The Power of Sound Therapy

Though many are sceptical, sound is proven to be an incredible medium that offers powerful psychotherapeutic and physiotherapeutic benefits. Consider how certain sounds make you feel – are there specific noises that make you feel calm? Anxious? Irritable? It’s likely that certain sounds will immediately come to mind when you consider it. This is because different frequencies elicit different reactions from us. As a result Sound Therapy was created.

Sound therapy is a method of healing that “synchronizes brain waves to achieve profound states of relaxation, helping to restore the normal vibratory frequencies of the cells in our bodies”. There are many different manifestations of sound therapy, one branch being music and voice therapy which operate slightly differently though they fall under the sound healing umbrella. One of the most popular methods of sound healing is sound baths.

A sound bath is, put simply, a meditative experience that involves being “bathed” in sound waves. When you consider that sound waves are simply vibrations that are transmitted through matter, it becomes clear how they could affect your physiology. There is evidence to suggest that sound therapy even helps plants to grow more robustly, and we are living products of our environment just as they are. By extension, our cells vibrate with the sound waves to produce a physiological reaction. This of course extends to your brain, which can in turn affect your mental state.

While music therapy works using both vibration and association, sound baths use pure sonic vibrations with a particular resonance to relax and nourish your body, mind and spirit. It involves laying down in the yogic savasana (resting) position in a safe space and simply being present with the sounds around you. It is a beautiful mindfulness exercise to dedicate some time to, and mindfulness has been proven time and time again to improve overall quality of life.

Popular instruments are gongs, singing bowls, percussion, chimes, tuning forks and even one note vocals. These sounds will often be played repetitively, sometimes in harmony, and each individual frequency will interact with your cells differently to restore balance.

If you’re looking for a natural way to lower stress, blood pressure and cholesterol while improving your sleep and encouraging emotional stability, sound baths are a truly special experience that are proven to help.