5 steps to creating Zen Zone for Sound Healing

5 steps to creating zen zone for sound healing:

1. Cleanse the Space
2. Draw Reiki Symbol
3. Create Aroma
4. Create a Brilliance Glow
5. Optimize the Sound

Whenever I travel overseas, I make sure I book a hotel that comes with a bathtub (some hotels don’t provide one). Soaking in the bathtub has been one of my rituals to relax and de-stress. This ritual is about more than filling a tub with water and cleaning myself. It’s about spending some time alone, undisturbed, with no distractions, and being present. If you’re also a fan of baths, you’ll know that the secret to a great bath is all about ambiance. Dim lighting, scented candles, soapy bubbles, the perfect temperature, some soothing music, and maybe a glass of wine.

Our capacity to strategize, plot, and plan, is what allows us to build cities, invent amazing technologies, and coordinate vast interactions across the network we call the Internet. The human mind is indeed amazing. Most of us, regardless of whether we have dealt with trauma or not, struggle with some amount of anxiety and stress.

You probably spend a lot of time in your narrative network – thinking, planning, analysing, judging… However, it’s just as important to engage with your direct experience network to give your analytical mind a rest so that it can function at peak performance when you need it.

A sound bath is an opportunity to do just that, but it can be difficult to go from 60 to zero – especially when the barriers between work and home are already blurred. By igniting your sense of smell, touch, taste, sight, and sound, you shift from the narrative network to the direct experience network. This helps you to drop into the present moment and brings you to a state where you will be most receptive to the positive effects of the sound bath.

So here is something I do every time I launched a Sound Bath event to create the perfect set.

1. Cleanse The Space

I want to create the ambiance that when people enter the studio, and they say, “I feel relaxed here,” or “the energy feels like that of my yoga studio,” or “I like the vibe, or ‘I feel so safe here.”

I meet a lot of people, travel avidly (pre-pandemic), and listen to other people’s stories or struggles. When people come together there is an energy transfer. Especially with a studio setup where most freelancers like myself book the space for all kinds of activities. I like to reset the energy field with sage or palo santo. The idea is that by burning certain herbs in space, the smoke generated attaches itself to the negative energy and as the smoke dissipates, so does the negative energy.

2. Draw Reiki Symbol

Being a Reiki practitioner myself, it is natural for me to tab on the Reiki energy when I conduct any type of event. Reiki symbols have power. They have meaning. We give the power of the symbols through our intention. So, when I offer the Reiki symbol to facilitate the space for healing, transformation, and growth it is through intention and awareness.

3. Create Aroma

What you smell, and taste can simultaneously shift you into the present moment while also transporting you elsewhere. Just think of that feeling you have when you stroll past a lavender bush or bite into a perfectly ripe strawberry. Your attention immediately goes to the pleasant sensation, and it may also bring about some nostalgia or specific memories. To create a relaxing ambiance for your sound bath, I choose smells and aromas that bring out the joy and make people feel relaxed.

My favourite senses are Geranium, Ylang Ylang, Bergamot, and Sandalwood. Pre-pandemic, I blend my essential oils and added the carrier oil to bring along to the studio. I would offer the participant some drops of oil and have them rub into the wrist and temples. These days, I would set up a burner and add the oils to infuse the space.

4. Create a Brilliance Glow

Lighting is another critical element to consider when creating your sanctuary. During our sound baths there I would turn off the lighting in the studio and light up a few 3D warm moonlight to be placed around the studio to create a warm glow as you transition into and out of the experience.

Eyes pillows are optional if the participant chooses to bring them to cover their eyes if they wish for complete darkness. Enveloping in darkness helps you to go deeper into the experience.

5. Optimize the Sound

The finishing touch is to set up the sound system. First up is the Himalaya Singing Bowls. Depending on how many participants arrive for the event, I will spread the singing bowls around the studio to create a surround sound system when I play the singing bowls. The rest of the instruments are within reach so that I can pick them up and use them without much silent interval in between.

If you’re contemplating setting a mini sound bath at home, I suggest using one or two of the above and notice a sense of more calm. You are welcome to comment and let me know if you have other suggestions to create a sanctuary for sound healing.