There are very few things that I would consider myself an evangelist for. Authentic Chinese food, vinyasa yoga, and comfy pants that could be mistaken for business attire—yes, definitely and absolutely. Solo travel is something else that I could sing the praises of all day, every day. (Seriously. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should. It is life-changing.) A warm bath by candlelight and splurging on a massage, check and check. One other kind of bath that I wish I could shout about from the rooftops? Sound baths.
What Is a Sound Bath?
Just like the name implies, sound baths literally bathe you in sound. Unlike the kind with bubbles and handfuls of Epsom salts, you stay completely clothed, getting comfy on the floor or in a chair instead of a tub. There, wrapped up in a blanket, you relax as sound waves from crystal bowls, metal Tibetan singing bowls, gongs, drums and other musical instruments wash over you.
Not only are the sounds as mesmerizing as they are soothing to listen to, but you can feel them ripple through you like they’re vibrating every molecule in your body. Which, I’ll admit, might sound a little weird, but it is actually really, really nice. So nice, in fact, that I even bought a small singing bowl in hopes of recreating the experience at home. (Spoiler alert: My attempt did not go well. It turns out that playing these bowls is a lot trickier than it looks.) What’s more, sound baths have a lot of health benefits, too, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Something that feels good and is good for you? Sign me up!
The Benefits of Sound Bathing
Sound baths are a kind of sound healing. As you have probably experienced yourself, music can have a profound effect on your health and how you move through life. Simply hearing a certain song can transport you to a specific memory. Music has even been shown to provoke moments of lucidity in those who suffer from dementia. That’s right. The tear-jerking scene from the movie Coco when Miguel plays the song “Remember Me” for his grandma isn’t just a bit of Disney magic. It is an actual phenomenon known as paradoxical lucidity.
Animals love music, too. My dog Charlie enjoys the sound of crystal and singing bowls almost as much as I do, and he’ll often fall fast asleep if I have some playing. During my most recent sound bath, with Soul-cial Circles at the Hermitage Farm Center for Healing just north of Rochester, Connie, the facilitator, recalled a session she did outside at her friend’s flower farm where some deer wandered out of the woods to investigate the sounds. Even gardeners can attest that plants have been known to grow better when music is played nearby.
Sound baths are equally as stimulating. These sound healing sessions promote relaxation and better sleep, improve mood, soothe stress and anxiety, loosen muscles, decrease tension, and assist with pain relief and blood pressure. They can also ease you into a meditative state, something that I find especially beneficial as someone who has difficulty turning off my brain.
In practices like yoga or traditional Chinese medicine, these benefits are often attributed to the balancing of one’s chakras—different bowls and the sounds they make are said to affect the various chakras—or the unblocking of chi or life-force energy. In other words, you can almost think of a sound bath as feng shui for the body. Only instead of moving furniture around to the most auspicious, chi-friendly spot, the sound vibrations from the bowls and gongs do all the heavy lifting for you. (Ok, we’re going to dive into some science-y stuff for a bit. Because, as much as I enjoy the crunchy granola-ness of it all, some people need facts and research. So, feel free to scroll down to the next section if you would rather skip it.)
More scientifically speaking, however (this is the home of the Mayo Clinic, after all), sound baths work by matching the vibrations of the instruments being used to those that occur in the brain and other organs or systems of the body. Still sounding a bit woo-woo? Well, that’s where the research comes in. Following studies from 2020 and 2022, researchers theorized that sound baths affect the body by eliciting different brainwave states through something called brainwave entrainment and by activating the vagus nerve.
Brainwave entrainment harnesses the brain’s frequency following response. For example, a singing bowl might have a fundamental tonal frequency of 209.8 Hz and 204.3 Hz, emitting monaural beats at a rate of 5.5 per second. This rate corresponds to Theta brainwaves, which occur during states of creativity and deep relaxation, as well as in the lighter stages of sleep. Experiencing this sound invites the brain to follow suit, syncing up brainwaves and encouraging the body to relax.
So, where does the vagus nerve come into play? Just like strumming a guitar causes the strings to vibrate and create sound, a similar thing happens when sound passes through your eardrum—causing vibrations to travel through your inner ear and, ultimately, to your brain to be interpreted—or when speaking, singing or humming vibrates your vocal cords. Coincidentally, the vagus nerve just so happens to be located right next to both of these areas. So, when you participate in a sound bath or even just bust out a bit of solo karaoke in the shower, the vagus nerve is stimulated. As it is responsible for the regulation of things like your heart and respiratory rate, activating the vagus nerve pushes the body out of fight-or-flight mode and into a state of calm, ultimately encouraging a state of healing.
