Last weekend, I treated myself to my first-ever in-person sound bath. 

Since then, I’ve had several people ask me, what is a sound bath? 

So, I thought I’d jump on here to explain.

A sound bath isn’t the type of bath that involves water (although it can have a strange effect on the water in your body, but I’ll come onto that!). 

During a sound bath, you’re encouraged to lie on your back with your eyes closed whilst a trained sound healer creates a combination of soothing meditative sounds.

These sounds generally come from Tibetan singing bowls, gongs and other calming percussion instruments, such as chimes or bells. 

The vibrations from the sounds can help to put you into a more relaxed meditative state and can help to clear blocked chakras. Click here to find out more about what chakras are.

In short, it’s a lovely, peaceful way to relax, listen to soothing sounds, and to carve out some time just for you. 

How to find a local sound bath

I attended an online sound bath last year, and whilst it was a pleasant experience, I knew that to really reap the benefits, I needed to pay a visit to an in-person event. 

So, I added it to the list of things I wanted to do this year and started to look for somewhere I could go and experience it. 

I jumped onto Google and searched for ‘Sound healing baths near me’, and literally hundreds of results came up. 

To my surprise, it didn’t take long for me to find somewhere local that holds weekly sound bath events. I don’t know if I’m lucky to live in an area where wellbeing activities are popular, but I was almost spoilt for choice. 

Not far from where I live, there is a wellbeing studio called Alcheme Wellbeing. I’ve been to their cafe many times, but I’d never been to one of their wellbeing sessions. Although Alcheme Wellbeing hosts the sound healing event, Karen from Lavender Oaks Healing facilitated the session.

For £22.50, I experienced a full hour of meditative sound healing. 

What are the benefits of a sound bath?

Whilst the impacts of a sound bath will differ from person to person, previous attendees of Lavender Oaks Sound Healing sessions have reported:

• A reduction of stress and anxiety levels
• Lower heart rate levels
• A sense of wellbeing and a positive mood
• Increased energy levels
• Induced state of meditation
• The unlocking of emotions
• Reduced muscle tension
• Improved sleep quality
• Peace and tranquillity
• Pain relief

I believe that the more you let yourself go, the more you’ll gain from the sound healing experience. 

My experience

Armed with my yoga mat and a blanket, I arrived at Alcheme Wellbeing in plenty of time. 

Karen from Lavender Oaks Healing was running a vision board session the same day in addition to the sound healing, and when we arrived, they were running late with their other session, which meant a delay to ours.

Whilst waiting for them to catch up, I sat chatting with another lady who was also waiting for the sound healing. We had a lovely conversation and soon discovered that we’re practically neighbours!

After what felt like 20 minutes (it may’ve been longer!), my neighbour, two others who had joined us, and I were invited into the studio to get ourselves comfortable and ready for the healing to begin. 

Unfortauntely it was a freezing cold day outside, and the floor in the studio was concrete! Although there was supposed to be underfloor heating, I’m not sure it was working. 

I lay my yoga mat on the floor, grabbed another blanket from the studio to use as a pillow and got myself as comfortable as possible, laying my own blanket over me. 

Karen explained the technique she would use throughout the hour-long session and then eased us into the healing with a gentle breathing exercise. 

Once she began using the instruments, intrigue took over. I had to fight to remain still and to keep my eyes closed despite desperately wanting to know what she was using to create the different sounds!

I love the sound of the Tibetan singing bowls and the gong, and I could easily have listened to them all day had I been more comfortable. Unfortauntely the cold from the floor was rising through my yoga mat, and I don’t even think we were a quarter of the way through the healing when I convinced myself my back was going to seize up! Sadly this impacted my experience as I struggled to focus on the session. I became more focused on trying to get comfortable!  

Despite the discomfort, I did manage to benefit from the experience. 

Part way through, I felt my insides shuddering. I thought it was the cold, to begin with, but it was like waves were rippling through my bloodstream. When we finished the session, Karen asked us for feedback on the experience, and my neighbour explained she had experienced this rippling sensation. To demonstrate why this feeling occurred, Karen took one of the singing bowls, filled it with water and showed us how sound waves impact the water. She explained that humans are made up of 70% water, so our bodies were experiencing the same thing. Click here to watch a short video showing the effects of sound waves on water. 

During the healing, I also felt my throat noticeably clear. Again, after the session, Karen said that she had felt a lot of us in the room had blocked throat chakras as she could now feel it in her own throat. 

On a personal level, the most intense part of the experience for me was when Karen placed one of the bowls on my chest and used a small mallet to chime the bowl. The vibrations coursing through my body when she did this were something else. 

Would I do it again?

100 times yes! I would definitely go to another sound healing session in the future. Although Karen runs weekly sound healing at Alcheme Wellbeing, I’m not sure I could justify the expense of going every week. But who knows, if I can find something more comfortable and warm to lay on, I might at least make it a monthly treat!