Athletic-Minded Traveler

We have previously shared the mind and body healing benefits of sound through a sound bath. There are additional ways to benefit from sound and music vibration. I tried out two offered by inHarmony, a company that seeks to make meditation a more immersive experience through its own sound and vibration instruments. And, like for any sound healing practice, the goals remain to reduce stress and anxiety and promote healing. An added bonus is that with regular use, vibrations produced by sound have been shown to help relieve muscle tension and chronic pain.

Lounge for Sound

Lucky for me, I had the opportunity to demo both inHarmony's Sound Lounge and its Meditation Cushion at Saffron & Sage, a holistic health and wellness center located in San Diego. The Sound Lounge is an immersive experience; and it’s just what it sounds like, a lounge. I reclined on a very comfortable and ergonomic bed fitted with four vasl transducers, devices that produce vibrations. I connected my Bluetooth enabled device (in this case, my phone) to the bed to play meditation tracks from the InHarmony app (inHarmony: Music Meditation). For those who have a favorite chill Spotify list, you could use that too; you are not limited to inHarmony's app/music. 

The Experience

While I only spent ten minutes on the lounge bed, the feeling of the vibrations that flowed throughout my entire body was profound. The oscillations synched with the sounds I heard through the headphones. Again, any audio can be played with sound and vibration synchronized.  For example, when the native flute was playing, I felt vibrations around my head and shoulders, while I felt the power of the drum throughout my entire spine and the acoustic guitar in my arms and legs.  The gentle rain could be felt from my head to my feet.

When the session was over, I felt more mental clarity, and I could still feel a pleasing tingling sensation in my fingertips. I would have happily lounged for a good 30-minutes!  I next tried the Meditation Cushion. While not as immersive as the Sound Lounge, the Cushion offers a fair amount of whole-body vibrations with just one transducer. Speakers are built into the cushion, so headphones are optional. (Any gamer would love this cushion.)

Buying

Both devices can be purchased directly from inHarmony's website starting at $699 for the Meditation Cushion and up to $5,700 for the Sound Lounge. Clearly the Lounge is big investment and I'd recommend trying it out multiple times before spending the funds. On the upside, everything is included in this price, which means you can get started on the path to healing right out of the "box".

While these specialized devices may not be something everyone could purchase given their size and price tag; everyone should at least try them. There are a growing number of locations throughout the states that offer (by appointment) sessions on the inHarmony devices. inHarmony Locator is one place to find locations. 

Happy sound healing!

Editor's Note:  Cortland Anderson contributed this article. Cortland is a Holistic Health practitioner who offers sound healing sessions at yoga studios and other venues around San Diego. To learn more about Cortland, click here.