How to Prepare for a Sound Bath Experience
Are you ready to try out a sound bath for yourself? Whether you are a newbie or a returning sound bather, here are some things to know before you go, including how you can prepare to give yourself the best experience.
What to Bring to a Sound Bath
During a sound bath, you want to make sure that you are as comfortable as possible so that you can fully surrender to the sound waves and vibrations of this sonic experience. And you won’t be able to do that if you’re itchy, too cold, too hot or otherwise uncomfortable. So, be sure to dress accordingly. If you like being warm, bring a blanket to snuggle up in and wear something cozy (I was in sweatpants, a sweater and fuzzy socks). If you prefer to be cooler, opt for airier, loose-fitting fabrics instead.
You’ll also want to bring a yoga mat or something else to rest on (I chose my thick foam mat for extra cushion). I would also recommend a pillow or two, one to put beneath your head and another to tuck behind your knees to take the tension out of your lower back. You might want to pack an eye mask to block out any light or other visual distractions or even a journal and a pen, just in case you’re moved to write about your experience. And be sure to hydrate well both before and after.
What Happens During a Sound Bath?
Before the sound bath starts, you will first need to choose your spot for the session. Typically, participants will line up their mats in a row or semi-circle in front of the bowls. Naturally, the closer you are, the more intense the vibrations will be. However, you will still enjoy the full effects no matter where you are in the room, as the sound waves fill the space so completely that it feels as if you are floating in a harmonic pool. That said, try to snag a spot in the front row with your head nearest the bowls for the deepest sensations.
Once the sound bath begins, the facilitator will employ different vibrational instruments, often layering one on top of another or walking through the room to bring the sounds and vibrations closer as they guide you through the experience. At the Soul-cial Sound Soother I went to at Hermitage Farm, the session began with the opportunity to set our intention for the experience as we stood in a giant bowl. Once inside, Connie struck the bowl with a mallet, sending soundwaves rippling through my feet and up my body, as well as out through the floorboards. As magical as that was, my personal favorites are and will always be the crystal bowls, with their rich and hypnotically resonant tones that seem to go on forever. Meanwhile, things like drums may be used to replicate and slow down your heartbeat.
How you react to these instruments and the sounds they create varies from person to person and even session to session. Most recently, it took me a little while to fully let go and relax. I think this is because it had been a few years since my last sound bath, so I was really hyped up at the beginning and almost waiting for something profound to happen. Then, partway through, I rolled over onto my side and completely blissed out, spending the rest of the session somewhere between sleep and meditation. Other sound bathers have reported being brought to tears, seeing colors or having visions, likely because Theta brainwaves are associated with REM sleep, the period in which you dream. Once the sound bath draws to a close, you may find yourself calm and ready for bed, in a state of alertness or no different than how you walked in. It all depends on you and how you receive the experience, either intentionally or unintentionally.
Where to Experience a Sound Bath in Rochester
Want to embark on your own sound healing journey? Here are some places that offer sound baths in Rochester, MN. Looking for something else? Eventbrite is a great place to look for more one-off events, while yoga studios may also incorporate singing bowls into their classes.
Soul-cial Circles
Offers bi-monthly Sound Soothers in a group setting at two different Rochester locations—in the evenings on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at Hermitage Farm ($20 for 75 minutes) and at Forté Living on the first Tuesday in the evening or on the third Sunday in the afternoon ($15 for 60 minutes); individual sound bath and vibroacoustic sessions are also available
Sisters of Saint Francis
Offers monthly sessions like Sound Meditation Experiences ($35 for 75) and Crystal Bowls – Harmonic Healing sound baths ($25 for 60 minutes) at the Assisi Heights Spirituality Center
Tonal Harmony Healing
Offers private sound healing sessions, with or without crystal healing, starting at $75 for 60 minutes, at her studio space inside Vitality Chiropractic; group sound meditation sessions are also offered on the third Monday of the month, starting April 2025 at Hermitage Farm (75 minutes)
Have you tried a sound bath before? Leave a comment below!
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