Sound baths, with their otherworldly sounds and almost hypnotic nature, are at the forefront of wellness culture's "wild west," according to Kristi Moseley of Mystic Heart, a Bellingham-based sound practitioner. But Moseley said the practice of using sound to heal isn't new.
“This has always been a part of accessible medicine for humans,” Moseley said.
A sound bath is a type of meditative practice where participants lay or sit in a relaxed position and listen while a sound practitioner plays a number of instruments, including singing bowls, gongs, bells and monochords.
The sound bath experience is different for everyone. There’s no ‘right way’ to do it, and it can be different every time, according to Moseley.
“It can feel like a trippy dream. Some people feel like they’re floating or they’re underwater and they go really deep. Some people see colors, they can hear voices, they bring up memories of past loved ones,” Moseley said.
However, some people’s minds can rebel.
“If they’re not used to being still, if they’re not used to meditation, their minds can be very rebellious. They can get really fidgety,” Moseley said.
Despite this rebellion, Moseley said that’s just the door starting to open.
Moseley said her “door” to sound opened when she was given a metal bowl and told to play it for five minutes everyday for a month.
“It was addictive. It was such a beautiful, simplistic meditation practice,” she said.
Now, Moseley plays multiple instruments during the course of hour-long sessions and delivers that same meditation practice to receptive community members.
“I felt super grounded during the entire session,” said Emma Pasiuk, an attendee at Moseley’s sound bath on Sunday, May 18. “It’s hard to stay in your body these days.”
According to Krissa Woiwood, another sound practitioner in Bellingham, sound can quiet the mind. During a sound bath, she said, your awareness moves around your body, and you experience the physicality of sound.
“As someone with a non-neurotypical brain, I've experienced first hand how sound can help quiet thoughts and enhance somatic awareness,” Woiwood said. “Any practice that can help people feel more in tune with their bodies helps to foster that internal awareness needed to regulate nervous systems.”
Likewise, Moseley was taught that just five minutes of playing her metal bowl each morning would activate her parasympathetic nervous system. Her goal now is to guide others to that place.
“That’s the lane I’m in. Let’s land and ground. Let’s get in our bodies. Let’s be present,” Moseley said.
Moseley said she believes that sound is a healing medicine that should be accessible to all.
“I don’t think you have to have a certain instrument or anything like that. Even if you don’t have instruments, you can use your voice,” she said.
Matt Mittermayer, another attendee of the May 18 sound bath, said some spiritual spaces can feel like “trust fund playgrounds,” where the most spiritual and grounded person in the room is the one with the most expensive singing bowl or yoga mat.
“This feels real,” he said.
Barbara Sardarov, another attendee, said the sound bath transported her to all the bodies of water she had seen in her life. Some were beautiful, and others were bittersweet.
“In one word: cathartic,” Sardarov said.
After the May 18 sound bath, Rachel Anderson said she heard some sounds that were deep and discordant. Others, she said, were light and felt like a release.
By going to a sound bath and relaxing, Moseley said she believes attendees take that revitalized and calm attitude home to their housemates, families and friends.
“The more of us that are walking around balanced and centered and connected to our hearts — it ripples out, and we treat people differently,” she said. “I think it allows us to connect more to our empathy, our compassion, our own sorrows and move through those feelings.”
For those looking to participate in a sound bath meditation, there are plenty of opportunities in Bellingham. Moseley is offering another sound bath on June 1 at Whatcom Community College. Woiwood is currently offering private personal and group sound baths.
Brenna Witchey (she/her) is a city life reporter for The Front this quarter. She is a third-year news/editorial pre-major and English minor. When she’s not working on a story, she likes practicing yoga, reading and going to the gym. You can reach her at brennawitchey.thefront@gmail.com.
