Sound Baths

The Healing Nature of Singing Bowls

Imagine lying down on a yoga mat in your favorite, and everyone’s favorite pose shivasana. Your eyes are closed. You’ve been guided in a beautiful meditation and feel so peaceful and relaxed. Now all you need to do is receive the healing vibrations of singing bowls.

As the bowls are played you feel the vibrations moving through your body, your mind, and spirit clearing away the old, making way for the new. You fall into a deeper meditation perhaps even a trance. Memories may arise both joyful and sad. As you release these you enter into a blissful state.

As the session comes to a close, you come back to this earth plane feeling refreshed and ready to embrace your life! Ready to take on challenges, and pursuit passions.

You have just experienced a sound bath.

The healing affects of singing bowls have been used for centuries. Their origins are from Asia. Their most profound history is found in the Himalayas, Tibet and Nepal.

When combined with sacred Mantras and chanting, transformational healing increases. Some references suggest that, “Tibetan lamas and monks used these bowls for sacred rituals … that … were so spiritual in nature that it gave them the ability to astral project and travel into other realms and dimensions.”

Cool.

It’s important to note that in any meditation of transcendence, coming back to earth and being grounded into your physical nature is of utmost importance. After all, we are here to shift ourselves, each other and the planet into a harmonious vibration of existence. Therefore, we need to be fully present!

Singing bowls have become a popular tool for alternative healers like myself, music therapists and yoga practitioners. They help clients to relax and focus on what’s truly important in their lives. They’re known to have a cleansing affect hence ‘bath’ by clearing out unnecessary thoughts, emotions and or beliefs.

What are they?

There are two different types of singing bowls: Tibetan metal bowls and Crystal bowls.

Tibetan Singing Bowls

The original Tibetan singing bowls were made with a combination of the seven sacred metals. Each metal represents a heavenly body or planet. Today these bowls are typically made of brass and copper which are lighter and more economical to produce.

7 Sacred Metals

Gold ~ Sun

Silver ~ Moon

Mercury ~ Mercury

Copper ~ Venus

Iron ~ Mars

Tin ~ Jupiter

Lead ~ Saturn

If you are familiar with the chakra system you may be wondering if these are linked to the seven main chakras. The answer is no, however the sound value of singing bowls are, especially in crystal bowls as we’ll discuss later.

When I trained as a sound healer under Angela Amato, we used Tibetan Singing Bowls. These are to be strategically placed around a person as they recline on their mats. The vibrations from the bowls penetrate the chakras and meridians of the person receiving the healing treatment resulting in energy balancing.

An individual can use them for self healing by placing one on the palm of your hand and striking it with a mallet, then circling the rim of the bowl.  This creates the singing sound and healing vibrations.

You can try it for yourself. Hold the bowl in front of each of your energy centers or chakras and practice with a gentle strike followed by circling the outer rim.

Crystal Singing Bowls

My friend Irene Ingalls introduced me to the crystal version of singing bowls around 10 years ago. She opened one of the first Sound Bath establishments in the US called Seattle Sound Temple located in Washington State.

Crystal bowls offer an alternative way of creating sound vibrations similar to metal bowls. And - they’re aligned with the musical octave which is associated with the 7 main chakras.

Chakras & Musical Notes

1. Root Chakra
2. Sacral Chakra
3. Solar Plexus
4. Heart Chakra
5. Throat Chakra
6. Third Eye
7. Crown Chakra

They are usually made up of rose quartz, clear quartz and/or amethyst which are all the most abundant crystals found in the earth. These singing bowls are typically larger and heavier than Tibetan metal singing bowls but they have the ability to be more closely in tune with the 7 notes of the musical octave.

My colleagues and I have been exploring the healing vibrations of not only singing bowls but of other sound healing tools like the crystal pyramid and tuning forks. We will be offering an evening of healing at the Penfield Arts Center on Thursday, March 9th.

The Music for Meditation and Yoga group that I am a part of includes crystal singing bowls as well as chanting.  We have performed at the Assisi Institute and the Eastman Theatre with future dates to come.

Benefits of Sound Bath

• Obtain Relaxation
• Lower Blood Pressure
• Focus the Mind
• Instill Inner Peace
• Stress Relief
• Strengthen Immune System

With their calming and meditative qualities, singing bowls allow you to let go and relax.  I welcome you to enter into this unique healing environment and experience a sound bath.

EVENT! Please join us!

Yoga & Meditative Healing

with Sound Bath

Thursday, March 9

6:00 - 7:30 PM

Penfield Arts Center

Rochester, NY USA

Alana Cahoon is joined by Lisa Gates and Sharon Bader Easton in this unique combination of yoga, meditation and energy healing where you will gain access to your own natural healing abilities. The session opens with yoga asanas (postures) to open the channels of flow in your body. You will be led in a guided meditation to balance and fortify your immune system energetically. It closes with a unique Sound Bath where you can submerge yourself to completely relax and let go.

Alana Cahoon is a mindfulness coach and founder of Grow 2 B U, LLC and Being In Balance Academy.   www.AlanaCahoon.com