The Science Behind Sound Baths
How Does It Work?
There’s no denying our lives are becoming busier and more stressful by the second. A study revealed that two thirds of Brits are “overwhelmed” by life pressures. Work is the most common source of stress in daily life, followed by money, finance and family issues.
Our brains are constantly switched on. Recent data shows that American adults spent about three hours and 30 minutes a day using the internet on their phones. Measurement company Zenith, who conducted this research expects this to grow to over four hours by 2021.
Connectivity is part of modern life, as is social media and the news churn amplified by push-notifications. Likewise, noise and light pollution, which are exacerbated by daily life, fuel stresses that previous generations didn’t experience.
A state of high alertness caused by stress can lead to health problems, anxiety, sleeping issues and even depression according the National Institute of Mental Health. This is our bodies telling us we need more ‘off’ time.
Sound Meditations may be the solution to many of the stress-related issues of modern life.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified stress as the, “health epidemic of the 21st century[1].” With more and more of the world’s population suffering from stress-related conditions, it’s clear that we must all work to reduce stress.
Perhaps this is why the wellness sector is booming. The industry grew from a $3.7 trillion to a $4.2 trillion market in three years, nearly twice as fast as global economic growth (3.6 percent annually).[2]
There’s also been a huge increase in demand for sound meditations, such as gong baths. It’s been named one of 2020’s biggest wellness trend by Condé Nast Traveller. Instead of booking into a yoga class or massage, more and more people are now attending sound baths. They have received a 285% rise from 2018–2019[3]. It’s no longer a niche, new-age hype but seems to becoming the new norm.
Like her or not, trend-starter Kim Kardashian celebrated the arrival of her forth baby with a gong bath last year. Perhaps this is a sign that it’s only a matter of time for it to be part of popular culture.
[1] World Health Report, 2019
[2] Global Wellness Economy Monitor report, October 2018
[3] Google Trend Data 2018–2019
But, what is a sound bath and what is it that makes them so special?
Essentially, a sound bath is a meditation class that aims to guide you into a deep, meditative state. This is achieved through sounds created by a number of different instruments played by instructors or sound therapists. Attendees at such events will be asked to lie down on a yoga mat and ‘bathe’ in the sounds, which don’t follow a particular melody. Sometimes participants may stay in a seated position on comfortable cushions during a session.
Sound is embedded in the ancient roots of cultures and tribes around the world and has a specific relationship with meditation and healing. For over 40,000 years Australian aboriginal tribes used the didgeridoo as a sound healing instrument according to Psychology Today. Other ancient rituals using sound originated in Tibet or Himalaya, using singing bowls for spiritual ceremonies.
“Sound — and in particular sound healing meditations using Tibetan singing bowls, gongs, and quartz crystal singing bowls — can be extremely calming,” says Tamara Goldsby[1], a research psychologist at the University of California, San Diego.
There are a number of different benefits associated with sound meditation, in particular better sleep patterns, increased health and creativity, and a reduction of stress (including anxiety, depression and addiction).
One of the most common positive effects sound baths seem to have, is stress reduction or stress management.
So, let us look at that first.
[1] Effects of Singing Bowl Sound Meditation on Mood, Tension, and Well-being: An Observational Study
Stress
Stress is something that is perceived differently by each one of us. The word stress covers a gambit of different scenarios that are dealt with every day. From being stuck in traffic, to planning a wedding through to experiencing a global pandemic and economic crisis. These scenarios are all very different — some even may be positive levels of stress.
Known as eustress, there is such a thing as beneficial stress associated with positive activities and events, for instance, the arrival of a new-born baby or winning the lottery.
According to the American Institute of Stress (AIS) stress is, “a natural physical and mental reaction to life experiences.” Scientifically speaking, the body responds to stress by releasing hormones that increase the heart and breathing rates to ready muscles to respond.
Most people consider the definition of stress to be something that causes distress. However, stress is not always harmful since increased stress can result in increased productivity.
Yet if the body’s stress response doesn’t stop firing and these hormone levels stay elevated far longer than necessary for survival, it can take a toll on people’s health. This is known as chronic stress, which can cause a variety of symptoms and affect one’s overall well-being. Symptoms of chronic stress include, irritability, anxiety, depression, headaches or migraines, and insomnia.
Commonly known as ‘fight-or-flight mode’, acute stress is when the body prepares to defend itself. According to the AIS it takes about 90 minutes for the metabolism to return to normal when this response is over.
Goldsby says sound meditation seems to work in part by switching off the body’s fight-or-flight response to stress — the same ones that are activated by loud or unpredictable noises, such as gunfire, bombs and other distressing roars.[1]
“Sound healing counters this [stress] response by invoking the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows heart rate, reduces blood pressure, and activates healing in the body,” she explains.
What she means by that is that the parasympathetic nervous system inhibits the body from overworking and restores the body to a calm and composed state. Whereas the sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for the “fight or flight” response during any potential danger.
The National Centre for Biotechnology Information reviewed 400 published scientific articles on music as medicine. It was found that there was, “strong evidence linking music with mental and physical health benefits that can improve mood and reduce stress”.
Meanwhile, research published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine found that an, “hourlong session helped people reduce tension, anger, fatigue, anxiety, and depression while increasing a sense of spiritual well-being”. People who had never practised sound meditation experienced significantly less tension and anxiety afterward, as well as those who had done it before.
