Two female experts explained sound healing can positively affect one’s health as sound bath participants feel its calming vibrations.
Sound healing is a powerful therapeutic tool promoting physical, mental, and emotional health. It combines different audio frequencies, music, and instruments to improve people’s multidimensional well-being. Its benefits vary depending on an individual’s needs such as stress reduction, relaxation, improved sleep quality, and enhancing one’s mood.
Lifestyle Asia got a chance to discuss sound as a healing modality with two practitioners, the tools used in the practice, and the transformative effects of their work.
READ ALSO: Embracing Otherworldly Wellness: Ayahuasca As A Healing Modality
Discovering sound healing through energy work
Rossetta Fojas Bachmann and Francecsa Warnke both incorporate different methods of sound healing in their respective practices.
Rossetta, or Tet, is a studio director for Vida Yoga BGC, where she teaches Kundalini Yoga, breath work, and meditation. She has been teaching yoga and meditation since 2017. She became an avid gong bath practitioner two years later.
Francesca is a certified 200-hour radiant body yoga teacher, a conscious living and wellness advocate, and a sound and energy healer. She also practices Kundalini Yoga and meditation like Tet. She began her journey with sound healing about 10 years ago. The practitioner uses a myriad of tools for curative audio sessions like the crystal alchemy singing bowls, and varying types of drums and gongs, among others.
“I fell in love with the gong while studying Kundalini Yoga,” Tet said. “I remember feeling very calm and relaxed after a gong bath.” She used to be in the corporate marketing and communications industry until she re-discovered yoga in 2017. Tet made a significant career shift that same year when she pursued her spiritual practices as a profession.
“It was through my regular yoga and meditation practice that I felt called to explore sound healing and energy healing,” Francesca commented. She learned to use her many tools to bring people to a state of peace and joy, so they can heal naturally.
A healing sonic experience
Tet said sound is used as a healing modality to guide the body and mind into a deep state of relaxation. The body is able to enter a self-healing and rejuvenating state. She explained the sounds people will hear may be unfamiliar at first, so their brains will naturally be stimulated.
“The soothing frequencies will allow the mind and body to relax, and the parasympathetic nervous system activates a ‘rest and digest’ state,” she added. “This is when the body cells can self heal.”
She expounded on the concept, saying sound works on an energetic level as it moves energies that blocks one’s energy centers. “For example, a regular sound bath can help release stagnant energies in the heart chakra, where grief and sadness resides.”
Francesca weighed in and said it is an ancient healing modality made up of a medley of sounds to improve one’s overall state. “Recuperation occurs through creating a beautiful sonic experience to calm your body, mind, and soul,” she conveyed. “It is highly effective for deep relaxation and helps balance the body’s energy centers.”
Needed tools and how it works
Tet walked us through on how a sound healing session transpires. “Participants usually lie flat on their back or seated upright during a sound bath. It is called a bath because the instruments’ vibrations ‘wash’ over your body as if you are bathing in a body of water. A sound practitioner may use instruments with varying tones or frequencies. However, the primary intentions are the same. We intend for people to enter relaxed, reset their nervous system, and release energies that are no longer helpful.”
Tools used for a sound healing session varies, according to both women. Tet said most sound practitioners in Manila use singing bowls, which are either made of metal or crystals; chimes; and gongs. “Gongs have lower frequencies which may help participants feel grounded and centered,” she mentioned. “Singing bowls and chimes vibrate at higher tones that can uplift or elevate participants’ moods.”
Francesca agreed, saying practitioners use singing bowls, chimes, and gongs too. She added tuning forks, flutes, crystal pyramids, harps, didgeridoo (Aboriginal wind instrument), other musical instruments, and even vocals.
“The healing frequencies and vibrations make people instantly feel calm, almost in a trance,” Francesca elucidated. “Some clients claim to see colors or visions, or just simply fall asleep. And when they wake up, they say they instantly feel revitalized.”
Tet added that sound baths are energetic in nature so the practitioner’s energy and the manner they play an instrument is important.
Recommended steps before a session
They both postulated that clients need not prepare anything specific prior to a sound healing session. However, they had some recommendations before going into one.
“Have a yoga mat or something to lay on,” Francesca imparted. “Bring water, something to cover your eyes, and a blanket to cover your body. Personally, I use my favorite essential oils and crystals during a sound bath.”
Tet said clients should dress in comfortable clothing. “Avoid eating heavy meals at least two hours before a sound bath and hydrate well. We also ask, if possible, to keep participants’ mobile devices in a locker or inside their bags.”
The restorative effects of sound
Tet said soothing sounds makes the body activate the parasympathetic nervous system and deactivate the sympathetic nervous system. The former is responsible for the body’s “rest and digest” response and conserves one’s energy. Meanwhile, the latter triggers the “fight or flight” response which alerts and prepares the body for stress or danger.
Concurrently, Francesca explained that sound therapy provides a nurturing way to feel centered and at ease. “A proper session will let the body remember what it feels to be truly relaxed, and the nervous system will be nourished and invigorated.”
She added that sound healing helps with burnout and stress, chronic pains, exhaustion, anxiety, headaches, joint problems, among other health concerns. However, she stressed that people should not use the modality as the end all be all, and still consult their healthcare providers. “I’m not saying that it fully cures these conditions,” she said. “But it helps.”
Interested participants may contact Francesca for a sound bath session through her website, Instagram, and Facebook. You can also email her through [email protected], [email protected], or contact her through +63 918 933 2759.
Tet accepts bookings through her Instagram accounts @meditatewithtet or @meditationisagift, or email her through Vida Yoga at [email protected].
Banner photo from Frames For Your Heart via Unsplash.
