What is a sound bath?
Brief History:
While sound baths are relatively new to the U.S. (emerging in the 1980’s in California) the practice of sound healing is not. It is an ancient and revered practice held across many cultures dating back over 40,000 years to the Aboriginal peoples of Australia, Ancient Egypt, and Tibet (just to name a few).
Benefits:
Scientific research has been slow to surface on the topic but early findings have shown significant positive changes in tension, anxiety, depressed mood, and anger. In fact, as Tamara L. Goldsby, Ph.D., Michael E. Goldsby, Ph.D., Mary McWalters, BA, and Paul J. Mills, Ph.D. write in their paper, Effects of Singing Bowl Sound Meditation on Mood, Tension, and Well-being: An Observational Study, “participants aged 40 to 59 years appeared to especially benefit from the sound meditation. This age group demonstrated the largest reduction in physical pain and a strong reduction in tension, especially for those who were previously naïve to this type of meditation.” To read the full study published in the National Library of Medicine click here. To experience it for yourself & discover how it can benefit you — sign up for a workshop with us!
Our Approach:
There are many different types of sound bath experiences available today. This means you could attend ten sessions at ten different studios and have a completely unique experience each time.
At Befriending The Wild, we use a variety of premium vibrational instruments, including crystal singing bowls, imported hand-crafted nickel and silver gongs, and other idiophones, to create an experience we affectionately call “a massage for the nervous system.” You can expect to be gently immersed in overlapping, resonant sounds that soothe both body and mind. Our goal is to help participants shift out of the sympathetic nervous system (responsible for the fight-or-flight response and chronic stress) and into the parasympathetic nervous system (which orchestrates rest, recovery, and healing).
Safety:
The decibel levels are monitored throughout to ensure our participants’ hearing is protected at all times. Because of this—and our choice not to place instruments on anyone’s body during the sound baths—these sessions are as safe as attending a live concert.
What is mindfulness meditation?
Brief History:
Mindfulness meditation originated +5,000 years ago as part of many ancient cultures & religions — most famously perhaps being, Buddhism. Mindfulness meditation is the foundational practice of Buddhism but has been extracted, in relatively recent years, from the religion and utilized as a secular (non-religious) daily practice. The aim is to reap the (now scientifically proven) benefits of the practice, outside of a religious container.
Scientist Jon Kabat-Zinnwas one of the first to study the effects of practicing mindfulness meditation and developed MBSR (mindfulness based stress reduction), He then opened the “Stress Reduction Clinic” and the “Center For Mindfulness” at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. This allowed the practice to become more accessible to people from all walks of life and is the genesis behind the variety of meditation apps and modern platforms that share the practice with Western audiences.
The Practice & Benefits:
In the simplest terms, mindfulness meditation is practicing being in the present moment. You are building the “awareness muscle” of your mind in the same way you would build up the biceps or another muscle in the physical body — through daily exercise/practice.
It utilizes a 3-step technique to place one’s attention on one thing (usually the breath) and observe what arises with non-judgment. By sitting with ourselves, and becoming aware of what is going on inside, we become aware of the variables affecting our daily moods, habits, choices, mindset, and beliefs that ultimately compose how we navigate and experience our lives.
Once we cultivate awareness we can choose to let go of everything not applicable to the present moment. With regular practice, we are training our brains to release everything but the present moment. This creates spacious awareness and the ability to respond versus emotionally react to the situations we face in our daily lives yielding: a greater sense of peace, stress management, equanimity, strength, decrease in chronic pain, increased focus, and control among other notable benefits. There are many scientific studies out there if you wish to explore the literature but the best way to discover how it can benefit your life is to start practicing. We’d be honored to help you start that journey in one of our workshops. Sign up to try one today!
Note:
Mindfulness meditation is just one form of meditation. Others include, but are not limited to, guided meditation, transcendental meditation, contemplative meditation, loving-kindness meditation, and more.
Have questions? Message us at befriendingthewild@gmail.com or via the “contact us” form.
