Some deeper reflections on the personal benefits of sound baths
May and June have been incredibly busy months for me as a musician. A flurry of weddings, events, concerts, teaching commitments, accompanying duties, and of course, the busy life of parenting, have all meant that I’ve had very little time to decompress and steady myself.
However, it has also meant that in the moments where I’ve led my sound bath gatherings, I’ve been able to see just why they are so important to me personally.
I’m often asked by participants whether the sound ‘affects’ me in the same way as it does for them. Obviously I’m not lying there with my eyes closed, and as I’m busy playing and sculpting the session I’m often too preoccupied to really benefit from the vibrational energy.
Yet facilitating these gatherings does give me a chance to properly ground; to be more fully present in the moment and to become less distracted by my daily thoughts. It gives me a chance to pause and to come back to the breath.
As my sound bath work has developed, these are the aspects of the sessions that I realise I am really able to benefit from.
Last week was a particularly busy period, with many long hours spent practising for looming concerts. In between, I was able to lead two sound baths - one at my usual stomping ground in Bingley, and the other at the Wylde Blossom Wellness Festival in Pendle.
Whether it was because I had been so busy, or because of the energy that individuals bring to the group (or possibly both), I cannot say, but the depth of the grounding that I personally felt was extraordinary. This feeling was then enhanced as the instruments began to sing and the vibrations did their work.
In situations such as these, I find that a certain feedback loop begins to develop. The grounded feeling that the instruments instil means that you begin to react through the way you play the instruments. When the ‘vibe’ really establishes itself, this gives way to further deepening, presence and nuanced listening, which then brings deeper calm and more focussed attention.
I firmly feel that we all need to be practicing our deep listening and presencing skills, so that attention becomes intention.
It is an aspect that I am trying to weave into my sound baths, by asking the group to become aware of any sounds and noises that may be present in the environment, and then to listen to and ‘accept’ these sounds.
Our daily lives can become so chaotic and distracted that giving ourselves permission to stop and simply listen, can be all too much a rarity.
I truly believe that sound and music are profound tools not only for personal healing, but also for communal transformation too.
When we deepen our capacity to listen rather than talk, we already become nodes for further transformation, adaptation and resilience.
And each of these qualities are so particularly necessary in the world we inhabit at this time.