“Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the Soul, what a water bath is to the body.” Oliver Wendell Holmes
When I start to share about Sound Bath Meditations, many of the same questions always come up - Do you wear clothes? How much water is involved? Is the pool heated? My answers are always the same - Yes - None - and there is no pool or water involved.
Then what is a Sound bath meditation? According to Master Sound Therapist Sara Auster -
“A Sound Bath (Meditation) is a deeply-immersive, full-body listening experience that intentionally uses sound to invite gentle yet powerful therapeutic and restorative processes to NURTURE YOUR MIND AND BODY.”
Sound Bath Meditations are a combination of restorative yoga, deep tissue massage, and a sacred sound concert. Some participants also describe it as an instant Mindfulness Meditation practice. These meditations can reduce stress, enable deep relaxation, enhance creativity, uplift the spirit and help with insomnia. Sound Meditations re-sync and slow down our brainwaves and guide us into a deep meditative state or altered state of consciousness. This is a very healing state. It is the vibrational equivalent of deep sleep. It is also a very unique and personal experience, probably unlike any other experience you will likely have.
To fully understand a Sound Bath Meditation, you will have to experience it, to fully understand what it is. Sometimes it is described as a journey down a river, but riding on a river of sound. Sometimes it is described as a sonic or sound massage. The sounds of the instruments will envelop you like you are in a cocoon. The sounds will feel warm, nurturing and deeply cleansing.
Every Sound Bath Meditation is a unique experience for both the attendees and the Sound Master. They are a combination of the energy of the instruments played, the people receiving and the physical space. When I facilitate a Sound Bath Meditation I allow my intuition to guide the session. I look to a “higher power” to guide my playing to serve all the needs of the people present.
Everyone is different, everyone’s experience is unique. This is one of things that makes Sound Meditations so wonderful. No matter where you are on your journey, you are able to have your own individual experience. They are an opportunity for healing, for change, for maturing and self development. You might be taken to deep inner realms. Sound Meditation can be a big adventure, but is perfectly safe. Attendees have reported they were flying, floating, saw relatives/friends who have passed, reconciled troubled relationships, received answers to questions, felt more relaxed than they ever have, and felt stress-free. Truthfully, it is not an outer journey but an inner journey. Which is far more interesting than anything we can experience in the “3D” world. Usually a Sound Meditation is the opening of our “Doors of Perception.” The beginning of a new journey and way of seeing/being and perceiving.
There is an energy flow in and around our bodies at all times. This is why there are so many different modalities and philosophies around energy work/healing. In many ways we are replaying the “greatest hits” of 500 BC. This was the time of Pythagoras and the Buddha. Long before we were taking medication to heal ailments, humans were prescribed music as medicine and told that focusing on a simple object like our breath might bring peace of mind. Pythagoras believed that when our minds and body were in “harmony” we are well and when there is disharmony there is disease.
Pythagoras believed that music could bring order to chaos and discord.
The basic tenets of his practice and teaching were music can:
-bring the elements of the Soul into harmony
-settle and purify the mind
-heal, restore and maintain the body in perfect health
Recently, the effects of Sound Therapy have been studied on individuals undergoing treatment for cancer. The benefits the have found are
Ease pain - Often, listening to soothing music/sound may help you cope with difficult symptoms and side effects of cancer.
Lessen stress - Listening to music can activate stress reducers in the body, which is helpful before surgery or during treatment as well as long after, whenever you are exposed to stressful events.
Cause you to enter a meditative state - Listening to calm music or ambient sounds may induce a meditative state, which can have a therapeutic effect and ease symptoms.
Reduce depression - A diagnosis of cancer can overwhelm anyone involved, which can sometimes lead to depression. Music, humming, or singing can help uplift one’s mood. Vibrations from drumming might also open up tension areas in your mind and body and give you more energy and hope.
Manage anxiety - Anxiety is a combination of things: worry, fear, anger, and others. Quieting things down can be helpful but sometimes the anxiety can be too much to be still. Loud music, drumming or even finding a place to scream can get those negative feelings out thereby easing discomfort, improving quality of life, and sometimes just making you laugh. Laughter, especially big belly laughs, open blocked channels increasing oxygen intake, and give you periods of clarity and peace.
The only true way to understand Sound Bath Meditation is to experience for yourself.
We hold them every Thursday at 10:30 AM and 6 PM right here at Wainwright House
Gary Posner March, 2022
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