What is a Sound Bath?

A Sound Bath is a relaxation technique using sound with multiple instruments such as gongs, tuning forks, chimes, crystal singing bowls, tibetian bowls, etc., to achieve a deep state of relaxation with the purpose of clearing and cleaning your chakras.

Our Experience Sound Bath Experience

We both truly didn't know what to expect or the results we would get out of a sound bath. Honestly, the first time I’ve ever heard or seen anything about a sound bath was on Keeping Up with the Kardashians (Thanks, Kim!). I was (and still am) on a journey of self improvement and healing, so we knew it couldn’t hurt and would give it a try, remaining open-minded throughout the process. 

The studio was so beautiful, located in the heart of Santa Monica. The place was called  “ Be Crystal Clear." To our surprise, we were the only ones in this session. Our instructor was very welcoming and informative, his name was Monk.

We began with a 5 minute meditation, then proceeded to take another 5 minutes to manifest our goals for 2020 by writing them down on a piece of paper and tucking them under our headrest once we were finished. We were told to not look at the goals we have written down for at least a month.

 

Next, came the sound bath. We laid down in a very comfortable position (Shavasana pose) with a blanket under our heads and another wrapped around our body, a bolster underneath the back of our knees, and an eye mask resting on our faces. Once the instructor started to play the sounds I truly couldn't give you a play by play of what happened next. The sounds were so loud and powerful. The noises would get louder in one ear, fade out, then get louder in the other ear. The sound bath portion was 50 minutes. For me, it felt like it lasted 15 minutes, but for my mother it felt like a slow hour. 

 

I am very confused whether or not I fell asleep or was in a deep meditative state, fully clear minded. Once  I became more aware of my being, there were about only 5 minutes left in the class (or so it felt). The instructor would pick up different instruments, bringing them around our bodies, and continuing to switch out the sounds. This was my mother’s favorite part as she said she could feel the sound washing good energy over us and had a deep appreciation of the present moment.

 

Your eyes are closed the entire time so you have no idea what is actually happening around you. What was strange was that both my mom and I thought someone else came in the room towards the end of the session, we felt the presence of two people walking around us. After the session was finished, it was clear that it was only the 3 of us in the studio. The owner had been locked out and was waiting for our class to be over before coming in the front door. Obviously, we don't know if this meant anything, but it was very odd we felt the same way.

Would we do it again? Yes. Are we planning our next sound bath at this very moment? No. We didn't feel better or worse after the session. We were more trying to figure out what just happened. Just like everything else, nothing is going to heal you overnight, but personally I do feel more instant gratification after workout classes, such as hot yoga. Moral of the story, we are willing to practice a sound bath again and who knows one day we might love them. 

One piece of advice if you’re looking to take a sound bath would be to go in with absolutely no expectations and just enjoy the time to decompress from the stresses of life. I also recommend taking a class in the evening. After our morning session, we felt a little too relaxed for the rest of the day.