Tracy and I have always wanted to get a Tibetan singing bowl. I’ve read about the healing benefits of sound therapy – particularly from singing bowls. Plus, I do like the sound and ritual of them.
However, buying a singing bowl can be surprisingly overwhelming and daunting.
Last summer, Tracy and I walked into a spiritual shop and found out that picking out our very first Tibetan singing bowl was way more overwhelming and complicated than we expected.
There are many different sizes of singing bowls ranging from tiny ones that fit in the palm of your hand, to massive ones that are the size of a small sink basin and give off a beautifully rich, full tone.
Each tone is aligned with a different chakra (which I knew nothing about at the time), and coupled with the price tag (over $100 each), we walked out of the store empty-handed, unsure which bowl was right for us.
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Since then, Tracy and I have continued to develop our own spiritual practice and daily mindfulness rituals, and we found ourselves, again, wanting to incorporate a singing bowl into our routine.
We no more decided to go looking at singing bowls again, when Jessica from Shanti Bowl reached out to us. She offered to send us one of their singing bowls,
The Healing Benefits of Tibetan Singing Bowls
Singing bowls have their roots in ancient Chinese tradition, and were used in religious ceremonies.
In modern times, singing bowls are heavily marketed toward spiritually-minded Westerners.
They have become a popular tool for meditation, relaxation, self-care, and sound therapy/sound healing – particularly used for chakra work.
Because sound vibrations have an impact on our nervous system, inhibiting the stress or pain response, singing bowls are said to:
- Reduce stress, anxiety, anger, and other negative emotions,
- Promote deep relaxation and facilitate meditation,
- Promote mental and emotional clarity.
Sound healers also use singing bowls to promote physical health such as lowering blood pressure, improving circulation, and easing pain, as well as chakra balancing.
Sound healing is based on the idea that all parts of your body vibrate at a specific frequency when in a healthy state. When one or more parts of your body is “out of tune”, it creates disease (dis-ease) caused by the disrupted flow of energy.
Singing bowls are believed to restore this energy flow through sound vibration.
Shanti Bowl First Impressions
I was really surprised that Shanti Bowl sells their hand made singing bowls for only $54.50, which is less than half what I’ve seen elsewhere for similar quality bowls.
Both the price and the fact that there is only one option, makes Shanti Bowl a simple and straightforward decision-making process for newbies like Tracy and I.
When I took mine out of the box, I knew that I had a quality piece. The singing bowl weighed a bit over a pound, and is around 5.5 inches in diameter.
Because they are hand-made, they show imperfections, which add to the character. My bowl looks like something that would be in a Tibetan monastery, perhaps. It has a functional, ritual look to it, and I like that.
According to Shanti Bowl’s website, their singing bowl’s tone is a “beautiful and balanced note of B, which resonates most strongly with the crown chakra.” When singing, the bowls emit note of F (heart chakra).
How We Use Our Singing Bowl
As I’ve said, Tracy and I are absolute newbies when it comes to singing bowls. I can strike the bowl with the mallet, but I can’t yet make it “sing” by running the mallet across the rim. I need to practice that, but you can view tons of tutorials online showing you how to do it.
We’ll use our singing bowl for meditation, for sure.
I plan to experiment with sound therapy when I am anxious or stressed, testing the therapeutic properties of singing bowls on anxious thoughts, feelings of overwhelm, or other stress.
I think that a great way to use it would be to clear the energy of a space. When I strike my singing bowl with the mallet, I feel like the sound vibrations clear the air, and so it might be a nice ritual to do at the end of a long day, or when we come home from an event, or after a stressful situation or encounter.
I see myself using our singing bowl to “reset” my energy, and center myself before meditation or journaling.