Description of a Sound Healing Session
One of the great attributes of singing bowls is there ability for the individual to create their own healing treatments for themselves. There are no clearly-defined rules when using sound treatment and it’s important to note the intent is more vital than the usage of a specific bowl. Many therapists feel it is the intent that truly powers the sound and the intended healing behind the bowl being used; so getting into the right state of mind is imperative when beginning sound healing.
While everyone has their own way of performing a sound healing, there are a few points that people use to get started. When getting treated with sound some practitioners like to talk to their clients to get a feel for the individual person and what might be ailing them, others make a point not to talk at all before or after the healing to make sure not to disturb the chakras. However, if there are multiple treatments it might be beneficial to talk about the experience with the practitioner so as to help better facilitate the experience.
A sound healer, or someone providing sound healing, needs to be prepared to deal with people who have many different levels of feeling and emotions, many of which are deeply set. The therapist must be equipped to handle such emotions if they are to help restore the patients to feeling of balance. It is also important that the therapist be sure to keep a close eye on their patient to make sure they are comfortable and benefiting from the experience. If the patient is relaxed, breathing easily and has somewhat of a smile on their face then they are probably open to the sounds and are taking it all. But if the patient looks pale, is not relaxed and is appearing to hold their breath then some relaxation techniques and breathing exercises might be necessary before continuing with the sound healing. It is important to note that those who have a problem relaxing and letting go of their mind might be fearful of the lower tones that some of the larger singing bowls have, but if they remain still and quiet the reverberations tend to disappear and the patient is able to appreciate the sounds and the relaxation that comes with slow humming. For many people, falling asleep is very common and it is sometimes considered a safety release for those who are incredibly stressed. By falling asleep many healers feel it allows the patient to better absorb the healing powers of the singing bowls by shutting off their mind and thought processes; allowing the sound to flow more easily through the mind and body. Many therapists will also use several instruments other than the singing bowls including tingshas, bells and gongs.
Experiencing a Sound Healing
When the patient arrives for the sound healing the singing bowls, tingshas, bells and gongs should already be in place in and around the treatment area. Anywhere from 15-30 bowls and 3-7 tingshas can be used in this process. The patient will lie down either on a massage table or on the ground. The larger, deeper sounding bowls should be placed near the legs and feet of the patient and the smaller lighter sounding bowls and tingshas should be placed closer to the upper part of the body and head.
To begin the sound healing the therapist will alternately and softly strike the tingshas and smaller bowls while holding and striking a larger bowl above the patient and moving it from the feet to the head searching for areas of unbalance or distortion. To locate such areas the therapist closely listens to the bowl for variations in the sound vibrations. After discovering an area of unbalance the therapist will pause overhead and gong the bowl with three variations of pressure trying to saturate the area of distortion with high, medium and low tones from the bowl. When the area has regained its balance the bowl will regain its “typical” and full range and he or she can move on with the sound healing.
After listening to and locating unbalance all over the body the therapist will begin to gong the bowls placed around the body and may give the feet a sound treatment by placing the ankles on a pillow and holding a bowl against the tops and bottoms of the feet so that the person may feel the vibrations. Other methods the therapist can use would be the placement of singing bowls on the patients’ stomach or chest. After getting the bowl to sing the therapist may gently place the bowls on the body, letting the reverberations echo throughout the stomach or chest cavities.
After completing the sound healing for the front of the body the therapist will have the patient slowly roll over and lie on their stomach. A larger thick-sided bowl which produces deep tones may be placed in the middle of person’s back, with a smaller lighter sounding bowl placed on the upper back. The two bowls will then be alternately struck, with some high-sounding tingshas being lightly gonged and slowly passed over the whole body, by doing this it should allow for any energy blockage to start flowing freely again.
The tingshas and sometimes gongs are used to end the sound healing session as they are meant to provide a grounding effect for the patient. It is important the patient feels grounded before they leave and some therapists even provide a neck massage and some suggestive words to make sure the patient has completely returned to the present and they can go back home and make a comfortable return to daily life. A sound healing session can take anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, but longer sound massages can take upwards of two and a half hours; it all depends on the stress levels of the patient and what is required to bring that person back to balance.
Other Sound Healing Applications
1) Breathing Exercises
2) The “Lemniscate” treatment (a sound healing massage where a singing bowl is moved over the body in a figure-eight pattern to restore the body’s energy balance).
