"Sound is the medicine of the future." Edgar Cayce

One of most amazing gifts I received in Tulum when I took a one-on-one course training over the last few days on Sound Healing with Crystal Bowls at the stunning yoga space at cool brand new boutique yoga hotel Sanara Tulum was from & with beautiful Alessandra, my yoga teacher here of Love Warriors Yoga . It was especially magic in combination with the sound of the ocean in the background.

Sound Healing or Sound Bath is the intentional use of sound through its vibrations to create the environment to help the healing of the physical mental spiritual & emotional aspects of one's being. The purpose is to have all these 4 elements in synchronicity to create balance. Thoughts are energy forms. When thought energy interacts with the sound of crystals, those thoughts are changed to more harmonic forms, which change brainwave frequencies, showing shifts in consciousness.

Much like the use of crystals, most ancient cultures used the seemingly magical power of sound to heal. Sound healing had almost disappeared in the West until the 1930s when acoustic researchers discovered ultrasound and its medical properties. With this discovery, research burgeoned and today the ancient art of sound healing is rapidly developing into a new science. There is now a mass of research into the healing benefits of ultrasound, including its use in breaking up kidney stones and even shrinking tumours. 

The Aboriginal people of Australia are the first known culture to heal with sound. Their didgeridoo has been used as a healing tool for at least 40,000 years. The Aborigines healed broken bones, muscle tears and illnesses of every kind using their enigmatic musical instrument.

The Egyptian and Babylonian cultures used drums and rattles, two of the earliest known musical instruments. The low frequency sounds from drums and the ultra sound created by rattles are both now known to accelerate healing.

Thus, the power of positive intention or affirmation combined with the use of the sounds crystals is known to brings peace, harmony/balance & healing.

I first tried this in Ubud and I shared my story on that a few months ago here The Magic of Ubud & the benefits of Crystal Bowl Meditation  . 

When I walked into my yoga class and I saw Alessandra's crystal bowls, I got very excited. I knew it was no co-incidence these bowls had come back into my life. I could not wait for the class to end (a rare thing for me!) just to hear them again. And once I did, iI knew that I just had to learn more about them.

So I approached Alessandra and convinced her to give me a one-on-one training over the next few days on this special skill, which she so kindly did.

The first session I had was pretty much all about theory and understanding how it all works. Lots of notes were taken, and questions asked as expected.

The next session I got to try to play them myself. I must say it looked much easier than it actually is. There is a method to the magic. With counting the number of rounds that are played, to the right timing bringing in the sound of another bowl to compliment a particular purpose, to the pressure and rhythm of how you even just circle the bowl with your hand and wrist movements. Playing one bowl is not the hard part. The challenge lies in playing a few bowls, moving between the bowls whilst at the same time making sure you maintain a smooth transition between the sounds & vibrations of each bowl as you do so. 

Moreover, each of the bowls are naturally tuned to correspond with each of our chakras so one has to actually plan your "playlist" or intention to see what one is trying to achieve when playing these bowls for someone or yourself. American sound healer, Dr Steven Halpern, believes that, "Sound is a carrier wave of consciousness. 'One' intention is the spiritual counterpart of the sound and the combination of sound and intention create the outcome of healing.

For example, if a person has a problem expressing themselves, the first thing to do would be to set the intention for the healing and then work on the bowl that would be the one that focuses on the throat chakra to help balance that area & release whatever blockages there may be in communication. 

Here is a short video of me playing my first bowls:

I must share that during one of the "receiving" sessions with Alessandra that I did during the training, I unexpectedly ended up breaking down in tears. There was no particular thought that upset or worried me that led to that happening though. It was just a release clearly of prior stored up feelings and emotions that still was stuck within me.

Also the day after the training, I got clarity about a particular issue that I had been confused about. It was very strange, as whilst lying in bed at night, I actually heard a voice (I am guessing my own inner voice) make a firm statement answering the question that had been on my mind for a few months but I was not thinking about it at that particular time. It was said with such confidence that I just knew it was the right answer. Alessandra had been playing the bowl for my 6th chakra to open up the intuitive channels within me that morning. It clearly worked. 

I also felt so much more calm and balanced after the training and receiving. It was like I felt I had just had a month long holiday condensed in three days in terms of how relaxed and centered I felt. 

I hope one day to be able to gift this special skill from my heart & soul to others to bring positive energy & healing to them through this medium. Like Alessandra says "Everyone can play a crystal bowl but not everyone can play a crystal bowl." Thank you Alessandra. 

Have you tried crystal bowl healing or sound mediation before? I would love to hear about your experience with this if you have. 

Shabnam ~ July 27, 2015

For more information on the history of Sound Healing up to today's use of it, please check out this article by Cymascope Research of which I referenced in my blog post too:  Sound Healing