A Sound Bath? What You Can Expect
I took part in a sound bath with Courtney Smith and went on an unexpected journey.
A sound bath is an experience of sound through hearing and tactile physical vibrations and frequencies.
Sound healing has ancient roots and is a form of focused awareness.
Heart disease, diabetes, addiction, and mental health diagnoses are tied to increased stress and tension. A study found that 60 minutes of a sound bath reduced tension, anger, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. The study participants reported an increase in their sense of spiritual well-being. The age group with the largest reduction in tension was those 40-50 years. Another study found that low frequency sounds improved sleep, pain scores, muscle tone, and a reduction in medication dose for individuals with fibromyalgia.
Two theories to explain the effect of sounds on the body:
Entrainment: using sound and frequencies to positively alter and synchronize the brainwaves with the goal of a state of deep relaxation.
The sound waves potentially affect the body’s energy field
The day started with an allergy appointment where I felt anxious with the unknown of how I was going to react and how I would feel afterwards. Luckily it went well and had no residual effects from the testing but I got my body so hyped that I needed to settle my mind and body to be able to be functional once my kids got home. My initial instinct would be to lie down for a nap for a total reset but I found another way with a sound bath.
Courtney and I started with 15 minutes of yoga to settle into my body before the sound bath.
We then settled in her studio space where it looked like a music class was set up with a variety of bowls, shakers, and mallets. To be honest, I felt a bit off with the unknown of how this would affect me. Through my mental health counseling this year, I have found the power of music through the selection on the Calm app so I know that it can have a powerful effect on my nervous system. Having some knowledge of physics, sound waves and vibrations can impact electrical systems; our body is made up of water, soft tissues, and electricity.
Ready to be open minded, I found a comfortable position lying down on my back with support pillows as needed and settled in, eyes closed. The start of the sounds grounded me and I did a body scan to get in tune with how I was responding and feeling.
The next thing was truly amazing - I started having waves of color cross my vision with pinks/purples for higher pitch tones and greens/blue with lower tones.
The shades of these colors would change when those tones intersected to make new waves. I have only seen the aurora borealis in pictures but I can imagine a similarity as it was going in waves across my visual field while feeling a low vibration through my limbs and trunk.
Once Courtney started adding in the other sounds, I started my road trip. The first was a trip to the ocean when she used her shaker along with soothing tones from the bowls. I pictured the beach where we go in San Diego when I visited my sister and my feet started to get so cold, just like they do when you dip your feet in the freezing Pacific Ocean. I wiggled my toes to make sure they weren’t wet since the sensation was so vivid.
After this, I felt the grounding down to the floor again as my body melted into the floor. The next set of sounds tripped me up. It created a sensation of my body on a spinning carnival ride and I thought I was going to fall off! My heart rate increased, my breathing became shallow, and I had to bend my knees to my chest to make sure I wasn’t falling over. Of course I couldn’t fall off anything because I was safe on a floor and pillows in a dark room with only sounds, Courtney, and her dog, Murphy, as my company. The feeling I had was so real that my body responded to that so quickly. However, this went away as quick as it arrived.
Once Courtney changed to another set of bowls, my experience changed. I went on a road trip where I felt like I was riding in the passenger seat in a car going through a forest. It brought me back to when my family was in the Redwood National Park in May.
Towards the end of the session, she started using the bowls at different areas of my body. The vibration that moves through the body as she changes location created a loudness in that area that made me more aware. 2023 has not been kind to my body with an ectopic pregnancy, multiple pelvic procedures, and a drastic change in my physical activity level that comes with new aches and pains. When she brought her bowls to this area, I felt my gastrointestinal organs start working on my lunch and a slow descent of a “heartbeat” from my skull to my tailbone. The vibration remained in my pelvis area for quite some time.
It seemed like the higher tones that I associated with pink and purple started at my neck and then moved south as the tones became lower and more greens/blues crossed my visual field.
When she was finished, we did some diaphragmatic breathing exercises to recenter and then she asked me how I felt. I tried to explain these feelings to her but overall, I felt like I just had the best cat nap in the world. My energy was higher even though I lacked sleep from a tough night with my toddler and I just felt…zen. I have been told that meditation can work wonders for your body but it has been a challenge for me to find that for myself.
This was one hour where I was nowhere but inside my mind and body which has never happened before.
MUSIC FANS:
This album shows how our brain processes information. Want to know more about this? Check out the Human Connectome Project at http://www.humanconnectomeproject.org/
If you are in the Fort Wayne area, check out sound meditation classes or a solo session with Courtney Smith at Lokah Wellness. It may just change the way you view yourself and give you appreciation for the power of music and meditation.
Contact Courtney Smith at Lokah Wellness
Certified:
Yoga teacher, RYT 200
Vibrational Sound Therapist
Usui Reiki 2 Practitioner
Meditation Teacher
B.S. Nutrition & Food Science
Website: lokahwellness.com
References:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/urban-survival/201907/the-healing-power-sound-meditation
Goldsby TL, Goldsby ME, McWalters M, Mills PJ. Effects of Singing Bowl Sound Meditation on Mood, Tension, and Well-being: An Observational Study. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine. 2017;22(3):401-406. doi:10.1177/2156587216668109
Naghdi L, Ahonen H, Macario P, Bartel L. The effect of low-frequency sound stimulation on patients with fibromyalgia: a clinical study. Pain Res Manag. 2015;20(1):e21-e27. doi:10.1155/2015/375174
