Sound Therapy and Singing Bowls

Overview

Sound therapy (or sound healing) is a practice that uses vibrations produced by specific acoustic instruments to induce a state of deep relaxation, reduce stress, and promote overall well-being. Unlike clinical music therapy which operates within a structured psychotherapeutic framework, sound therapy focuses primarily on the physical and physiological effects of sonic vibrations on the body and nervous system.

The emblematic instruments of sound therapy are singing bowls — Tibetan (metal alloy) or crystal quartz — and therapeutic gongs. When struck or rubbed, these instruments produce sounds rich in harmonics that propagate through the space and into the receiver's body. The vibratory sensation, perceived through both hearing and touch, is at the heart of the sound therapy experience.

The "sound bath" is the most common collective form: participants lie down while the practitioner plays multiple instruments around them, creating an immersive environment of vibrations and resonances.

Tibetan Singing Bowls

Tibetan singing bowls, also known as Himalayan singing bowls, are metal alloy vessels of Nepalese and Tibetan origin. Tradition attributes their manufacture to an alloy of seven metals corresponding to the seven planets of traditional astrology. In reality, authentic antique bowls are primarily composed of bronze (copper and tin) with variable traces of other metals.

Traditional bowls are hand-forged by Nepalese artisans who hammer a heated alloy disc, producing thousands of micro-impacts that create the characteristic harmonic complexity. In therapeutic use, bowls are placed directly on the body (abdomen, chest, back, feet) and made to vibrate, transmitting vibrations through tissues, bones, and bodily fluids, producing a sensation of deep internal massage.

Crystal Quartz Bowls

Crystal bowls appeared in the 1980s and are manufactured from quartz silica (SiO2) melted at very high temperatures (approximately 1800°C). They exist in frosted (opaque, more powerful and directive sound) and clear (transparent, finer and more resonant sound) versions. Unlike Tibetan bowls that produce complex harmonics, crystal bowls emit a purer sound, closer to a sine wave, with a very prominent fundamental. Each bowl is tuned to a precise note, allowing the creation of scales and chords.

Therapeutic Gongs and Sound Baths

The gong is one of humanity's oldest instruments, used for over 4,000 years in Asia for religious ceremonies, meditation, and healing. In modern sound therapy, therapeutic gongs are used for their exceptional sound power and extremely broad harmonic spectrum. The gong bath is an immersive collective experience where participants lie down while the practitioner plays one or more gongs. The gong's particularity is its ability to produce natural binaural beats: complex harmonics combine and create sonic interferences that vary in intensity and frequency.

Applications and Benefits

• Stress and anxiety management: studies (Goldsby et al., 2017) show significant reductions in tension, anxiety, and depressive mood after Tibetan bowl sound baths. Parasympathetic activation is documented through decreased heart rate and increased heart rate variability
• Meditation: sustained bowl and gong vibrations facilitate meditative states, even for beginners
• Pain management: preliminary studies suggest sound therapy can reduce pain perception through attentional distraction, endorphin release, and muscular relaxation
• Sleep disorders: the deep relaxation induced by sound therapy promotes sleep onset
• General well-being: widely used in wellness centers, spas, and yoga retreats

Contraindications

• Epilepsy: low frequencies and rhythmic beating may trigger seizures — medical advice essential
• Pregnancy (third trimester onwards): placing bowls on the abdomen is inadvisable; high-intensity gong baths should be avoided
• Metal implants: do not place a vibrating bowl directly on a metal implant area
• Severe psychiatric disorders: intense sound baths may be destabilizing for people in psychotic or dissociative states
• Hyperacusis and tinnitus: volume and frequencies must be adapted; avoid powerful gongs and high-intensity crystal bowls
• Recent head trauma: placing bowls on the head is contraindicated