A Brief, Personal History of Sound Healing
Long after I arrived home from my second Vipassana Meditation course, I found myself craving the sound of gongs. During the meditation retreat, the gong was used to signal the beginning of an activity. The ringing called meditators to vegetarian meals which were cooked by volunteers who knew of the transformative power of Vipassana and now wanted to provide service and comfort to those who were sitting. Additionally, the ringing beckoned us to one of three daily sits where all meditators, volunteers, and assistant teachers came together for an hour to practice Vipassana — to practice seeing things as they are.
Returning home from the retreat, with my learned practice of “seeing things as they are,” I began noticing my breath and my ability to quiet mental chatter. I reflected on how the sounds from the gongs breezed through my body and cleansed my energy. To bring more variation to my self-care practice, I searched YouTube for gong sound videos to play, while I luxuriated in a bubble bath, and came across a 3-hour long Tibetan bowls video. I loved the sounds and the added relaxation that the Tibetan bowls provided.
A trip to Sedona with a dear friend led me on a hunt to find a Tibetan bowl. Among the red rock buttes, vortex energy, and pink jeep tours we were surrounded by beautiful bowls. But none of them would play for me. Or, if I’m seeing things as they are, I didn’t know how to play the bowls yet.
Leaning into my desire to learn more about sound healing, I scheduled a sound session with a practitioner in Milwaukee, WI who agreed to train me so that I could one day lead my own sound workshops. We went over the history of sound healing, how to select a bowl based on the connection I have with the bowl, how to make the bowls sing, and how to hold one-on-one and group sound sessions. I was excited to start practicing and sharing the benefits of sound healing with my community.
A Narrative Power Stipend from Echoing Ida, a program of Forward Together, helped to launch my Harmonic Healing Sound Sessions. So far, I have conducted sound sessions for Black women-led organizations in Milwaukee, WI, Atlanta, GA, and Albuquerque, NM as well as national organizations that center and uplift Black communities. I have moved my sessions online since the pandemic, which means that more people have access to the sound sessions I host.
According to Diane Mandle in Ancient Sounds for a New Age, there are many benefits from sound bowls, including:
· Reduce stress
· Balancing the chakras to create dynamic centering
· Deepen meditation
· Engage the relaxation response
· Pain Inhibition
· Stabilize blood pressure
In my sound healing practice, I have experienced:
· Improved sleep
· Orgasms
· Better mood
· Mental clarity
· Connection with Spirit
Sound is an added tool to my overall healing. I use the sound bowls as a way to deepen my meditation, to ground me before or after a heavy task, and to clear and cleanse my energy. Sound bowls are a great way to cleanse the energy in a room and are a powerful alternative to burning Palo Santo sticks, or incense for folx who may want the clearing without the fragrant smoke. Most recently, sound bowls have been part of my sexual healing from past trauma (more on that in another piece).
My Tibetan bowls — a combination of copper and other metals — along with my crystal bowls — made from 99.96% pure quartz crystal — can be played to emit different sounds, and they have various frequencies but work together to create a deeply relaxing experience.
Whether I am noticing my breathing and sensations through Vipassana Meditation or entering a state of deep awareness through sound healing, I am moving towards healing and clarity. Each of these tools helps to ground me, to see things clearly, and, most of the time, make decisions and take actions that will serve me and my higher good.
If you are so moved, take a moment to uplift the tools you use or are curious about in your healing journey in the comments section.
Here’s to our collective healing.
