The sound of healing

Singing bowls, dating back to China’s Shang dynasty (16th–11th centu­ries BCE), have been used for healing and meditation pur­poses since ancient times. The use of metallic objects to produce healing sounds is now gaining in popularity in the West. Nepalis are practic­ing it too. Sajan Thapaliya, the owner of the Om Singing Bowls and Healing Hub in Thamel, has been involved with singing bowls for 26 years. He recalls his father selling these bowls, as antique pieces. It was much later that Thapaliya heard about their healing prop­erties, and it has been only seven years since he started practicing singing bowl ther­apy. “I am not a trained thera­pist, and my clients know that. Yet they choose to come to me for help,” he says.

The price of a therapy at Om Singing Bowls starts at Rs 3,500. The sessions may involve meditation with sing­ing bowls, self-healing tech­niques, and massage with singing bowls.

The bowls are made up of seven different metals: mer­cury, iron, tin, gold, silver, copper, and lead. There is a variation in the proportion of these metals depending on the kind of singing bowl, each with its unique heal­ing properties, that is being designed. Singing bowl ther­apy is based on the belief that energy vibrates at different rates in the body, and by alter­ing the rate of vibration we can change the state of the body itself.

Singing bowls produce sounds which evoke a deep state of relaxation, helping you meditate. According to therapy practitioners, they help restore the normal vibra­tory frequencies of your mind, body, and soul.

The sound vibrations directly impact the nervous system, releasing stress. Other benefits include deep relax­ation, balance in the chakra system, purification of emo­tions, cleansing of negative feelings, and release of emo­tional blockage.

Thapaliya says currently only foreigners come for therapy at this center. Even though the technique was introduced in Nepal around half a century ago, it is yet to gain in popularity among locals. “The therapy is becoming popular in the West and in other Asian countries, but not here surprisingly,” says Thapaliya.

Practitioners say this therapy could be employed as an alternative to the use of medications for var­ious disorders—and unlike medications that only boost your physical health the sing­ing bowl therapy also helps with your spiritual and emo­tion wellbeing.