Sound Bowls: Harmonize Your Being + Discover Healing Power

The magic of sound bowls comes not from what meets the eye, but from the unseen touch on your soul. These therapeutic spheres have always been designed to make noise, awakening your entire being from your organs to your origins. Commencing over 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, sound bowls journeyed to India, Tibet and Nepal. Today, they are still crafted in these regions, along with all over the world, either hammered by hand or machine. Every bowl is crafted with the intention to deliver healing frequencies.

Photo courtesy of Danielle Klein, Aspen-based sound artist and teacher

“Sound bowls can be made out of metal, clear quartz crystal or other gems, stones and minerals,” says Danielle Klein, Aspen-based sound artist and teacher. “The material that the bowl is made out of will influence what type of sound and the characteristics of sound the bowl makes.”

You may have also heard of “sound bathing” or “sound baths.” This refers to the experience of being succumbed by energetic frequencies played by a practitioner.

FEEL

The first step upon arriving to your sound bath session is to find a comfortable position that allows your body to seep into your space to receive the bowls’ vibrations. Many people use props such as bolsters, yoga blocks and blankets. Practitioners provide these events both indoors and outdoors depending on the weather.

“Lying on the ground [outside] is awesome because it connects us to the vibrations of Mother Earth, as well as the vibrations of the instruments,” shares Paonia-based sound therapist Ildi Ingraham. “Being indoors in a room with good acoustics is a joy because the sounds bounce off the walls and off of the other instruments, so there is more to absorb.”

Attending these sessions bring different benefits to different people, depending on each person’s state of being. These include, but are not limited to, emotional release, quieting an overactive mind, activating healing within your body, manifestation aid, improved focus and clarity, improved sleep, stress management, pain relief and overall nervous system regulation. How? Owner of Revolution Power Yoga in Avon and sound healing practitioner, Kayla Weber, reveals this is possible as the frequencies recalibrate “in your main energy centers running up and down your central channel or spine.”

Every session is an invitation to slow down.

“I often describe these sessions as a deeply relaxing sonic experience that is like a deep tissue massage for your nervous system and energy body,” Klein adds.

SURRENDER

Once you have found a comfortable shape and opened your heart, you have naturally surrendered to the sound waves around you. Klein explains that this is called “brain entrainment” and you have become entrained into the music’s frequencies. When this happens, your body naturally stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system, activating your body to rest and digest; it “allows your body to naturally repair and heal itself.”

This works to nourish the endocrine system, and especially support the adrenal glands. Ingraham explains we, as humans, store trauma in our bodies and auras, and these traumas stay with us and resonate a chaotic frequency.

“A stronger frequency will always overcome a weaker one,” Ingraham adds. “So, when these beautiful, clear sounds are received during a sound bath, they change the chaotic frequences back to their original harmonious state.”

Kayla Weber, owner of Revolution Power Yoga in Avon

Weber emphasizes that just because these sessions are healing, does not mean they are always comfortable. It is normal to not feel entirely relaxed while you are “getting rebalanced and recalibrated,” Weber informs. “That just means you’re working hard to recalibrate your own energy and vibration … I also invite people to lean into that if it happens. Get curious about where you feel it in your body. It might be associated with an emotion.”

EVOLVE

By the end of your session, the gentle vibrations stimulate your Theta brainwave state, making your mind fertile for transformation. Klein explains that our subconscious stores memories, beliefs, emotions and automatic behaviors. After your sound bath, you’ll likely feel better, boosting your confidence, self-expression and how you view yourself and others.

As you continue on with your day, evening and week, you will be moving in a higher vibration. Every breath is a deeper entrance into a serene sense of clarity and renewed circulation, serving as a catalyst for growth.

UPCOMING

Feel, surrender and evolve this season with transformative sound baths: Kayla Weber at Revolution Power Yoga and the Westin in Avon; Danielle Klein at True Nature Healing Arts in Carbondale, O2 Aspen Yoga and various locations in Glenwood Springs; Ildi Ingraham at Carbondale Branch Library, Blue Sage Center for the Arts in Paonia and Grand Mesa Arts and Events Center in Cedaredge.

Originally published in the Fall 2024 issue of Spoke+Blossom.