3) Intense treatment with various gongs
4) A facial massage
5) More focused aura healing and chakra treatment
6) Harmonizing the left and right half of the brain
7) Directed mediation or image exercises
Self Sound Healing
Conducting a self sound healing massage is difficult since you are unable to completely relax because you have to gong the bowls yourself, but it can be done in a way that does provide a certain sense of relaxation. One method would be to play a recording of singing bowl music, and then you can fully give in to the sound. It is important to read any instructions that may come with any singing bowl recordings and it is usually recommended to listen to the sound through speakers instead of headphones. Another method that you can use is a simple sound healing massage. Make sure you won’t be disturbed during the healing process. Lie down on your back, take at least three deep breaths and try to relax as much as possible. Place a larger deeper sounding bowl on your stomach – about two finger-widths below your navel – a point that is near the perfect middle of your body. Exhale quietly and gong the bowl letting the vibrations pass through your body.
After completing this exercise, experiment by placing bowls on other points of your body including the seven chakra points. The larger bowls with lower tones tend to work better for the chakra points that are lower on your body and the smaller bowls with higher tones are generally for the points higher on your body. It’s important to note that after the reverberations have been silenced you remain lying down and you enjoy the sounds and vibrations that you felt as well as the silence that now envelops the room. At the end of any sound healing session it is imperative that one must be able to enjoy the silence in themselves in order to be able to reflect on yourself and how you can carry this feeling of peace and relaxation throughout your day and workweek.
Playing a Singing Bowl: a description
Uses of Tibetan Singing Bowls
When searching for a singing bowl, the most important thing to remember is that you’re attracted to the bowl itself. Make sure the bowl speaks to you through it shape, features and appearance. Look at the patina and the markings and see what fits your style. It’s also important to discover what basic tone personifies you. To do this try and hear what tone speaks to you the most, what tone echo’s in your head, what tone do you hum when it’s a spontaneous moment, what is your primal sound when you recite the “
After discovering a bowl that you feel embodies you, experiment with the sound of the bowl by striking or rubbing it with several different kinds of strikers. Most people use a wooden striker, which may be covered with a strip of suede, leather, or plastic tape. Other strikers can include drumsticks with a felt or rubber end – similar to what drum majors use with their big bass drums. And finally don’t be afraid to experiment and use materials that you find yourself to make you bowl sing for you.
Depending on the size of the bowl the sound can move in different directions. Larger bowls with thicker rims that bend in can produce a sound that projects down and inward. Bowls with straight rims produce a sound that is projected outward. It’s important to realize that every bowl produces a sound unique unto them. Some bowls have a bright, light sound that works better for more mentally stimulating activities such as reading, whereas lower sounds are more suited for meditating. Most people tend to collect several different bowls whose sound speaks to them and all of which can sing different tunes. By owning a collection of bowls that have unique and different sounds you are capable of creating special harmonics, but if you are looking for specific a note from the bowls a tuning device is required to find the desired bowl with the right pitch. However, one must realize that Tibetan singing bowls are all handmade and therefore their sounds and notes can vary as well as have harmonics that change throughout their singing range.
Making your Bowl Sing
1) Check out the acoustics of the room if you are planning to do any therapy or group meditation.
2) Place the bowl in the palm of your hand, the tips of your fingers, on a small pillow or on a ring. Make sure there is as little contact as possible with the bowl so as not to impede the vibrations.
3) Tap or gong the side of the bowl in various places with varied amount of force depending on the desired sound; use the rim, the rounded outer surface and the inside. Hold the striker loosely in your fingers and strike the bowl freely to create long-lasting sound.
4) To make the bowl sing use a wooden striker and run around the outside edge of a bowl with a modicum of pressure. Listen for the different harmonics as you create a spiral of energy
5) Remember that no two singing bowls will sound the same. The sounds the bowl emits depend on the size and thickness of the bowl, how much pressure is applied if singing, how hard you strike it when you gong it, or how the bowl is placed in your hand or on a pillow.
6) Sets of different bowls can be assembled in different ways including; as a scale, as chords, according to different planet tones and personal taste.
Learning to Listen
In Singing Bowl: exercises for personal harmony, author Anneke Huyser writes that because of the constant sounds we endure in our busy everyday lives – from the TV to the people in our lives - many of us tend to become numb to the more subtle sounds of our environment. She writes that listening to singing bowls requires “an open and attentive attitude, not so much to analyze the sounds but to be present, aware, alert and to try and catch the individual sounds and harmonics with the ear,” (Huyser p 83). So it is essential that when sitting down with your singing bowl you will not be interrupted or bothered during your time. With this silence you should be able to practice and learn to quietly listen to the subtleties of your bowl. But if you really want to listen in a completely relaxed state have someone else strike the bowl(s) for you while you remain motionless. For those who sing their bowls the harmonics that envelope the room can be heard the closer the bowl is to your ear. These harmonics can have a great influence on your body as well as your mind; bringing it all into harmony with themselves and the bowl. As your session reaches an end it’s important to learn to hear the sound in your inner ear even after the reverberations from the bowl(s) finally die down. While practice makes perfect when singing the bowl, listening to your body becomes just as significant as listening to the hum of the bowls. In the end the harmonics from the singing bowl should help to open up your body to your true spirit.
