath can have those effects and benefits :

• deep physical and mental relaxation
• access to a modified state of consciousness
• better circulation of energy in the body
• potential action on pain
• potential unblocking of blocked emotions in the body
• amplification of the production of well-being, attachment, and social bonding hormones.

There are very few contraindications to sound bathing: during pregnancy it is important to keep a distance from the body and the developing fetus. There is an extremely rare form of epilepsy that can be triggered by sound, called reflection epilepsy. The bowls should not be placed on the body of a person with metal plates or implants.

Why choosing Alchemical Crystal Singing Bowls?

Alchemical Crystal Singing Bowls are made of pure quartz, mixed with crystals, semi-precious or precious stones, minerals, and precious metals. They produce a unique sound and have incredible transformative properties. This is the reason why they are called alchemical. Each note is linked to an energy center or chakra and each stone has properties that lithotherapy explains.

By playing several bowls together a particular vibration and alchemy is created.

I also play with a Tibetan singing bowl as it blends divinely with the crystal bowls. The sound of this bowl allows the body to remain anchored in the ground during the sound bath.

What is sound healing?

Sound can be understood as vibration.  Any object is in a vibratory state, and therefore produces sound.  As the ancients seemed to know, everything in the universe is in a state of vibration and in a state of flow.

Sounds vibration reaches every part of our physical body. We can tell that we hear not just through our ears, but through every cell. In the 1990s, Dr Gaynor was inspired to introduce sound therapy as a complementary healing technique for his cancer patients. He played Himalayan singing bowls.

In this form of therapy, the desired effect is the phenomenon of resonance. Resonance is the frequency at which an object vibrates most naturally. Everything has a resonant frequency, whether or not we can perceive it audibly. From the orbit of planets around the sun to the movement of electrons around atoms, everything vibrates. It is also important to understand that, in alignment with this concept of sound, every organ, bone and tissue in your body has its own resonant frequency. Together they form a composite frequency, a harmonic that constitutes your personal vibrational rate.

When an organ or other part of the body is healthy, it creates a natural resonant frequency that is harmonious with the rest of the body. However, when illness sets in, a different sound pattern is established in that part of the body that is not vibrating in harmony. It is therefore possible, by using sound projected into the diseased area, to reintroduce the correct harmonic pattern into the affected part of the body and produce a healing response. Through the principle of resonance, sound can be used to bring the disharmonious frequencies of the body back to their normal, healthy vibrations.

Why is sound a carrier wave of consciousness?

Depending on the state of consciousness of an individual when creating a certain sound, it transmits information about that state to the person receiving it. If, for example, you are angry and you create a sound, even if it is a pleasant sound, you will be sending the anger that is embedded in that sound. This will be perceived at a subtle level by those receiving the sound. That means that the intention of the person working with the sound is as important as the frequency that is projected onto a person to create resonant frequency healing.

It is therefore essential for me to prepare myself before offering a sound bath to a person or a group, by meditating to put my thoughts and worries at a distance, by clarifying my intention for the practice, by preparing the space where the experience will take place.

I wish this article inspired you and you would like to experience a sound bath.

see my offering

You can listen to an excerpt of a sound bath with alchemy crystal and Tibetan singing bowls.  Please note that the quality of this audio doesn’t reflect the purity of the sound when you ear it live.

Sources:

• Jonathan Goldman – Healing Sounds : The Power of Harmonics
• Jonathan Goldman, Andi Goldman  – The Humming Effect: Sound Healing for Health and Happiness
• Sara Auster – Bain de sons
• Foundation certificate in sound healing with crystal singing bowls workbook– Sound healing academy