Sound Meditation is an offering I’ve been sharing for over 4 years; it’s a wonderful and accessible practice that is meant to evoke relaxation, self-expansion, and even healing. It traditionally takes place in a group setting and is truly a unique, immersive, and sensory experience.

Participants create their “nest’ as I call it - usually in some kind of supported savasana position to help them unwind their physical body and better receive the soundscapes.

The ultimate goal of this work is to curate a safe atmosphere for where folks feel held, cocooned in their experience. This invites deep relaxation of body and mind, and allows participants to better receive the healing and therapeutic benefits of sound.

There are so many ways to facilitate and share sound. My style of facilitation leans toward being a Meditative experience or at times a Sound Journey. This requires participants to try and remain present with their experience. Just as with any meditation, they’re meant to find a focal point to keep them in presence - and in this experience it’s the sound. Finding this focal part helps tame what’s often called our “monkey mind”. Once we have our focus on the sound, then we might start to transcend the sound and sink deeper into the bliss body or “Anandamaya Kosha”. This often takes great practice; where the mind quiets and thoughts fall away. It’s in this state that we find ourselves enmeshed with expansiveness of the present moment and feel our interconnectedness with the greater whole - the divine.

Folks often ask, “what if I fall asleep?” Great! That hopefully means this experience is offering your body the permission to rest that it likely needs. There is no right or wrong way to do this; it’s about providing the sacred experience of communing with ourselves to receive, let go, and deepen our consciousness.

What Happens During a Sound Meditation?

Participants start by finding a supportive shape for their body, often it’s savasana or restorative pose. I then guide them through a breath and grounding practice to gently invite their awareness inward before slowly segwaying into the sound portion of the session.

I then weave together soundscapes using various traditional, and some less traditional, instruments to invite further relaxation, healing, and expansive consciousness. There’s always a flow to each session, although each session is unique (I always tune into the energy of the room and nature/season for an aligned session).

What I aim to cultivate in every session is an experience that helps participants relax into their body, slow their brain waves down, and activate their relaxation response. Once relaxed, I then shift the soundscapes to help clear discordance within the participant's body & being. There is an arc and succinct way to cultivate each sound session to produce this effect. I’ve cultivated my intuitive style through various teachings/teachers, years of experience, and my fundamental knowledge of music theory. Facilitating sessions is always a gift and magical experience for me. Without diving too deep, we are all beings of sound. That’s what makes this type of meditation supremely potent and accessible to even beginners.

Post-sound bath, I encourage participants to close their practice with me, and to take all the lucisious slow time they need to come up and out. Additionally, I recommend staying hydrated, embracing rest, journaling, and maintaining a sense of relaxation after a session.

Benefits of Sound Meditation

Sound has been used therapeutically, and in tandem with other healing modalities, for thousands of years in various cultures all over the world

And it’s no wonder… we ourselves are beings of sound & rhythm (stop and listen to your heart! Your breath! We are sounds beings). That’s why we are so easily entrained by music - Beyonce, the Beatles, or just a gong draw us in and evoke dance or stillness.

Scientific research also shows more and more how sound, when applied in a correct & therapeutic way, can offer participants both mental and physical benefits. It’s especially powerful for those who experience anxiety, depression, insomnia, exhaustion, and chronic fatigue.

Benefits include lowering stress, anxiety, cholesterol and improves memory, and reduces both physical and psychological pain.

Sound Meditation supports the improvement of folks' overall well-being and acts as a doorway to expanded awareness, offering one access to inner visionary experiences. It is a profound practice and accessible to a broad range of individuals.

If you haven’t tried a sound experience before, maybe this is your invitation to do so! I would just take care to find a qualified and knowledgeable practitioner. More and more folks are experimenting and just finding sound. This is so exciting to hear! We want folks to find tools for self-expansion. **Yet, it’s very important to receive from a facilitator who has a deep understanding of sound, tones, intervals, frequencies, and more.** Just as sound can be therapeutic, it can also cause dis-ease, activate trauma in an individual, or even leave recipients feeling vulnerable and feeling dissonate.

Find a practitioner with experience, one whom you trust and can feel safe/comfortable with, and I’m sure you will have a profound experience for your body + mind + soul.