As the sun set over the Pacific Ocean and the beach felt cool on my back, I heard a voice inviting me to scan my body for any feelings of helplessness. “Then breathe into the area to help release it,” said Sara Sophia Boushari, leader of the evening’s sound bath.
This April, along with 21 other participants lying on the sands of Santa Monica, I listened as Mr. Bushari played crystal singing bowls and chimes, leading us into an hour of meditation. Ta. During the sound bath I participated in, a bell-like sound reverberated throughout my body, and my intense thoughts seemed to melt away. I lost track of time.
Jamie Bechtold, co-founder and owner of Sound Bath Studio in Los Angeles, said therapeutic sound “baths” have been around for decades. But over the past five years, it has grown in popularity and recently expanded beyond wellness spots like Southern California, she said. They’re held all over the country, from a yoga studio in Cleveland to a barn outside of Raleigh, at corporate events, and even on stage at Coachella.
What is a sound bath?
During a sound bath, participants are immersed in sounds and vibrations from musical instruments such as gongs, chimes, bells, and singing bowls. Some instructors may add wellness rituals such as guided meditation or Reiki energy healing.
Tamara Goldsby, a research psychologist at the University of California, San Diego, who studies sound baths, says the name comes from the idea of waves of sound rushing over people. Although sound baths draw inspiration from and use instruments from a variety of spiritual traditions, they are part of modern wellness culture.
The session promises relaxation and some people may fall asleep. (In his two sound baths I went to, the instructor told participants to prepare for the possibility of snoring.) as well as strong emotions that surfaced.
Filmmaker and musician Anne-Marie Lindblad said she felt “very intense” after being bombarded with gong sounds in northeast Los Angeles earlier this month. “If I had a bad situation in my mind, her experience could have been overwhelming,” she added.
People who are sensitive to sound should be careful about which sound baths they participate in and seek out more experienced practitioners, Dr. Goldsby said. She said the sound from crystal bowls can be unpleasant if played at high volume.
sound and our health
Nina Krauss, a neurobiologist at Northwestern University and author of Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World, says that sound affects both our physical and mental health. states that it is possible to give
“We don’t recognize it because we don’t see it,” added Dr. Krauss. For example, few people realize how much ambient noise, such as the noise of an air conditioner or blowing leaves, can affect our mood, she says.
Dr. Kraus said many systems in the body play a role in how we process sound, influencing the way we think, feel and move. Sound is also deeply connected to memory, so it can have an emotional and psychological impact, she said.
Sound healing practices, including sound baths, have not been widely studied. But limited research suggests it may offer some benefits, at least for now.
An observational study of 62 people found that after one session of singing bowl meditation, participants scored lower on scales designed to measure anxious and depressed mood than before the session. Ta. Dr. Goldsby, lead author of the study, added that some participants felt less nervous after the session, and the effect was greater for those who had never tried sound meditation before.
A small randomized trial of 74 undergraduate students found that those who meditated for 30 minutes while listening to didgeridoo music felt more relieved from anxiety and acute stress than those who meditated quietly. did. Another proposed sound-based therapy could be a useful relaxation tool for people who occasionally experience anxiety.
Would you like to try a sound bath?
Some practitioners make far-reaching health promises about healthy bathing, claiming it can improve depression, lower blood pressure, and even fancifully repair DNA.
Dr. David Silbersweig, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said these benefits cannot be proven without scientific testing. And it’s difficult to know whether the effects people report come from the sound itself or from the relaxing environment in which the sound is played, he added.
Some instructors are careful not to oversell their work. Bechtold, who has been a sound bath teacher and gong player for 20 years, said she sees sound baths as part of an overall health routine. Bechtold says it can give participants time and space to process their emotions. “At the same time, you can learn how to relax your body more deeply.”
That may be one of the keys to their appeal.
Alejandra Davila, 29, who attended a beach sound bath in Santa Monica, said she was drawn to the Instagram post.
“I’ve always wanted to try yoga,” Davila said. “Yoga felt more Zen-like and relaxing.”