Interestingly, the brain’s electrical activity is measured in Hertz just as it is the case for sound.
A pilot study published by Wahbeh H, Calbrese C, Zwickey H. in 2007 assessed binaural human’s beat technology for psychological and physiological effects. The research suggests that certain sounds, in particular, “binaural beats created by playing two different sound frequencies at the same time, may shift brain activity into beneficial brain wave states”. As a result, this can reduce anxiety and pain while promoting memory and an improved attention span.
Humans respond to sound. It goes back to basic survival needs, as noises made humans and their ancestors alert to their environment in order to protect themselves (and offspring). But, there’s a much deeper side to this than just being able to hear the emergencies, such as an ambulance siren or a crying baby. There is an area of our brain called the amygdala, which is specifically wired to link sound and emotion. It is also involved in processing trauma. This means that humans have a place in their brain that can be accessed through sound to tap into past pain and stress.
[1] Effects of Singing Bowl Sound Meditation on Mood, Tension, and Well-being: An Observational Study
Physical and health benefits
On a physical level, there’s been many reports of people who have experienced a corporeal shift following the attendance to one or more sound baths.
One study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Library of Medicine (NLM) looked at people with fibromyalgia (a long-term condition that causes pain all over the body). It discovered that: “ten treatments (twice per week for five weeks) of low-frequency sound stimulation decreased pain, allowing nearly three-quarters of participants to reduce pain medication”.
In an interview with Dr Kulreet Chaudhary (neurologist, neuroscientist and author of Sound Medicine: How to Use the Ancient Science of Sound to Heal the Body and Mind) she explained the significance of sound as a medical tool.
Dr Chaudhary identified that primary cilia, which are a component of every human cell, are affected by the frequency in its surrounding environment. It just so happens that a significant proportion of its surrounding cell environment is water. In fact, we’re made of up of approximately 60% water.
The water in our cells react to sound wave frequency, and this directly influences the state of these primary cilia by giving them a charge. This charge which can be positive, negative, neutral or polar causes a physical change to the cell and how it functions.
“That is so unbelievably profound, that sound can change cellular structure, because cellular structure will actually change the function of an organ. And they’re starting to see that defects in the gene for these primary cilia can lead to medical conditions such as cancer, arthritis.” She said.
Similar studies have found that “sound-based vibration treatment have shown to help people with pain from arthritis, menstruation, postoperative and knee replacements, to improve mobility, reduce muscle pain and stiffness, increase blood circulation, and lower blood pressure”.
Sleep
A report by The Sleep Council noted 22% of people in the UK struggle to fall asleep every single night. A further 15% struggle to fall asleep at least once a week. Common sleep disorders include insomnia and circadian rhythm sleep-wake, sleep-related breathing issues, hypersomnolence (daytime sleepiness i.e. narcolepsy), and parasomnias (unwanted physical movement or action during sleep).
In 2019 during the month of May, the NHS issued “87,990 prescriptions for Melatonin at a cost to the NHS of £2.6 million” and the prescriptions rose a staggering 147% from 2014 to 2019.
One 2015 study published by the Pain Research and Management journal found that “five weeks of low-frequency sound simulation, a combination of precisely calibrated sounds and vibrations, significantly improved sleep”.
“When you present the ears with a completely regular pulse, you will see an increase in the number of neurons firing at that rate,” says Lee Bartel, co-author of the study and a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute. Bartel believes different brain wave states are associated with different patterns of cognition or wakefulness.
For example, delta activity in the range of one to four hertz is associated with sleep, theta activity in the range of four to seven hertz is associated with relaxation and creative thinking, and beta activity in the range of 12 to 20 hertz is associated with complex problem-solving and concentration.
By driving the brain toward these different states, Bartel says, “it’s possible that certain sound-based therapies can improve sleep”. The premise of binaural beats is that the brain synchronizes its brainwave frequency to the difference in hertz between tones played in each ear, which, depending on the frequency, can lead one to states of deep relaxation associated with beta waves or meditative trance-like theta waves.
Meditation and sound healing have a lot in common. According to a Harvard study meditation has shown benefits against an array of conditions both physical and mental, including irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, psoriasis, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
However, due to a lack of free time (although there is an argument to say that you do get the time back…), meditation is not accessible to all. However, the benefits achieved and linked to meditation can be made available via sound and that’s because a lot of meditation techniques such as transcendental, insight, mantra and chakra meditation use sound.
Therefore, sound baths, which require participants to simply let the experience wash over them is a form of relaxation and stress relief that doesn’t require a great deal of self-discipline but, still delivers the same wellness and health benefits as meditation.
Another important point made by Dr Chaudhary is, that we already use sound in modern medicine. It’s just not considered within the same context as sound baths. They are primarily inaudible frequencies — ultrasound and lithotripsy (medical procedure used to treat certain types of kidney stones) for example.
Whereas the ancient traditions, use inaudible as well as audible frequencies, a gong is something you clearly hear, but also feel vibrating in your physical body.
There is still a lot more research to be done in this area but, the evidence is there that it should be seen as serious antidote to stress, sleeping disorders and underlying health issues.
At the very least, you will come out feeling like you had a nice lie-down.
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