A gentle breeze cuts through the ocean air and blows into Malibu’s geodesic dome, nestled among the trees just above the gray-blue ocean. It’s a gloomy afternoon, and the misty horizon melts into the earth’s surface.
A symphony of the sea echoes along the winding coastal road. Birds chirp in the background and dogs occasionally bark, but it’s the crashing waves that resonate the loudest and fill the space.
“We welcome setting intentions,” says Kirsha Kramer in a building known as the Five Senses Collective. The dome is its centerpiece and offers the practice of vibrational therapy.
She explains that the area was once home to a Native American sweat lodge led by the late Floyd Westerman. It is owned by Earthways Foundation, a Malibu nonprofit that supports social and environmental responsibility. Invited to develop the site, Kramer founded the Five Senses Collective in 2017. Now, he has grown to attract Hollywood celebrities and corporate clients, with private sessions starting at his $600. She was recently selected by Chanel to welcome international guests in town for the brand’s Los Angeles cruise show. (A week later, Louis Vuitton also offered a sound bath experience as part of a wellness day in Malibu to coincide with the fragrance’s launch.)
Cramer uses a variety of instruments to bring you a sophisticated and comprehensive experience. She is certified in Acoustic Frequency Healing, Mindful Meditation, Emotional Freedom Techniques, as well as Thought Field Therapy, is committed to healing mind and body illnesses through touch, and has a degree in Interpersonal and Group Communication. uses its skills to provide a safe space. Energy healing; much of it is transmitted through sound.
Most sound healing experiences use sound bowls, usually made of quartz or copper, of Tibetan origin, and also incorporate other musical tools such as drums, chimes, and gongs.
“What sound healing does is induce what they call an altered state of consciousness, and it does so by making our cells vibrate at different frequencies,” says Sacred Women Collective’s says founder Stacey Levine. That night, she was hosting Sunset Circle, a monthly beachside gathering a few miles down the coast, near Lifeguard Tower 26 in Santa Monica.
Each meeting has a theme. Priced at $25, about 20 women joined her for 90 minutes, and the latest one was dedicated to the power of sound.
“All of these different instruments vibrate at different frequencies, and when they’re vibrating our cells, it’s the most relaxing experience,” says Levine, a certified sound healer and breathwork facilitator. continue. Her goal is to unite women to uplift and support each other in life and business.
“We ask everyone to lie down,” she explains of the ceremony. “People bring blankets. It’s very cozy. I sit in a bowl. And when I play the ocean drums or chimes, I walk around the circle to get closer to each person.”
Barbara Kramer was among the dozen or so guests.
“It was a fun gathering,” Kramer said of the aftermath. Her first experience with a sound bath, often referred to as a meditative experience, was seven years ago. “I loved it right away.”
About five years ago, after attending a sound bath concert in an old church in Los Angeles, she discovered an alchemy bowl made of precious gemstones.
“Each one is unique and has its own overtones,” she continues. “They’re really magical. For example, if you’re in a sound bath and they play these bowls, it’s a liftoff.”
The Alchemy Bowl is one of the most expensive instruments in the world of sound healing.
“The practitioner was from Copenhagen and he literally had an alchemy bowl worth $40,000 that he was playing in,” Kramer continues. “Then I was so fascinated by the bowls, I had never seen so many bowls. I was watching her pack up and she was wrapping them in bubble wrap. When I saw it wrapped, I was surprised. She said, “This is how the manufacturer ships it.” It’s how I protect them when I travel. ”
Kramer found a solution. It’s a knitted bowl cover. Produced in LA and comes with colorful tassels (7 chakra colors) made in Peru. It’s made with 94.5 percent sustainable materials, using recycled fabric scraps and plastic bottles, and 5.5 percent Lycra for extra stretch. The brand’s Harmonic covers come in a variety of sizes to accommodate all types of bowls and protect them when nested and transported. Each price ranges between $85 and $105.
“She showed them to me, and I thought, ‘This is so cool,'” says Arlene Uribe, owner of Sacred Light.
Her store in Los Feliz specializes in alchemy bowls and also sells other items such as crystals and candles. Mr. Uribe has a clientele of practitioners and sees a market for the covers. “Sound bowls are very expensive, and the way you usually nest them, or put them inside each other, is to protect them with bubble wrap or certain foam-like things,” they said. However, it is not really aesthetically beautiful and does not match their beauty. It is a very delicate item and requires a proper cover. ”
Kramer plans to display QR codes and cover samples in stores for shoppers to order directly through the brand’s site, harmoniccovers.com. She gives a percentage of sales to retailers.
Like many believers in sound healing, Kramer, co-founder of Designers & Agents and founder of The Plant Lore Agency, discovered the practice by immersing herself in the yoga community. She first encountered hatha yoga at the Integral Yoga Institute in the Village of Greenwich while living in New York City in 1981. These days, living in LA, she does her hot yoga twice a week and listens to sound bath recordings every day.
“I experience a heightened sense of calm, bliss, and peace,” she says of the sound bath. “My whole system feels rebooted, deeply rooted and at the same time uplifting. I am a person who often dreams vividly, and when I wake up every morning and hear these overtones, my dreams bring me back to the present. It’s like hitting the refresh button every time.”
Hotels are now offering this experience to their guests, such as the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Its environment is unlike any other. Sound bath sessions are held in a glass room overlooking the Pacific Ocean on our 102-acre peninsula grounds. Their instructor is Yuka, a Japanese American woman who also works as a hypnotherapist.
“Our goal with the Terranea Sound Bath is to create a state of harmony within the listener by using sound to remove disharmony from the guest’s energy field,” said Betty, the hotel’s fitness supervisor. Gonzalez says. “Among the benefits of a sound bath are an increased sense of well-being, expanded awareness, and access to inner ethereal experiences.”
Sound has an ancient connection to meditation and healing that is rooted in various cultures around the world. Science shows that music can improve mood, reduce stress, and rhythm can reduce pain. In California, the land of wellness, the practice of sound healing is not new, but it has grown significantly in recent years. It’s become mainstream in LA. Sound baths can be found all over the city at any time.
There is also a festival called Sol & Sound. Founded during COVID-19 to unite people of color, everyone is welcome.
“The inspiration for this festival actually started in 2020 during the pandemic and the racial justice protests that saw the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor,” said close friend says co-founder Jasmine Amira, who co-founded Sol & Sound with Janelle Ross. They were both born and raised in Inglewood.
“I personally have extensive experience with meditation, yoga, meditation, sound baths, and many other spiritual practices that bring balance to your life,” continues Amira, who is Black and Native American. “I felt in that atmosphere that my community was really, really suffering. The collective was hurting, people like me, people who looked like me, Black people, black and brown people were really hurting. I knew I didn’t have access to these tools. So my spirit was really pulling me to do something.”
In August 2022, it all came together at LA High Memorial Park, where 50 people gathered for a free sound bath and access to a marketplace for Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
“We just wanted people to come learn about sound healing and actually meditate with each other in community to release the heavy pain that we were all experiencing during these chaotic times. ” Amira added.
What started as a neighborhood event has now become a wellness festival that draws nearly 450 attendees. Tickets at the door start at $40 and include musical performances.
“This is a tool that can really change your life,” she added about sound and its power. “It brings solace, clarity and healing that we need in these times we live in.”