The Power of Sound

Our sound bath practitioner, David Palomino conducting a sound bath.

The topic of self care and wellness has gained popularity in the last decade.

Self care and wellness applies to all ages and as young teens close their high school career to transition to a new path, holistic wellness becomes important. The average high school teen is involved in at least one extra curricular activity which can be a lesson on time management. If you're a teen currently reading this you may have multiple extra curriculars such as clubs, sports, jobs, volunteering, etc. For those who are beyond the teenage age, you have a multitude of responsibilities that take time, energy, and money.

The beautiful thing about self care and wellness is it can be entirely personalized to you. What works for you may not work for someone else and vice versa. Self care looks differently depending on how much time or resources you have. Self care changes as we change. One month we may enjoy reading books or talking to friends and another month we may prefer moving our body or being in nature. Change is always constant and embracing that our needs will always change is a form of self care.

One accessible tool of self care is sound. Whether listening to our favorite song or playing an instrument, sound has the power to heal. Everything creates a sound. Even silence is a sound because it carries a frequency. Have you ever heard the saying "Silence speaks volumes"? Often we can tell a lot about a person based on what they aren't saying.

One form of sound that our nonprofit Balancing Center for Youth Enlightenment offers to the community is a Sound Bath. Sound Baths are created by a practitioner who plays a variety of instruments such as crystal sound bowls or Tibetan brass sound bowls. Crystal sound bowls are the most popular tool played in Sound Baths. Usually an entire 'chakra' set of crystal sound bowls are played. According to Eastern Asian beliefs- which are becoming more integrated into Western Society- the body has seven chakras: Crown, Third Eye, Throat, Heart, Solar Plexus, Sacral, and Root. Therefore an entire chakra set of crystal sound bowls consists of seven bowls.

Each chakra serves a purpose in the body. The Crown is said to be where we receive information from a higher source such as God/Creator/Universe or a higher power we believe in.

Each chakra bowl correlates to a certain frequency. A frequency creates a vibration which is translated to a sound in the human brain. There are higher frequencies such as a baby crying or lower frequencies such as someone with a deep voice speaking. An example of a chakra frequency is that the Crown Chakra is associated with the note B and a frequency of 963 HZ. Our sound bath practitioner, David Palomino, plays every chakra bowl to create a relaxing symphony of sound. David also incorporates the Native American Buffalo Drum, the Egyptian Sistrum, Tibetan Wind Chimes, the Nepalese Gong, tuning forks, and Tibetan Tingshas.

More research is being released that Sound Baths aid in stress relief and pain relief. Another study released information that Sound Baths can improve neurological function. Reputable Universities such as UCLA and UCSD have conducted research on the positive affects of sound.

We hope that you enjoy our unique Sound Bath and we are curious to know how you felt during the session(s).