Okay, first, I do not hate singing bowls!!! I love them. But I recently had a couple of people to whom I introduced them tell me they couldn’t stand the sound. One said the sound hurt her heart and another woman said she found them irritating.

After I picked up my jaw from the floor (who doesn’t like singing bowls!?), I had to stop myself from entering into an explanation about why they might take issue with the sounds they were hearing. Maybe I don’t really know!

There are all kinds of things that produce sound in our environments from wifi signals (which I can sometimes hear) to machines like phones, copiers, and refrigerators to pianos, violins, and yes, singing bowls. I’ve written numerous times on why some sounds are harmful to us, how we entrain to things in our environment for better or worse, and how a constant assault of noise can be damaging to our health. That’s not what this particular post is about, though. My thoughts here are related only to sounds that are purposely created and used for healing purposes, such as with singing bowls.

So why might someone have difficulty with certain frequencies? First, know that all frequencies have their place and purpose. The intention with singing bowls is meditative and of healing. If a particular sound grates, chances are, it is hitting against a blockage or resistance within you. If it is too much, trust that. Not everyone is ready to let go of everything. However, if you truly desire healing on all levels, as long as there is no physical pain, push through it. Allow the sound to open up those parts of you that have been closed off tight for so long. For example, the woman who felt heart pain is likely to carry some energetic block in her heart, maybe some habit of judgment that keeps her safe and protected. Because we were in a situation where she didn’t come to me for healing, I was not in a place to offer any council on the matter. But if she were to get curious about why she reacted the way she did, I would then share with her my experience with how sound works upon our greatest blocks. It isn’t wrong that she felt what she felt. What is sad to me is her assumption that it “wasn’t for her” when it is probably what she needs more than anything to feel more alive and free in life. Good thing there are many ways to the same destination. I hope she finds one more comfortable.

One thing I do when I am working with a client is to let them know to stop me if they feel any pain when I play a bowl on or near the body. It if isn’t too intense, I ask the client to see if they can work through it, to stay with the feeling, just for a moment and see if it transforms on its own. It often does, once the vibration has a chance to loosen up the density. If it is intense, I stop playing the bowl and continue with Reiki on the part of the body that is communicating. Often, within a few minutes, the energy shifts and the sensation is gone, and returning to playing the bowl is now a different experience.

The denser the energy around and within us, the more likely we are to experience discomfort when a vibration starts moving things around. This, I believe, is the case with the woman who found the bowls “irritating”. Humans are creatures of comfort and habit. We tend not to like getting stirred up. We like the sediment of unexpressed emotional and repressed urges to remain settled, not realizing what a dreadful impact it has upon our wellbeing and fullfilment.

In my understanding, neither of these women was really prepared to experience the healing power of singing bowls. Their energy was simply too dense and therefore the impressions from the vibrations upon their energy fields was too uncomfortable. As they learn in life to allow and accept what is, as they learn to flow (since life has a way of making us learn even what we’d rather avoid), eventually, I suspect their experience with singing bowls would change.

As we learn to open up to the healing benefits sound has to offer, we begin to widen and unfurl our frequency range of comfort. We become less annoyed, less irritated, and more open to allowing vibration to impact our being in all the positive ways it can. We loosen our grip and find our hands, hearts, and minds ready to hold new feelings, ideas, and possibilities.