This Is the One Bath You’re Going to Want to Take  

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Lying on the floor of Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center surrounded by more than 500 strangers, I closed my eyes. Standing on the nearby stage, sound healer Davin Youngs asked us to imagine the music from famed artists like cellist Yo-Yo Ma and country star Jo Dee Messina that once played in the grand hall.

“Picture the energy that filled the room — the energy that still lives inside these walls,” he instructed.

Then, using crystal singing bowls, tuning forks, chimes, a gong and improvisational vocals, Youngs took the sold-out crowd on a 90-minute electro-acoustic RESET, bathing us in sound and vibrations designed to soothe the nervous system.

A little woo-woo? Sure. At 60, I’ve seen trends come and go, but this felt different. I left the event with an undeniable feeling of calm and a sudden answer to something in my life I’d been questioning. A few weeks after the event, I shared my experience with Youngs.

“That’s quite normal,” he told me. “And the principle is simple. When illness takes place in our body, our heart, our mind or our spirit, there's an experience of being stuck; something stops moving. Sound is a literal experience of motion and movement. In a rudimentary way, we're shaking things up and holding space and intention for healing through vibrational change.”

A Sound Revolution

Sound baths like Youngs’ are growing in popularity and were named one of the top-10 most sought after wellness treatments, according to SpaSeekers.com’s “2023 Spa Trends Report.”

While the concept feels very New Age, the practice goes back thousands of years to ancient Egypt, Greece and India, when musical instruments, like gongs, were used to promote wellbeing. Recent science backs up their benefits.

“Sound bath involves the use of specific vibrational musical instruments for the purposes of relaxation, stress relief and healing,” explains Dr. Tamara Goldsby, a research psychologist at the University of California San Diego’s Department of Family Medicine and Public Health who studies sound healing. Participants in one of Goldsby’s studies, reported “significantly reduced anxiety and tension immediately following a sound bath."

Sound Baths and Meditation

It’s common to confuse a sound bath with meditation, but Youngs says the two practices are very different. Meditation is about how you relate to your thoughts and how you can change that thinking to better handle stressful situations. A sound bath, however, is best experienced when you’re simply in the receiving mode.

“The bulk of your day is spent in beta brainwave states,” says Youngs. “It’s the state when you’re actively thinking. Sound has been shown to allow us to get out of that beta brainwave state and into alpha and theta brainwave states, which are daydreaming and deep dreaming.”

Alpha and theta states provide a sense of openness. “You see yourself outside of the small stories of your thinking mind and step into what happens when you dream,” says Youngs. “You get a glimpse of yourself as being whole rather than being someone who is broken or injured or diseased or unworthy.”

How to Bathe in Sound

Since sound baths are becoming more mainstream, they’re usually not hard to find. Yoga studios, spas, gyms and community recreation centers are the most common types of places to find this form of healing. You may also find larger scale sound healing events held in your area like the one I attended in Nashville. Simply put the words “sound bath” into an online searching site along with the name of your city.

The experience will differ depending upon the sound healing practitioner. Goldsby suggests asking friends for recommendations and trying out a few sound baths, if possible.

I’ve attended three, and each was unique. The first was held in a yoga studio with light, ethereal sounds. To be honest, it felt awkward. I didn’t know what to expect, and the yoga studio was cramped. The second was held at my community’s recreation center and featured hand drums. I discovered that I enjoy a deeper pulse of music, and the experience felt more relaxing.

By my third bath — Young’s RESET — it was easier to get lost in the sounds. The location and the addition of improvised vocals also enhanced the feeling of immersion.

Cost of admission will vary. For example, I paid $35 to attend a sound bath class at the yoga studio and one at my local recreation center. Tickets for large scale events may run $50 or more.

If you are sensitive, Goldsby recommends talking to the practitioner before the sound bath begins. “Individuals with sound sensitivity, or those with hearing aids, may want to position themselves in the room a bit farther from the vibrational musical instruments,” she says.

People of any age and ability can benefit from a sound bath because it does not require any learning curve. You simply lie or sit still. Youngs advises setting yourself up for comfort. Wear loose-fitting clothes, and bring a yoga mat, pillow, eye mask and blanket. Perhaps the most important thing to bring, though, is an open mind.

“Stay open to whatever rises for you,” says Youngs. “There might be some resistance, some emotion and some pain, but there also might be some joy, clarity and happiness. It's about being open to receiving where your mind needs to go for you to test a bigger glimpse of yourself.”

After you leave, Youngs recommends letting the experience be a bench marker in your life. I know I certainly did. I walked away from each sound bath with a sense of renewal and a deeper connection to myself. The feeling lasted for several days after the event. I intend to make this ritual a part of my wellness routine and already have plans to experience a floating sound bath in which participants have a meditative experience in water.

“At the very minimum, you gave yourself space to think,” Youngs says. “If you can, journal. Spend some time in contemplation and reflection. And don't be afraid to take action based on what you know now. Too often, feelings come up that you might brush aside as being just feelings. Usually, though, those are moments of deep inspiration.”

Indeed. These relaxing tones can be the perfect tonic for stress as we age — and that’s music to my ears.

 
Have any of you tried a sound bath? Would you like to? Let us know in the comments below.