"My thoughts just disappeared!"
I took a 42 hour vibrational sound healing training that has proved mystical and musical in nature.
“When I saw this class I knew intuitively that you were supposed to be there, this is big,” said my wife as she gifted me the treasure that is the Vibrational Sound Therapy1 course. And, what a generous, thoughtful, life-changing gift this has been for me, my clients and humanity at large.
WHAT I LEARNED
I learned that being surrounded by hundreds of bronze Himalayan sound bowls, some struck in measured fashion, others sung and rung, down-regulated my nervous system akin the after-glow of a truly remarkable massage. The knots in my tissues unwound, my typical leaping tiger energy smoothed, rounded and placed at ease. And, within minutes of receiving a treatment my state of being changed with such deft that I lost conception of time (and space).
What’s taught is that using bronze sound bowls on the body induces a deep relaxation response. True enough. And, I understand why this wasn’t covered in more depth…there was a palpable mystical quality to the experience of receiving that words cannot describe. What I can say is that I felt fundamentally and beautifully altered, which is exactly what my clients are saying, too.
I GOT TO QUICK WORK IN MY PRACTICE
My bones still vibrating from six extravagant days of working with the bowls, I immediately began offering sessions inside my established healing practice.
I’ve heard some wild stories from clients receiving these sessions, prefaced with comments like:
“My thoughts just disappeared! They literally vanished.”
“I was shot up through space and came back down a totally different person!”
(Exclamation points are their emphasis.)
“I felt a whoosh of energy down my entire body.”
“I got the exact clarity that I needed, it just came to me.”
A TYPICAL SESSION
Giving a session requires me to place varying sized bowls directly on people’s bodies; over their heart area, their abdomen, and legs.
I try to be as silent as possible as a practitioner so that clients receive the full benefit of the work without my energetic interference. (Soft feet, soft hands.) Using a wool mallet, I strike the bowls in measured fashion, allowing the bowl to vibrate down into the body. Many tones emerge from just one bowl, which forces the brain to focus on the mid-point, an aspect known as “binaural beats,” frequently used in meditations for focus. Visceral and palpable, clients shift conscious states quickly, some falling into that liminal space between consciousness and sleep (or between Theta and Delta) states.
My job is to ensure proper placement of the bowls, while sufficiently and consistently striking the bowls in 12 second intervals to keep them ringing. Switching different sized bowls throughout the session adds a beautiful depth of color to the tones emanating from them, which as a practitioner is like listening to a beautiful work of musical art.
Clients select 25 or 50 minute sessions either face up or down on a table, many opting for the supine option that allows the bowls to be placed directly on their heart area, which feels really good to receive on the body.
I’ve noticed many clients twitching, which means they are transitioning from one conscious brain wave state to the next, lower state. Many snore, some smile, and many mouths hang agape.
Concluding a session has me ringing the smallest bowls three times just beyond their head as a signal that the session has concluded.
I welcome clients back into the room slowly as I ask what they felt, saw, and sensed during their experience, which as you read above can sound metaphysically powerful!
A GREAT, LIFELONG TOOL
Adding the bowls into my practice offers clients an incredibly quick, effective way to untangle stress. I plan on using the bowls often in concert with the coaching/mentoring work I do to truly span that gamut of body, mind and spirit in one session.
And, I’m planning on recording the bowls to deliver a meditative experience clients can listen to at home post-session.
MY THOUGHTS
The six day course was a phenomenal experience of connection with like-minds, deep healing, and a broad depth of education/instruction. Integrating the bowls into my practice has offered so many people a truly transformative, energetically enlivening experience. And, experiencing the ethereal power of these sounds as a practitioner renders more open, malleable and grounded, to boot.
SCHEDULE A SESSION IN PORTLAND, OREGON
If you live in or around Portland, Oregon, you may book a private session with me in-person out of my clinic space on Hawthorne Blvd. Sessions are 90-total minutes to include sound therapy, coaching and mentorship. Click here to schedule.