Breath & Soundbath

In this post I share about my breathwork sessions in the jungle, explain what a soundbath is, and describe the power of combining a breathwork session with a soundbath. After the photo, I share a few practical tips for anyone who would like to experience a sound bath online. Even though a soundbath in real life, guided in person, is much more powerful.

Over the past month I was in the tropical rainforest in Thailand, where I gave a week of breathwork sessions combined with soundbaths at ‘Eco-Logic Thailand’: a charity resort founded to support the Thai Child Development Foundation (TCDF). This foundation provides education and healthcare to vulnerable children in remote areas of Thailand. If you would like more information about the charity resort: at the end of the post you’ll find the links. I offered to do breathwork for the guests of the resort, if they were interested.

Well, they were😃. I don’t have a photo of all the breathers from that week, but there are five breathers in the photo in this post. Breathing with people in the middle of the jungle was magically beautiful. I usually end a breathwork session with a soundbath using instruments, but the jungle itself, with all its sounds, was already a soundbath of its own. The sounds of the cicadas, the gecko, the different birds, the owls, and so much more. Very special.

For the soundbath I normally use rainsticks, koshi chimes, shakers, singing bowls, an Indian flute, an ocean drum, and/or a tongue drum, but I couldn’t take everything with me in my backpack. Luckily, at the TCDF school they had several musical instruments that I could borrow, but I actually only used the rainstick and oceandrum. With the junglesounds so prominently present those two instruments were enough.

What is a sound bath?
In short: during a soundbath you are completely surrounded by or immersed in sounds. Sounds have been used as a medicine in many cultures for centuries. The Aboriginal people, for example, use the sound of the didgeridoo to help heal bone fractures. In Eastern cultures there are mantras (a word, a sound, or a sentence that is repeatedly sung or whispered). Chanting a mantra calms the mind, lowers blood pressure, and has many other positive effects. Shamans use drums, among other things, to initiate healing, and the ancient Greeks used different musical modes for different kinds of illnesses.

Sounds create vibrations. The body consists largely of water, which allows it to conduct vibrations well. Each part of the body has its own vibrational frequency, and sounds can help restore the balance when there is imbalance.

What is the effect of combining a breathwork session with a soundbath? Among other things:

• A deeper relaxation through the vibrations of the sounds.

• Cells and fluids in the body are set in motion, which helps release tension and remove waste products.

• The sounds can bring deeper emotions to the surface, which can then be released more easily, creating a sense of inner cleansing.

In short: a sound bath has a calming effect and it strengthens and deepens the effects of breathwork. The result is complete relaxation of body and mind, and an even deeper sense of peace and balance.

One of the first times I added a soundbath to a breathwork session, I asked a client whether he could describe the difference in effect between my Spotify breathwork playlist and the sounds of the musical instruments. For context: this client had just done about 40 minutes of connected breathing (active phase), followed by 10 minutes of calm breathing in the relaxation/integration phase both with music from my Spotify playlist. After that I introduced the sounds of the instruments (about approximately 10 minutes). His answer was: “You had a Spotify playlist …? I was very surprised. This breather remembered only the sound bath. The soundbath had an extremely powerful effect on him.

So far only one client told me that in the past 5 years. Others did hear my Spotify breathwork playlists😉, but almost all of them said that the sounds of the instruments had an extra deepening effect. There are no words which can describe the experience. But here a few examples of how people put it in words. Someone described the feeling as bathing in tiny crystals, others as being carried by the sea. Someone else described the feeling as if her entire body consisted of vibrating ice cubes, creating an extremely calming effect. Another client said: ‘emotions fell away and it was a feeling of floating’. Others said that it widened their consiousness or they got the feeling to sink in an indescribable sense of peace. It is unique for everyone, and each session can bring a different experience.

If you would like to experience a soundbath, try to find someone who has experience in guiding soundbaths. That is the most powerful way to feel its effects. If you prefer to do it online, then you can find an overview after the photo of things to pay attention to.

In case you would also like to volunteer in a beautiful rainforest environment or go on vacation there, or simply would like more information:

https://www.ecologicthailand.com/

https://thaichilddevelopment.org/

The next post will be in four weeks instead of two. I have a few ideas for the topic, but I haven’t decided yet:)

If you do a soundbath online

Find a quiet place, where you won’t be disturbed and where you can lie down or sit comfortably.

• If you have an eye mask, use that to focus your attention more inward.

• Put your phone on silent and dim the lights if there is too much light in the room.

• Wear headphones: this is very important for a deep experience. Otherwise, many of the sounds get lost.

• Make sure you’re well hydrated, and make sure you don’t have a full stomach.

At the start of the soundbath:

• Take a comfortable position, either lying down or sitting, and make sure you only listen. Don’t do anything else.

• Close your eyes, focus on your breath and then…

• Let yourself be carried by the sounds of instruments and/ or voices.

After the soundbath:

• Take your time to reflect on what you have experienced.

• Drink enough water to help remove waste products.