“Saraswati, Senior Dharma Yoga instructor will bathe students in sound healing on the deepest levels while laying in Shavasana to the sound of the Crystal Alchemy Bowls & Gongs.” This was the description of the “sound journey” that I went to at my yoga studio a couple of weeks ago. I know, I know, it sounds hokey. But now that I have dived into yoga, I’m more curious to learn more about the other facets of living this type of alternative lifestyle. I’m not a religious person by any means, but I have always believed that there is a lot about the universe, and even our own psychology, that humans don’t know. Maybe that we can’t know. So I think exploring spirituality, even as an atheist, is a worthwhile pursuit.
Alchemy bowls are crystal bowls that you play by running your finger along their edges. Think of Sandra Bullock’s talent in Miss Congeniality, only using bowls instead of glasses. And a gong is just what you expect. The instrument that makes the sound in old martial arts movies when something big is about to happen. Or perhaps just happened. And definitely when an epic fight is about to break out.
I have to be totally honest though. The sound journey was hokey. I kind of hated it. Okay, I definitely hated it. I paid $25 to lay in a room full of other people and listen to music made from alchemy bowls and gongs, falling in and out of sleep, and generally wondering when it would be over and I could go home. That’s not to say that I didn’t have an open mind going in. I truly, truly did. Several of the yoga teachers at my studio had talked it up, and they attended as well. I really like and respect these instructors, and they’re not the kind of yogis that seem like they belong on another planet. Many had been to one of these sound journeys before, so it’s not like they were just blowing smoke by saying we should go check it out. And I truly believe that meditation and yoga can help, in a big way, with stress relief. A sound journey though? Not for me.
I’ll be honest. I’m not sure why I thought this was a good idea for me, because I don’t like loudness in general. I’m going to blame that on having grown up in the quiet calm of the country. Every time a fire truck drives by me with its sirens on, I want to throw rocks at it. Or fall to the ground covering my ears. Dramatic, I know, but I’m a country kid at heart. I fear that if one day I have a baby, I will hate my life because of how loud and often they cry. (I am by no means set on motherhood, so don’t worry). Anyway, the music wasn’t overwhelmingly loud, but it was louder than I would have liked. And my ears didn’t like it. Neither did the rest of me if I’m being honest. That is not to say I don’t like live music. I really do actually! But not this particular live music.
All I really got out of this hour-long sound journey was a restless nap. I may or may not have also had a nightmare during, where someone accused me of being “ordinary.” Maybe that’s what I got out of the hour – an introduction to a fear of mine that perhaps I hadn’t quite pin-pointed before. I fear being ordinary. Which is totally true, but I was hoping to find some relaxation and peace, not fear! Also, that dream might have occurred the night before the sound journey, not during. I don’t keep a dream journal so it’s hard to tell sometimes.
At the end of the hour, the instructor asked if anyone would be willing to share their journey. No one shared. She then explained a bunch about her instruments, and mentioned that sometimes people can have a negative experience during, but only because our cells are working hard to expel something or other. Bad vibes maybe. Let’s be real, this sound journey definitely gave me some bad vibes! I won’t be partaking in another of these journeys for sure! But I will say, I think if I hadn’t gone I would have regretted it, simply for curiosity reasons, so now I have tried it and I know I don’t like it, and there’s nothing wrong with that!
Sorry to be negative, my friends, but I try to keep it real! 😉
Audrey Adventures 