What is a Sound Bath?

What exactly is a sound bath and why should you go to one? From mental health benefits, stress reduction and nervous system soothing, to deep relaxation and connection to yourself, discover why sound healing can be so transformative for your wellbeing. 

“A sound bath is a deeply-immersive, full-body listening experience that intentionally uses sound to invite therapeutic and restorative effects to the mind and body.” – Sara Auster, author of Sound Bath: Meditate, Heal and Connect Through Listening

Despite the name, there’s no water involved in sound bathing. Only healing sound vibrations that ripple out into a space as a dedicated sound healer or sound therapist plays a number of sound healing instruments. These often include crystal singing bowls, chimes, crystal pyramids, tuning forks, gongs, the human voice and more. With today’s modern life and focus on technology taking its toll on our stress levels, it can be a welcome practice to let ourselves surrender without any distractions and listen deeply.  

What Exactly Happens At A Sound Bath?

Curious about what exactly happens at a sound bath? Read on! Though it might vary slightly with each sound healing practitioner, usually a group will lay down on a mat or sit comfortably with blankets so the body can rest. They’re then guided into relaxation and enter a deeper state of consciousness through playing sounds designed to slow us down.

Immersive sound baths with singing bowls tend to last an hour or less and there’s sometimes guided meditation or breathwork to help unwind. It’s mainly an opportunity for you to simply lie down and receive.

“When I hold a Sound Bath, I usually collaborate with a Breathworker, weaving breath and sound together as I find the combination really powerful and transformative. 

I play a set of around twelve of my Quartz Singing Bowls, a Crystal Pyramid, Zaphir chimes and my grounding Practitioners Singing Bowl with handle. I love the combination of the variety of instruments to create an immersive soundscape. The acoustic journey flows through many melodies and I play intuitively so each Sound Bath is different. I love adding touch and different smells (palo santo, sage or incense), taking people on a journey through the senses.”

Through a sound bath experience, clear frequencies emitted from the instruments and their overtones can bring us back to balance in the body and mind through their soothing sounds that work on many different levels. 

Crystal singing bowls and crystal pyramids activate our parasympathetic nervous system which allows the body to rest, digest, restore and repair. The sound frequencies slow our brainwaves down, quietening down our monkey minds and allowing us to drift into a floaty dreamlike meditative state.

At the end of the sound bath, you’ll be guided back into your body and the present moment, as you gently sit up and get grounded. This can be an important part of a sound bath, as your brain waves begin to come back to waking reality and it can be helpful to drink some water, hydrate and take your time before going home. 

What Are the Benefits of A Sound Bath?

Through this shift into the parasympathetic nervous system with sound waves, we may help to slow the heart rate, calm a racing mind, improve our mood and release built-up stress, tension and anxiety, activating our body’s healing response. Read more about this on our other blog post, What Is Sound Healing? An Ancient Practice for Modern Times. 

From a self-discovery point of view through the yogic chakra system and on a cellular level, we can also allow emotional blockages to be released, too. 

During a sound bath, you’ll journey through different brainwave states. These can range from floating into alpha which is associated with stress reduction, relaxed focus and positive thinking, through to theta, which is where we enter a state of deep relaxation, inner peace and creativity.

We can also drop into delta, the brainwave state we’re in during deep sleep. This is the slowest brain wave state and is connected with pain relief, anti-aging (through cortisol reduction) and rejuvenation. Through slowing down, the body and mind have a chance to restore and repair. 

Alpha - Stress reduction, relaxed focus and positive thinking - 8-12 Hz

Theta - Deep relaxation, inner peace, creativity, intuition, mental relaxation - 4-8 Hz 

Delta - Pain relief, anti-aging, rejuvenation, slowest brainwave state - less than 4 Hz

It’s also quite normal for people at a sound bath to report seeing colours, geometric shapes and to have visual experiences. Some individuals even have epiphanies as sound healing can help us access our unconscious mind. 

How Do I Know If A Sound Bath Is For Me?

The truth is, only you will know if a sound bath is for you! It is such a unique experience for every individual and the amazing thing is, we all experience sound differently. 

Many people report feeling deeply relaxed and sleepy after a sound bath, others report having felt the vibrations in different areas of the body, some feel emotional shifts and some people don’t feel much different – we’re all different beings so there is no wrong or right experience, only yours that is unique to you. 

It’s important to note that if you find some sounds to be overstimulating, are very sensitive to sound, or have hearing aids, it probably won’t be a wellbeing practice well suited to you. It’s also not advisable for those with metal plates or women in their first trimester of pregnancy.

Mostly, only an open mind and heart are required for you to listen and receive, as there isn’t much to do but relax completely. 

Where Can I Attend A Sound Bath?

There are many yoga studios, community centres, retreats, spas offering sound baths. Plus there are a variety of online specialised sound baths and sound journeys, some with really experienced sound healers from around the world. 

Take a look at my range of retreats, events and introduction to sound healing workshops if you’re keen to try sound healing at a sound bath, or would like to learn more about the pathway to offering sound baths to yourself and others. Check out our shop to discover more about sound healing instruments with blissful tones and harmonies. 

The first step into sound healing is always exciting and a doorway to learn so much more about yourself and sound.