This practice uses sound to create balance and alignment in the physical body, the energy centers (chakras), and/or the etheric fields. It is a vibration applied by an instrument or the human voice and can be understood as a field of energy medicine.
So, how does it work? During a sound healing session, also known as a sound bath, you’ll typically lie down on the floor or a yoga mat, perhaps cuddle up with a cozy blanket, and simply listen up as a practitioner plays a variety of instruments and you “bathe” in the soothing sounds and vibrations. Roxie Sarhangi, a certified sound healing practitioner based in Los Angeles, describes it as a “meditative acoustic sound concert.” The sound frequencies then slow down brain waves to a deeply restorative state, which activates the body’s system of self-healing.
Singing bowls, gongs, Tibetian bowls, tuning forks, and drums are the instruments that practitioners most often use in sessions. However, says sound healer, Reiki master, and yoga and meditation teacher Susy Markoe Schieffelin, “if used with the proper intention, almost any instrument can be used in sound healing.”
Each instrument serves a different purpose. Crystal bowls, for example, Sarhangi says, “are tuned to the notes of the seven chakras.” The gong, she adds, is said to help release tension in the body and stimulates the glandular and nervous system.
And although sound healing has grown in popularity in recent years, it is a healing modality that dates way back. “From vocal chanting to instruments such as Tibetan singing bowls, shamanic drums, and more, you will find some form of sound healing in every culture on Earth,” Schieffelin says. “It is said that sound healing can be traced back 40,000 years to when indigenous Australians used ancient didgeridoos for healing. One of my favorite historical examples of sound healing is the sound chambers created by the ancient Egyptians in the pyramids.”
Four Benefits of Sound Healing
1. It’s super-relaxing
Deep relaxation is one of the most significant and universal benefits of sound therapy. “The sounds permeate our system returning it back to harmony,” Sarhangi says. So if you take nothing else away from a sound healing session, relaxation on its own is worth it. With our busy schedules and so much going on in the world, we can all use some chill vibes.
2. It helps clears energetic blockages
Some people experience deep healing during sound therapy as the sound vibrations open, clear, and balance their chakras and release stuck energy. Schieffelin describes it as an “energetic deep tissue massage” that leaves you feeling balanced and replenished.
“When [a healing] happens, you may also feel physical sensations like tingling in your hands or feel or a sense of being hot or cold,” Schieffelin says. “Breathe into the sensations without attaching to them or labeling them. Instead, focus on your breath as you allow them to pass.”
3. It boosts your health
That’s right—it’s not completely woo-woo. “Research has already demonstrated that sound healing can be incredibly beneficial when working with [a variety of] patients,” Schieffelin says.
Benefits can include improved sleep, reduction of chronic pain and blood pressure, lowered cholesterol, and a decreased risk of heart disease. (Although, for professional help with these ailments, please see a certified medical practitioner.)
4. It supports mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being
It also heals on the mental and emotional levels. “Sound healing helps reduce stress, anxiety, and depression,” Schieffelin says. “It balances and clears the mind, and leads to a renewed sense of purpose, well-being, calm, and happiness.”
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