Sound Healing Meditation Origins: the hype and how it's not for everyone?

Experience the Healing Effects of Sound

As an accredited sound healer, I often see a spark of curiosity in people's eyes when I share my journey. Many express a desire to attend a session, and it's easy to understand why; the enchanting sounds of crystal bowls and rhythmic drums can truly soothe the soul. Picture yourself in a tranquil space, surrounded by harmonious sounds that wash away stress and invite peace.

However, like all practices, it's not for everyone, and someone without the knowledge can make you feel like there's something wrong with you for not being able to enjoy this practice, but the reality is deeper.

The last 10 years have seen a huge rise in demand in sound baths and like everything removed from it's origin and only partially understood, there are too many myths and misunderstood facts about this. Right now it feels like the latest wellness Instagram influencer's trend, where everyone got into it without pausing and reviewing if this is an actual pathway for healing for them.

Curious to use it for my own journey, I went on a pathway of research for sound healing and also actually spent hours engaging with the practice because it's deserving of it.

Sound healing is woven into the fabric of Eastern cultures; perhaps the Buddhist monks' use of singing bowls is the most common and well-known of it all.

When you look at all other eastern religions, you will see it's woven within the fabric of all of them.

It's a brass bell in front of every Hindu temple that everyone must ring before entering. The sound it produces is set to ward off negative energies and allow the vibration to flow through the body of one entering the sacred space.

In Sikhism the vibrations of gurbani and tabla have a similar effect on not just attendees but also the environment and water surrounding sikh temples.

The Dorjee Bell is a Tibetan spiritual instrument rooted in Buddhist traditions, symbolizing wisdom (the bell) and compassion (the dorjee/vajra) for balance and spiritual awakening. Its pure vibration clears negative energy, calms the mind, and enhances present awareness, supporting meditation, healing, and inner alignment toward clarity, peace, and higher consciousness.

In the east the concept of a sound bath wasn't sold as a gateway to spirituality; it was simply a daily practice in many households to use these instruments to keep their environments free of negativity. The newer generations are far more removed from these often don't realise the benefits of these themselves.

When the sound bath trend came to the West, though, it became a blanket one: one set of instruments, the crystal singing bowl bath or a set of 7 brass singing bowl bath accompanied with gongs and pleasant-sounding instruments like koshi chimes. In short it became about sound and not vibration.

Sound healing isn’t about what the ears hear—it’s about what the heart has avoided. True healing begins when you sit with the feelings you’ve pushed away and allow yourself to listen inwardly. The bowls’ vibrations don’t just soothe; they create a grounded space where you can finally face what calls for your attention. In that stillness, the real healing unfolds

Exactly for that reason sound healing isn't for everyone. When you enter a sound bath session, the strong frequencies of bowls have the capacity to trigger emotions that might feel confronting; what was perceived as a relaxing session could leave you feeling more exhausted.

Additionally, the bowls emit frequencies that align with different parts of your bodies, or what are more popularly understood as chakras. An accredited sound healer with proper knowledge will know which bowls can leave you relaxed; however, some could be too triggering; therefore, doing your research on the sound healer before the session is important.

Another unfit cohort is purely on physical limitations, like people with epilepsy, pacemakers, pregnant women, and war survivors.

According to research, the frequencies from bowls interact with the magnetic field of the pacemaker and other devices like smartwatches as well.

Each healing journey is individual for me someone living with anxiety, insomnia, and depression, it brought me immense grounding in a way a guided meditation never could. However i have attended sessions where the practioner left me feeling worse off as well.

The most sincerest compliment i have received is that

I have attended these sound baths before and was convinced it wasn't for me but then your session has proved otherwise.

So like all healing practices, I urge you to do your personal reflection and take your decision an informed way and not based on the latest wellness influencer trend on instagram. Your healing journey deserves that off you.