Sound bath likely to ease away stress, research reveals

The human mind and the body can be eased by the soothing sounds produced by a singing bowl, chimes of tuning fork or a shaker’s gentle rattle. Danielle Hall, a sound healing practitioner based in Atlanta said that in a sound bath, people lay down with their eyes closed and remain open to the sounds.

The sounds and the vibrations are compared to a butterfly net which captures all the unnecessary chatters of the mind that circulates within the minds every day. There has been an increase in the number of people turning to ancient methods for reducing stress, anxiety and depression. The gentle vibration and sound takes the listener to a state of complete rest and is known as relaxation response.

Tamara Goldsby, research psychologist at University of California said that the healing does not work when the bodies are in flight or fight, which is when the blood pressure rises, heart rate rise and thus healing will stop. Goldsby said that the body chills completely during a relaxation response. The effects of meditation using sound on a person’s mood, physical pain, anxiety as well as spiritual wellbeing was examined by Goldsby. It was reported that there was significant reduction in fatigue, tension, depressed mood and anger. People suffering from epilepsy or with sound sensitivity must stay away from sound bath. Pregnant women also should take the advice of their doctors before they participate.

There has been many research carried out on music’s soothing power, however not much has been studied about sound meditation. Goldsby said that they wanted to take this a long way in future and study the psychological responses of people. Danielle Hall said that there are added benefits to sound bathing like gaining of sense of community. Community conversations improve wellness and makes people healthy, empowered and connected.