5 minute read
Reviewed: healing soundbaths
An immersive, transportive experience
When Restorative Energy Heal CEO Sukhina Garcia invited me to attend one of her soundbath sessions, I jumped at the chance. Having attended gong baths, yoga retreats and meditation sessions in the past, I was keen to experience the sound
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practise here in Leicester WORDS BY EMILY MILLER
Entering the soundbath space was immediately immersive. Dimly lit with candles, the delicate scent of incense, the view of the crystal bowls laid out at the front of the room, which was decorated with cushions and blankets, I knew we were in for a relaxing, transformative experience.
Sukhina Garcia, the owner of Restorative Energy Heal, started by explaining that the purpose of this practice is to drop into a deep state of rest, relaxation and rejuvenation. “Through forms of yoga, meditation and sound healing, we can activate our rest and digest nervous system – also known as our parasympathetic nervous system. When this is activated, we enter a state of relaxation which breeds recovery in the body.”
She told us that the benefits were endless and that we should expect emotional wellbeing, stress management, pain relief, and improved sleep.
Sound healing is based on the principle that everything in the universe is made of vibration, that everything has a frequency. Every thought and feeling, every organ, every part of our body has a vibration, even every illness.
The pure high frequency sounds made through crystal sound bowls resonate with our physical, emotional and energetic bodies, bringing the possibility of clearing, cleansing and balancing at cellular level.
When it was time to begin, we lay down with our warming eye masks and began with some light breath work to relax us before the flow of sound (played at the earth’s frequency) filled the room, our ears and bodies. I could feel my mind resisting at first, as it often does when I do any relaxation work, but pretty soon, by focusing on the hums and echoes of the bowls, I began to let go. It felt as though every cell in my body was responding to the sound, as though they were ‘waking up’.
Sukhina explained that everyone’s experience would be different and for me it was quite personal. By focusing on the sound, I was reminded of a beautiful moment I recently shared with my daughter. And from such a deep place, the tears of happiness flowed.
Having known Sukhina for many years now, there’s something about seeing her in this environment that simply ‘fits’. She’s found her place and is spreading the energy as far and wide as she can.
Sukhina also runs restorative yoga classes and 1-2-1 sessions which is a receptive, not active, practice and she told me: “When you practice this type of yoga, you enter into a state of deep relaxation, where the body and mind are brought into balance.”
Before leaving and floating through the rest of our day, we hug and I tell her we’ll be back again soon. I’m looking forward to introducing the rest of the Niche team to Sukhina’s soundbaths as she offers corporate team bonding sessions too.
Find her on Instagram at restorativeenergyheal or restorativeenergyheal@gmail.com. Sukhina’s soundbaths are held at The Yoga House in Leicester on Sundays at 7.45pm. Team wellness events and One-to-one Restorative Yoga is delivered by request.
SOUND HEALING IS BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE THAT EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE IS MADE OF VIBRATION
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