Ancient technique can ease stress

DEAR BONNIE » I am in the process of trying some different meditation practices, and I came across sound baths. I have been feeling lost with my father’s passing and was wondering if you would recommend this practice. I am having a hard time sleeping, and my hope is that this meditation practice will help. — Stacey

DEAR STACEY » Sound baths were used as far back as ancient times where Greek philosophers used frequencies to treat many ailments.

In several studies, researchers have found many benefits, including alleviating feelings of anxiety and stress; promoting good sleep by regulating sleeping patterns; helping to process grief; enhancing focus; improving memory; allowing your body to shift from an active state to a more relaxed and blissful, dreamlike state; and penetrating deep into the inner layers of the body, balancing the subtle body and working wonders for stress, chronic pain and even helping with depression.

Sound baths can consist of many healing tools, including crystal singing bowls, gongs, sand drums, bells and other instruments. Usually, a person who is trained in using these tools will bring you on a guided meditation and sound bath.

This meditation practice requires no discipline and usually means sitting back or lying on the floor and relaxing while the teacher brings you on a journey with sound. It’s really about the vibrations. If you find a sound bath that uses the crystal singing bowls, some have all seven bowls, which correlate with our bodies’ seven main energy centers. These bowls are tuned to cleanse and clear our chakra system of any stuck energy we need to let go of.

Sound baths are like a sound massage promoting mental and physical healing. It is like a well-needed time-out to relax and just be. That time-out gives your body the time to reflect and heal.

Our bodies can hold all the energy from past events; when these vibrations and permeating sounds go to the energy centers with energetic frequencies, we release and let go of the energies that hold us back and don’t allow us to feel our best.

Each sound bath will be a little different from the previous one, depending on the energy in the room and how you are feeling at that time.

Enjoy a sound bath knowing that all you need to do is relax and let go. Everyone resonates with different healing modalities, but a sound bath with a guided meditation would be an excellent way to start your journey.

Bonnie Page is a psychic medium and owner of Mystical Magical Marketplace and Messages from Heaven in Winchendon. She is available for a session by calling her office at 978-297-9790. If you would like to ask Bonnie a question for her column, visit www.bonniepagemedium.com.

sound baths are like a well-needed timeout to relax and just be. That gives your body the time to reflect and heal.