Research

I am at present collating research on sound based work. I am also conducting academic research on sound based work, meditative sound, transpersonal experiences and sound, sound journeys, and sound baths. If you wish to participate in ongoing sound based research as a practitioner or a participant, please reach out for further details here.

What do individuals experience during a Sound Bath?

In 2021, Bethany Drage, and I explored what the processes and outcomes of a sound bath for an individual. Looking at benefits for practitioners and attendees. Using qualitative measures and thematic analysis we studied separate 5 sound bath sessions and 47 participants. We found recurring themes of relaxation, out of body experiences, sense of connectivity, and wellbeing (see the grid below for details).

In addition, we found that the sound baths attract both practitioners and participants with chronic illness, in particular were mentioned arthritis, tinnitus and fatigue. Some of these individuals felt that during the sound bath and afterwards for varying lengths of time that they felt it alleviated their from discomfort.

Theme	Sub-theme	Example
Relaxation	● State of meditation/relaxing ● Calmed ● Of the mind ● Of thoughts ● Peace	“Puts me in a deep state of relaxation” “I experience a meditative state” “Shut down the mind” “It made my thoughts calmer and less important” “Deep sense of calm” “I connected to peace”
Out of Body Experiences	● Other worldliness ● Out of physical body	“Other worldliness of floating to another space” “Experience transcends physicality of the body & surrounding”
Connectivity	● To the self ● Something greater than self ● ‘Spirit’ encounters ● Other visions ● To the vibrations/sounds ● Childhood ● Others in the sound bath	“Connection with inner self/energetic self” “Openness to the Divine, the Unseen” “From past lives or messages from loved ones” “Seeing colours” “I can feel the vibrations in every part of my body” “I can feel the sounds of every instrument” “I experienced childhood memories that I had forgotten” “Communal sense of shared experience”
Wellbeing	● Helps to cope with life/ overcoming something ● De-stress/ detox ● Being involved with sound ● Me-time/ Self-care ● Positive emotional responses	“Allowed me to overcome obstacles in life” “Flushes out the toxins” “It’s a form of ‘me time” “I’ve submerged sound into my life” “My mood and sense of feeling has improved”

What is happening to the brain in a sound journey?

We are just developing some protocols to study the brainwaves of participants and practitioners, there is some research and some speculation, as some people have such a strong experience, which involves both relaxing and activating various systems. Also I want to explore what is happening between participants and practitioners.

In the meantime here’s some similar based research which looks at GIM (guided imagery to music). EEG is used to compare the brainwaves of the practitioner and participant during a session. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01561/full