How to Integrate Sound Healing into Your Daily Meditation
Sound healing is the practice of using sonic vibrations to influence the mind and body. You can try it at home using instruments, music, nature sounds, and even your own voice to reduce stress and promote overall well-being. Try these nine tips to start integrating sound healing into your daily meditation routine.
1. Play an Instrument
Instruments are a great way to practice sound healing, and you don’t have to be an expert to start playing many of the most popular meditative instruments. You can use chimes, gongs, handpans or the flute.
Singing bowls and steel tongue drums have a resonating sound that will envelop your space. The numbers on a steel tongue drum mirror the order of the notes on a scale. You can use this to repeat sonic sequences you like more easily. Tuning forks also make a great addition to your morning meditation.
2. Start Humming
Humming is an accessible, totally cost-free method to start practicing sound healing. It can stimulate your vagus nerve, which activates your parasympathetic system and calms you. You can add humming to your meditation routine the same way you can add chanting or audible breathing.
3. Ground Yourself in Passive Listening
Listening to relaxing music or nature sounds is an easy way to integrate sound healing into your meditation routine. Put on your preferred sounds or music, close your eyes, and focus your mind on what you’re hearing. If your mind drifts to other thoughts or obligations, return to the sounds to ground yourself.
4. Immerse Yourself in Nature
If you want to take listening to nature sounds a step further, try immersing yourself in the nature around you by taking your meditation routine outside or even opening a window to let the birdsong, cricket chirps and breezes fill your home. Meditation doesn’t typically require much space, so you can set up your outdoor meditation spot in your backyard or on your balcony. Take your musical instruments with you to harmonize with the natural world.
5. Practice Audible Breathing
Intentional breathing is an integral part of meditation. It helps you to ground yourself in your body and the space. Audible breathing takes intentional breathing the extra mile by vocalizing your exhales out loud, connecting your body and breath through sonic vibrations. You might make an “ahh” or an “ooh” sound when exhaling.
The key is not to be self-conscious. Do whatever feels right to you and let the sound healing in, like trying out the 2-to-1 breathing method. It involves exhaling twice as long as you inhale, sparking the parasympathetic nervous system and decreasing stress levels.
6. Try Vocal Toning
Vocal toning combines audible breathing with visualization. Next time you’re about to begin a meditation with audible breathing, try visualizing your emotional blockages first. Maybe you’re dealing with grief or navigating a significant life change that’s making you feel unsteady.
Whatever it is, hold it in your mind as you audibly exhale and imagine it shattering inside your body. Vocal toning may make your exhales louder or more forceful in tone. Lean into it and let your body release the pent-up energy.
7. Listen to Binaural Beats
Binaural beats are used in some soundwave therapies and occur when you simultaneously listen to two tones — one in each ear. Your brain interprets a third tone through an auditory illusion, which is the binaural beat. Its frequency is in between the two beats you are hearing.
Binaural beats are said to boost focus, mood, sleep, creativity and even pain management. Connecting your brainwaves to particular frequencies can release nitric oxide, which impacts pain signals by bolstering blood flow and expanding your blood vessels. Use headphones to ensure each ear is getting a different tone.
8. Chant a Mantra
Mantra chanting puts words or notes to sound. You can chant many different mantras, all with varying lengths and meanings. Find one that resonates with you and try it out.
You can always switch up your mantra if another resonates with you or you want to create your own. Use it to set an intention in your day or manifest something you want in your life.
9. Sign Up for a Sound Bath
Consider signing up for a sound bath if you want to try sound healing in a community setting. It’s a full-body experience where everyone lies down while listening to resonant sounds like singing bowls or gongs. A study on sound healing’s effects found most ages — especially 20 to 30-year-olds — experience improved spiritual well-being and decreased depression after sound healing.
Your local yoga studio, community center or wellness center may offer sound baths. They’re a great way to be led through sound healing by a professional and connect with your community or other people who enjoy meditation.
The Power of Sound
Adding sound healing into your meditation practice can positively impact stress and anxiety. There are many ways to start integrating it with low to zero costs. Harness the vibrational power of sound through sound healing’s therapeutical methods.