Sound: the sacred, the sombre and the sonorous.

Sound is a powerfully transformative tool, woven through the fabric of ancient cultures and sacred traditions. Across the World, healing practices have long embraced sound from the resonance of bells and gongs to the rhythm of drums and rattles, as well as the most primal instrument of all: the human voice. When played or sung with grounded, heart-centred intention, creative expression flows freely, offering healing for the benefit of all humanity.

Whether the intention is to celebrate as a collective or join together in mourning, sound unites tribes, communities and families, connecting the threads of humankind to the roots of Mother Nature.

Honouring the elements and aligned with the turning of the seasons, tribes have long used sound in ritual and ceremony. Surrendering to the natural rhythms of life—birth, death, and sacrifice—communities have gathered to grieve and to celebrate, together. Handmade percussion instruments, crafted with care and spirit, become the heartbeat of these gatherings: a unifying vessel through which healing frequencies are generated, carried, and dispersed. These vibrations ripple outward—through land, animal, and people—restoring balance, connection, and serve as a remembrance of our true nature.

Waves of Sound, Energy and Emotion 

Sound can touch us—if we are open, available and truly willing to hear it. Sonics and melodies hold a unique healing power: they resonate deep within, stirring what lies hidden, and have the potential to move and transform stagnant energy.

Sound, like energy/life force—also known as chi or prana—moves in waves. Prana is the vital life force that flows through the physical body, which is composed of over 80% water. And just as water holds memory, our emotional body—acting as a bridge between the physical and the mental or spiritual realms—absorbs and stores unprocessed emotions such as: grief, fear, anger, love, and joy. When left unacknowledged, these emotions can become imprinted upon our energetic system, subtly influencing our health, behaviour, and perception, leading to imbalances within the psyche, physical pain, and potentially long-term illness and dis-ease.

Within a sound bath, tones and harmonics become more than just sound; they have a medicinal quality. The gentle resonance of gongs, singing bowls, chimes, and bells have the healing power to penetrate deep within, and through the layering of different frequencies or Hertz, and the occasional discordance or dissonance, aid the surfacing of emotional content through the inner system. A sound bath invites frequency to meet us in this emotional field which is the energetic layer where emotions are felt, stored, and released. The vibrations ripple through the body, attempting to clear the emotional baggage as well as the mental clutter, and further reaching into the fluid nature of being.

Emotions, like water, are meant to move, to flow. If we block or refuse them, they stagnate and calcify. Allow them to flow, and they cleanse and purify—naturally.

The emotional body, like water—and everything at the mercy of cause and effect—is subject to change, ever-shifting, and able to absorb, contain, transmute and ultimately release energy. And in this release, the surrender to the waves of sound, we uncover a fluid space: for healing, clarity, and peace.

E-motion = Energy in Motion

When energy—prana—is encouraged to flow through the physical body via embodiment practices such as yoga, tai chi, or qigong, emotions often arise and dissolve with greater ease. This natural movement can reduce the tendency to suppress or avoid difficult emotions such as anger and grief, offering significant benefits to the central nervous system.

In contrast, when emotions are repressed and left to calcify, they can contribute to mental and psychological distress and may even manifest as physical dis-ease. If you have been to one of our sound baths before, you may have experienced the wave-like surging and crashing of the ocean drum, and the cracks and rumbles of the thunder rattle. These percussion instruments are played in a way that is intended to cut through dense energies, to help release what is ready to move.

Nervous System Regulation and Dysregulation

In safe, i.e. non-judgmental spaces, our nervous systems are gently encouraged to downregulate from the sympathetic state (commonly known as fight or flight), also referred to as hyperarousal, which is often associated with anxiety, anger, and overwhelm. This shift into the parasympathetic state often involves the release of stored emotions, and that emotional release, in turn, supports deeper nervous system regulation. When we feel relaxed and our system settles into the parasympathetic range—often described as rest and digest—we become more resilient, better resourced, and more grounded. In this state, we are more available to meet, feel, and process challenging emotions with clarity and presence.

When our nervous system is in the parasympathetic range, breathing slows down and becomes more gentle and rhythmic, and drops down into the belly. As a direct result our heart rate lowers, muscles relax, and we soften into a more settled and receptive state. When our nervous system is regulated, there is a sense of safety in the body. Sound frequencies, especially the harmonic sounds of singing bowls, help to calm the vagus nerve, allowing feelings to naturally and organically rise to the surface.

The Safety in Being Seen and Heard

Feeling safe is essential to authentic emotional expression. In spaces where we feel truly safe, both in the presence of others and within the environment itself, emotions are free to move and express themselves without restraint. This is true of a sound bath, or indeed any sacred container held by a seasoned practitioner. At sound baths, it is not uncommon to hear crying and laughter. Both are a dyphragmatic release, making a "ha ha ha" sound. And given the safety of the container, yawning, farting and belching are also welcome. All these releases are signs of the body purging what is no longer serving. Sharing our emotions and experiences in safe spaces can also support a co-regulation where we feel we aren't so alone.

Emotions are expressions of what it is to be human, and by honouring ourselves with the time and space to feel and express our emotions fully and authentically, those energies can move through uninhibited as they arise.

Sound and Trauma Release

Sound creates a safe vibrational container that can allow trauma held in the body to begin to unwind. Rhythmic, non-verbal input bypasses the analytical mind and engages the limbic system and brainstem, where trauma responses are stored. Sound therapy can lead to emotional release relative to childhood trauma and traumatic experiences, such as subtle shaking, "claw hands" or sighs—all signs of nervous system discharge.

Most of us are tending to a wounded inner child while learning how to self-regulate as adults. In spaces of emotional containment and safety, we are seen, heard, and felt as adults in ways many of us never experienced as a child. These spaces offer a new blueprint—one where it’s safe to feel, safe to be vulnerable, and safe to begin again. Here, we learn to tend to ourselves with compassion. Many of us were never shown, by example, how to grieve in healthy ways—or even that it’s okay to cry. We were not taught that sadness, loneliness, or feeling let down or disappointed are natural parts of being human. As a result, we didn't develop the inner resilience or self-trust that says: “It’s okay to feel like this. I can hold myself through it.”

As adults, we now have to be the parent in the room to our inner child and let our little one know: "it's ok to cry, sweetheart. I've got you." It is also our responsibility to be a more emotionally mature and available parent to our children.

When we learn to hold ourselves through the rapids and tidal waves of grief, we send a powerful message to our nervous system: Even though this hurts—even though there is psychological pain right now—it is safe to stay present. We begin to show ourselves that we don’t need to escape, distract, or dissociate. We don’t need to push the pain away through avoidance, or push it down through repression. Instead, we can meet it with presence, breath, and compassion—and in doing so, we build inner trust and resilience.

Recommended reading: Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu