About sound baths:

Sound bath practices are both ancient and modern. Across cultures and epochs, sound has been used for deep rest and healing. The ancient Romans and Greeks used sound modalities for a variety of purposes. Almost all spiritual traditions use sound a key element in connecting with the sacred. Additionally, indigenous cultures from around the world use sound to heal and to bridge consciousnesses.  Sound can move stuck energy, open the flow of energy through the bodies, engender deep relaxation, lower blood pressure, lower cortisol levels, and allow for deep rest. Modern neuroscience labels sound baths, and yoga nidra, as NSDR (non-sleep deep rest). At such places as Stanford, NSDR is currently being studied, much like mindfulness and meditation, to better understand its unique affects on the body and brain. 

 

What to bring:

Please consider bringing a yoga mat and a few blankets and/or pillows to the event. You may also want to bring an eye covering. Be as comfortable as possible.  Often sound baths are experienced laying down, but you can also be seated.  While most people remain relatively still during a sound bath, you do not have to remain totally still. If you feel the need to move to be more comfortable, please do. It is best not to eat right before a sound bath, nor do you want to be too hungry. Have some water nearby and stay hydrated.

 

What to expect:

There is no wrong way to experience the sound bath. Be open to your unique experience. People often enter a state of deep relaxation. It can feel as if one enters a timeless, spacious realm. You might fall asleep, this is not a problem.  Often people feel they are in a liminal space between waking and sleeping.

 

About the facilitator:

Megan Hook is a sound practitioner, yoga teacher, and mindfulness/meditation facilitator certified  through the UCLA TMF Program, part of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Biology at UCLA. Megan comes to sound modalities as a professional musician with a degree in classical music from Ithaca College. She is a multi-instrumentalist and a singer/songwriter, releasing music under the name “The Bright Forever.” With a palette of beautiful tones: from the crystal bowls, drums, and gongs, to the harmonium and tanpura, to the human voice, Megan weaves a unique tapestry of healing vibration. More information at www.mindsound.co