(gentle music) - Diane, what I'm gonna have you do first is lie down on your belly on the table.

- The reverberation in the room the first time was so calming.

And just a sense of peace.

(bowl chimes) I'm Diane Pudlosky.

And, I've been doing sound massage now for about six months.

(bowl chimes) I tend to be an anxious person by nature.

And so, in busy life, when life gets hectic, I tend to tense up.

And wasn't even aware of that for a long time.

But, I was, you know, anything that I can find that helps relax and un-tense those muscles is really, is always been a helpful thing for me.

(bowl chimes) - [Interviewer] So kind of busy thoughts, busy body.

- [Diane] Yes, yeah.

- [Interviewer] And then that feeling of tension.

- [Diane] Right, exactly.

- What was that initial feeling like after your first massage, or, I guess even during it?

- It's, it was, I noticed it during the first massage in that all of a sudden I felt my arms and legs just let go.

And that was, you know, a ways into the massage.

But, I became aware of, oh, my arm is all tensed up.

And relaxed, and then it relaxed.

So that was the first that I noticed that my body was relaxing as it responded, I think, to the bowls, the reverberation.

(bowl chimes) - [Interviewer] Any difference as far as the thoughts?

Did you have a shift in those anxious thoughts that were causing those body parts to tense?

- I think there a sense of peace that, and just complete, like almost an emptying of the thoughts is what occurs.

- [Interviewer] And there's no touch, you know, it's just all sound.

- Right.

- Yeah.

- And that was the thing that was the most amazing to me after the first session.

Was, when I walked out, and I said to Abby, you did, there was no touch at all.

And my body is just feeling limp.

- [Interviewer] Is there any other ways that it's helped you heal?

- [Diane] I think knowing, feeling that what peace, and complete calm.

And just emptying your mind too, and just being present.

That's valuable.

I think that is, that's probably been the biggest thing.

(bowl chimes) - [Interviewer] What is the science behind why this works?

- There's, it's kind of an exciting time in terms of research for sound healing.

There's a lot of great people out there doing really incredible studies, and incredible testing out different ideas.

And so, you know, as with any complimentary or alternative modality, you need a lot more research to kind of get it into the mainstream.

But that is happening.

There is some solid research out there that shows that sound healing techniques can actually affect your brainwaves, and help shift you from the kind of faster, you know, agitated, active brainwave patterns that we're in when we're, you know, actively thinking about things, or highly stressed, or, you know, stuff like that.

And the sound healing techniques can help shift that, and get you into a more slow brainwave state.

Shift your consciousness and get you so that you're more relaxed, more calm, more regulated.

And in that, you know, you're shifting into the parasympathetic system.

So you're getting out of the fight or flight, the tense kind of primal protective response that I think a lot of people reside in, unfortunately.

And helps shift you into the parasympathetic, the rest and digest, where you, you know, your respiration slows, your heart rate slows.

And then your systems start to function, and start to recover, and work in a way that they're meant to.

And in that we can really start, you know, healing ourselves.

- [Interviewer] How was the massage?

- [Lauren] It was amazing.

- [Interviewer] What does your body feel like?

- [Lauren] It's kind of like relaxing.

- What do you think it helps you with?

- I get my energy up.

Don't be afraid to try it.

(bowl chiming) - [Interviewer] What can this bring to mental health healing?

- I think it's powerful.

And obviously I'm super biased.

But, you know, you don't have to talk.

You don't have to necessarily come in ready to process things that have happened, or things that you're dealing with.

You, like I said, you just, you show up and start to receive.

The thing about sound too is that it has a way of bringing things to the surface that maybe need to be addressed.

And so sometimes it's not all, you know, lovely relaxation every time.

Sometimes people can have responses where they're like, "Whoa, I wasn't expecting that.

That's something that I need to address."

And so the sound can really start to bring in your own level of awareness of what you need to work on and what your body is presenting.

But you don't have to talk about it.

And that's what I found a lot of people have found relief in is that, you know, there's so much that maybe we talk about all the time, and we're tired.

Or we don't know how to process.

Or, you know, something's up, but I don't know exactly what.

And so sound has a really unique way, especially with altering those brainwave states and shifting your consciousness, of helping you calm.

And so that you're able to release, and kind of facilitate this idea of letting go, which can be very hard for a lot of people.

(bowl chiming) These bowls are made to go on the spots of the body that they're intended for.

And they really nurture and respond to those areas.

- And how many bowls are there that you use in your sessions?

- So three is the main, I have three that I use that are the main.

So this is the universal bowl.

And can really go anywhere.

Mainly on the bottoms of the feet and the hands, and above the body.

This is the heart bowl, (bowl chimes) which I will use for obviously the hearts, the throat and the neck.

And then there's other techniques we can use as well.

And then... - The big guy.

- Over there, the big guy is the pelvic bowl or belly bowl, depending on where you are in the world.

And this is for (bowl chimes) those nice low tones that really resonate well in the lower part of your body, in your solar plexus, and your lower abdomen, and tailbone and lower back.

The, you know, the overtones that are playing from these bowls are so beautiful and so rich.

And so, they're circulating around in your energetic field.

And they're, it's a straight line to your auditory nerve.

So you're receiving it right into your brain, which is essentially really calming immediately.

But then you also get that internal massage effect that gets deep down and regulates.

And it's really amazing how, you know, you might feel, I might have a bowl on the bottom of your foot, and you feel the vibrations up in an opposite shoulder, you know?

The sound and the vibration have an amazing way of finding the spots that need a little more nurture.

(bowl chiming) - [Diane] I would say if someone is thinking about trying sound massage, to definitely give it a try.

I think that it will, you know, it will, there's definitely benefits.

And your wellbeing will be improved.

That is, you know, as I sit here now, I think that I feel just a sense of wellbeing.

- [Interviewer] Do you wish you would've started sooner?

- [Diane] Yes.

(both laughing) (bowl chiming) (upbeat music) - [Announcer] Funding provided in part by the Charles E. Kubly Foundation.

Committed to improving the lives of those impacted by depression since 2003.