Sound yoga opens up a way for you to connect more deeply with yourself and your body through the vibrations emanating from a sound instrument. The combination of asana practice and the intense sounds of a gong or singing bowl allows you to more easily enter a meditative state and flow consciously through your yoga practice. How gongs and singing bowls are used exactly in sound yoga and how great the possibilities and benefits are, you will learn in this article.
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What is sound yoga?
Sound yoga, also known as sound yoga, combines sound meditation, sound massage and yoga into a unique experience. The yoga practice (asana) allows you to strengthen your own body awareness, while the sounds of singing bowl and gong flow through your physical envelope and provide well-being and relaxation from within. Sound yoga allows for a deep form of meditation that unites body and mind and helps you recharge your batteries.
Meditation and sound have been used in combination by many cultures around the world for centuries to achieve an even deeper form of relaxation. The powerful sound of the gong and the intense tones of the singing bowl not only address your senses acoustically, but also create gentle vibrations that flow through your entire being. When combined with an asana practice, this has an even more intense power – affecting the overall energy movement of your body.
Traditionally, sound yoga is performed with a gong whose opulent sounds take over the whole room. can. Yoga and singing bowl can also be harmoniously combined – especially this form of sound yoga is becoming increasingly popular today and is already offered in many yoga studios.
How does a sound yoga class work?
There is no fixed, prescribed sequence of what a sound yoga class should look like. Each yoga teacher brings their own experiences, feelings and thoughts to the class, making each class a unique experience.
- Nevertheless, there are rough procedures that are often very similar.
Some teachers use the gong or singing bowl in yoga only at the beginning and end of the class to provide a meditative prelude and conclusion. Others continuously fill the room with the gentle sounds of the sound instruments during the yoga class to target the relaxing effect. - The asana are mostly quiet and very mindful so that you can more easily listen to yourself and hear your inner voice. The positions are usually held longer and carefully aligned.
- The more spacious a gong is played, the more intense the effect on your body and mind can be.
- The different ollihess mallets and friction mallet allow you to create harmonious sounds for you – or your participants and the respective setting. In our article you will learn more about the differences between mallets and reamers.
How intensely you engage with the sounds that surround you during sound yoga is, of course, entirely up to you. You can draw strength from the gentle vibrations, indulge in your own relaxation, focus on your yoga poses, or simply listen to the sounds.
How can sound yoga affect your body and mind?
Sound yoga can stimulate the energy movement of your body (i.e., your prana) and thus facilitate the flow of life energy. Prana is an ancient Indian word that translates from Sanskrit to mean “life energy” or “life force.” Especially in Hinduism, prana plays an important role, because the life energy of a person is considered here as a component of infinite life. You may have heard of pranayama, a breathing technique that is also designed to facilitate the flow of your prana. And this is exactly where sound yoga comes in – because the vibrations of gong or singing bowl can also activate your life energy (prana) in combination with yoga.
In addition, yoga with sound can also affect you, your senses, and your well-being in other ways:
- It can relieve your pent-up stress and help you relax.
- It can lower your blood pressure due to its calming effect.
- The yoga with gong and singing bowl can reduce anxiety.
- Sound yoga can provide an improved sense of well-being and bring you into an inner balance.
- The vibrations of the sounds in sound yoga can sharpen your senses.
- It can improve the flow of your life energy (prana).
How can you diversify your own sound yoga?
Sound yoga holds various facets and inspirations for you. If you want to additionally indulge yourself with beautiful sounds during your next yoga class, think about how you want to achieve the deep moments of relaxation beforehand.
When doing yoga with gong, you can feel deep, soothing sounds with a special intensity that flow through your whole body with their equally distinctive vibrations. The gong is considered the most traditional instrument in meditation – and is thus also a real enrichment for your personal Sound Yoga lesson. Depending on the beater or rasp, you can also acoustically fill entire rooms with the gong and thus enable wonderful sound baths for yourself or other participants, where yoga and sound are the focus.
Compared to the gong, the singing bowl presents itself above all with bright, lively and vitalizing tones, from which emanates a mysterious magic. The sounds enrich your yoga practice especially through their gentleness, gently inviting you to meditation and relaxation.
Sound yoga is a very individual form of meditation and yoga practice. Whether the focus is on relaxation, sound massage, mediation or asana practice is up to you.
