SOCIAL HOUR Lunch for seniors is about more than nutrition

The Healing Power of Sound

SOUND BATHS OFFER MENTAL, PHYSICAL, AND EMOTIONAL HEALING

BY NORA HESTON TARTE / D BY TINA ZOOK

LOVE MOM TO THE MOON Sound bath event at The Catalyst Saturday, May 28, 11 AM-1 PM $35

Did you know sound can heal you? A form of meditative practice, sound baths work with the frequencies within to promote relaxation, balance, and healing. The practice is done using sound bowls and other instruments that create vibrations to mirror those that occur in the world around us as well as inside of us.

WHAT ARE SOUND BATHS? Sound baths are a group meditative experience that use instruments to bathe participants in sound waves. Hosts tap into all sorts of instruments to create the calming sounds, including the human voice, gongs, singing bowls, percussion, chimes, rattles, and tuning forks. “The whole world from the core of the earth, everything has a frequency to it,” says Tina Zook, who leads sound baths and other events/classes at The Catalyst in Stockton. “There’s different hertz to everything… different hertz, different frequencies will touch different chakras in the body.”

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? Benefits vary from person to person and experience to experience.

Some claim lower blood pressure and cholesterol while others focus more on the mental/ emotional benefits, including reduced stress levels, feelings of euphoria, and an overwhelming sense of calm. Many agree sound baths help with sleep issues, and some students even become so relaxed they fall asleep in class. In general, Tina says it’s about reducing or ending suffering, whether that’s physical pain, emotional pain, or something else rooted deep within. Sound baths can promote creativity or provide clarity when you’re feeling foggy. Sound baths have also been connected to producing feelings of lightness and gratitude.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Ultimately sound baths work by creating frequencies that interact with the frequencies inside of your body. Everything around us releases vibrations even if it doesn’t make a sound.

TRY FOR YOURSELF. Tina Zook brings sound baths into her classes at The Catalyst often. She says everything she teaches at the community space incorporates sound bathing if even just a little. Her yoga classes use one bowl to accompany the other meditative benefits of the practice. Moon events may use a couple of bowls. Sound baths and Self Care Sundays are the most extensive, in which Tina brings every instrument she has to envelop her class in the benefits of sound.

THE CATALYST

926 N. Yosemite, Stockton Catalyst926.com