{"id":2697,"date":"2021-12-28T17:18:31","date_gmt":"2021-12-29T01:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/?p=2697"},"modified":"2025-06-24T12:49:05","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T19:49:05","slug":"new-year-new-you-ritual-to-try-sound-baths-bogus-or-scientifically-proven-stress-reliever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/new-year-new-you-ritual-to-try-sound-baths-bogus-or-scientifically-proven-stress-reliever\/","title":{"rendered":"New year, new you ritual to try: Sound baths\u2014bogus or scientifically proven stress reliever?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With stress permeating every aspect of our lives, people are leaning into meditation more than ever. There are many forms of meditation that can help: Transcendental Meditation (when you meditate morning and night for 20 minutes), mindfulness meditation (when you sit and notice everything around you and try to concentrate on being present) and several others. Sound bathing, or sound meditation, utilizes the sound of a Tibetan \u201csinging bowl\u201d to anchor the practice. But how does it work? And does <\/em>it work, scientifically speaking?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where did sound bathing come from? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sound meditation and therapeutic practices have been around for thousands of years, used in various cultures to enhance spiritual practices and ceremonies. Popular among Buddhist monks during meditative practices, singing bowls produce a ring that vibrates and lingers\u2014kind of like a tuning fork for your brain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the benefits of sound bathing? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Research abounds extolling the numerous health benefits of music: Listening to music has been found to reduce pain, enhance social connections and mood, and reduce agitation and stress, according to a recent article published in Frontiers in Psychology<\/a>. Music is said to lower cortisol (aka the stress hormone) levels, which lowers blood pressure and improves heart health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As singing bowls emit sound, some researchers have deduced that they\u2019d carry the same benefits as music\u2014even though studies about singing bowls in and of themselves are rather limited. One observational study examining the efficacy of singing bowl meditation conducted by Tamara Goldsby, Ph.D<\/a>., a UCSD clinical research psychologist in integrative medicine, revealed a significant reduction in tension, stress, and even physical pain\u2014especially among participants between the ages of 40 to 59, and people who were \u201cna\u00efve\u201d to the practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is exciting because it means that one doesn\u2019t have to be an experienced meditator to feel the benefits,\u201d Goldsby says. Another small study<\/a> found singing bowl meditation gave subjects a \u201cgreater decline in systolic blood pressure and heart rate compared to silence.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do sound-bathing believers think? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Goldsby herself discovered the phenomenon at an outdoor market about 13 years ago, where a Nepalese man was using a singing bowl for his own meditation. She started attending \u201csound baths\u201d regularly. \u201cI kept experiencing the effects and noticing anecdotal benefits in other participants of the sound baths, so at a certain point it became inevitable that I\u2019d want to study this phenomenon,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the science behind the efficacy of sound bathing is lacking, the benefits of meditation are well documented\u2014so at the very least, sound baths as a form of meditation can potentially be advantageous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would personally describe sound healing as an internal massage of the senses,\u201d says Sandrine D\u2019Andrea<\/a>, a sound healer and holistic health coach based near Denver, CO. \u201cIt took my meditation practice to the next level, helping me enter that higher state of mind quickly and steadily. It works on the deep levels of consciousness, which makes it the perfect tool for people who are mentally busy. It helps center their thoughts and clear their heads.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Murad, and are for informational purposes only, even if the advice of physicians and medical practitioners are included. This article is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, and should not be considered specific medical advice.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

References for this information<\/strong>:
Frontiers in Psychology<\/em>, Sept. 8. 2021 issue<\/a>
American Journal of Health Promotion<\/em>, vol. 28, issue 5, 2014<\/a>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With stress permeating every aspect of our lives, people are leaning into meditation more than ever. There are many forms of meditation that can help: Transcendental Meditation (when you meditate morning and night for 20 minutes), mindfulness meditation (when you sit and notice everything around you and try to concentrate on being present) and several […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":2739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mind"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1750794545:21"],"_edit_last":["21"],"adobe_analytics_repeatable":["a:1:{i:0;a:2:{s:4:\"name\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"value\";s:0:\"\";}}"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["3"],"show_featured_image":["1"],"_show_featured_image":["field_609ee1cf1ce13"],"primary_category":["2"],"_primary_category":["field_608c33bdd26d5"],"mobile_image":[""],"_mobile_image":["field_60bf7692abe28"],"_post_views_count":["field_6107dfafd6a27"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["2"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_thumbnail_id":["2739"],"post_views_count":["3300"],"_wp_old_date":["2021-12-20"],"sidebar_products_use_global_default":["0"],"_sidebar_products_use_global_default":["field_63a349a11086a"],"sidebar_products_title":["Related Products"],"_sidebar_products_title":["field_6408d62123449"],"sidebar_products_items":[""],"_sidebar_products_items":["field_63a349a110878"],"sidebar_products":[""],"_sidebar_products":["field_63a349a0dadad"],"_yoast_wpseo_title":["Sound baths stress relief benefits | Murad Skincare"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Do sound baths actually work for stress relief? Science-backed analysis of this wellness trend for relaxation and mental health."]},"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":{"show_featured_image":true,"primary_category":{"term_id":2,"name":"Mind","slug":"mind","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":76,"filter":"raw"},"mobile_image":false,"post_views_count":"3300","sidebar_products":{"use_global_default":false,"title":"Related Products","items":""}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2697"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13508,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697\/revisions\/13508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/2739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}