With two or more bowls you have the ability to create a harmony with the bowls. Some bowls reinforce each other’s volume; others can take over the sound of smaller bowls with its volume or pitch. For many people they may not be able to hear the harmony the bowls create, a lot of this can be attributed to cultural differences between Western and Eastern cultures and how we hear things, especially music, harmony and beats. One of the most crucial attributes that singing bowls have is their natural vibration intervals that happen when you sing them, the harmonics that occur are sounds that Westerners are not accustomed to, so it’s imperative that one learns to listen again to truly begin to appreciate the song the bowls create. By learning to listen again and accepting the new sounds created by the singing bowls we are able to better surrender to the sounds that enter the body and help attain a state of tranquility and peace as you let the vibrations work their way through your mind, body and soul.
Other Uses for Singing Bowls
1) Physical healthcare
2) Psychological health care
3) Putting people at ease
4) Relaxation
5) Harmonization of life forces
6) Stimulating the mind and spirit
7) Enhance creativity
8) Improve mental vision
9) Sleep treatments
10) Increased sense of well-being
While it is important to note that singing bowls and the sound treatments they provide are not an alternative to medicine, there is new research that is showing the increased benefits singing bowls and their sound can provide to those who are infirmed.
Harmonizing the Left & Right Hemispheres of the Brain
For many adults, the left hemisphere of their brain is the more dominant of the two sides. The left hemisphere tends to deal with more logical thinking including mathematics and analysis, as well as being home to the speech center of the brain. While the right half of our brain is more creative based; dealing with feelings, visual perceptions, music, dreams and spirituality. In western cultures the right brain tends to be less valued compared to the thought processes of the left side. Interestingly enough however, western societies allow children to use their creative sides of their brain, and in fact even encourage right brain thinking up until the age of about 5 years-old. However as one gets older society tends to better reward those who think logically with their left brain. Coincidently, adults have a hard time using the right half of their brain, producing creativity blocks and repressing feelings and emotions.
One of the many healing qualities of singing bowls is trying to bring balance and synchronization back to the hemispheres of the brain. In perfect situations both of the brain hemispheres are in harmony, however in the busy work weeks that so many people endure day in and day out, it becomes easier for our brain to fall out of balance. Sound healing with singing bowls aspires to stimulate the underdeveloped right side of the brain so that balance may be restored.
In order to better understand the brain, it is important to realize the two halves of the brain often independently of each other both produce brain waves, which are all associated with different states of consciousness.
Brain Waves
Beta Waves (between 13 and 30 hertz) Beta waves are often associated with work including heavy activity and intense thinking. Almost everyone produces beta waves throughout their work day, with the waves usually emitting from the left side of the brain.
Alpha Waves (between 8 and 13 hertz) Alpha waves are usually connected to relaxation, mediation and a sense of calmness. It is often linked to feelings of love, creativity and satisfaction.
Theta Waves (between 4 and 7 hertz) Theta waves are related to the point in between waking up and sleeping or just a light sleep. Theta waves are also associated with deep relaxation, day dreaming and imagination. Some who enter hypnotic trances are putting off theta waves.
Delta Waves (less than 4 hertz) Delta waves take place during dreamless sleep. These waves generate a deep trance-like state sometimes enabling the person to recall deep repressions.
Reaching Harmony
In order to achieve harmony between the two hemispheres of the brain and therefore a balance in your life it is important to try to achieve a desirable alpha state in everyday life, all the while making sure to exercise the right side of the brain. Anneke Huyser, author of Singing Bowl: exercises for personal harmony, suggests using relaxation techniques, meditation, yoga, listening to soft music and guided visualizations; all of which can be complemented by the use of singing bowls.
Very little is known about the effects singing bowls can have on brain waves, but experiments and tests have shown that with only 20 minutes of sound therapy from a singing bowl, many people coming from a high stressful situation, including work or a traffic jam, were able to reach a relaxed state; with many of them being able to reach theta waves and a few even being able to peak into delta waves. With continued use of singing bowls and sound healing it is possible to make alpha waves the most prominent of your brain waves when confronted with high stress situations that would have caused increased pressure in the past. As always, the intent of the person is the most imperative part of relaxation techniques and the search for synchronization between the two hemispheres of the brain; and as long as a person is willing to open up their mind and body to the resonance of the singing bowl, healing effects can mend and sooth the soul into a sense of peace and harmony.
OM Shanti