The 12 Sound Healing Therapies We Offer, Explained

People arrive at our studio in Mid-Baneshwor asking for "sound healing" as though it were one thing. It isn't. Over the years we have settled into twelve distinct therapies, each with its own purpose, its own instruments and its own pace.

This article explains what each one actually involves, so you can choose rather than guess. It also sets out, plainly, what the research does and does not support — because we would rather you came with accurate expectations than inflated ones.

What happens in a session

You do not need experience, flexibility or any particular belief. You lie down on a mat with a bolster under your knees and a blanket if you want one. You stay fully clothed.

The practitioner sits beside you with a set of hand-hammered Himalayan bowls, a gong, and smaller instruments such as tingsha and a bell. Some bowls are played around the body; in several of the therapies below, bowls are rested directly on the body so the vibration travels through you rather than only reaching your ears.

Most of the session you spend doing nothing at all. That is the work.

Sessions run 60 minutes. The room holds a group comfortably, and most of the twelve are also available one to one.

The twelve therapies

### Energy Purification and Relaxation (Aura Cleansing)

Full-body bowl placement, working from the head down. This is the one to book if you cannot name what is wrong and simply feel heavy, foggy or depleted. It clears that sense of weight and ends in deep, settled rest.

### Shushumna Activation Therapy

Named for the central channel described in yogic anatomy, which runs along the spine. Bowls are placed along the spine itself, and the session is quieter and more precise than the others. People finish it with a noticeably steadier breath.

### Psychic Energy Balancing

Gentle, non-invasive work on the subtle energy field rather than the physical body. We recommend it most often to people whose minds will not stop — the ones who say they cannot meditate because their thoughts are too loud.

### Sacral Therapy for Sensual Vibration

Focused on the sacral centre, low in the abdomen, using the lower-frequency bowls. Low frequencies are felt more than heard. This one tends to release tension people have been carrying so long they had stopped noticing it.

### Whole Body Massage

Despite the name, this is not a hands-on oil massage. The bowls do the work. They are rested on the body and struck, and the vibration travels from head to feet. It eases muscular tightness without anyone pressing on you — which makes it useful for people who find conventional massage uncomfortable or invasive.

### Chakra Healing

A bowl tuned to each of the seven centres, worked in sequence from crown to root. Of all twelve, this is the most structured, and the easiest to follow if you like knowing what comes next.

### Vedic Therapy

Rooted in Vedic practice, with mantra used alongside the bowls. Shaped around what you bring on the day rather than following a fixed sequence.

### Vedic Healing

Mantra, sound and intention together, held in a traditional ritual setting. Available individually or for small groups. Where Vedic Therapy is adapted to the person, this follows the older ceremonial form.

### Brainwave Therapy

Paired bowl frequencies, used to guide the mind from its ordinary alert state toward the slower rhythms associated with deep rest. People book this one for sleep and focus.

### Brainwave Healing

The longer, deeper version of the above — layered frequencies across an extended session. This is the one for genuine mental fatigue, the kind that a weekend does not touch.

### Hot/Cold Water Therapy

The outlier. A traditional contrast method alternating hot and cold water, used for circulation and recovery. No bowls involved. We include it here because it is part of the same therapeutic programme and people often pair it with a sound session.

### Group Healing & Sound Bath

For groups, teams and friends, minimum four people. You lie back and receive; there is nothing to learn or keep up with. We run these at the studio, and we will also bring the instruments to your venue.

What the research actually says

We want to be careful here, because this is an area where a great deal is claimed and rather less is demonstrated.

A 2025 systematic review in *Healthcare* gathered fourteen quantitative studies of Tibetan singing bowl interventions from the previous sixteen years. It concluded that they "demonstrate potential for stress reduction and psychological well-being" as a non-invasive complementary method, with most studies reporting reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms, improvements in heart rate variability, and lower heart rate.

The same review is candid about the weaknesses, and so are we:

• The certainty of the evidence ranged only from low to moderate.
• Studies varied so much in design that the authors could not pool them into a meta-analysis.
• Most had small sample sizes, limiting statistical power.
• Few followed participants up over the medium or long term, so sustained effects are largely unknown.
• Reporting was often inadequate on basic details such as how frequently bowls were struck.

An earlier observational study of singing bowl sound meditation with 62 participants — Goldsby, Goldsby, McWalters and Mills, *Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine*, 2017 — found significantly less tension, anger, fatigue and depressed mood after a one-hour session. Notably, people new to the practice showed a greater drop in tension than experienced practitioners.

So: there is real, published signal here, and it points in a consistent direction. It is not the same as proof, and anyone telling you sound healing cures disease is going beyond what the evidence supports. We offer these sessions for rest, relief from tension and a nervous system that has forgotten how to switch off. That is what they are good at.

Who should check first

The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health notes that relaxation techniques are generally considered safe for healthy people, with no negative side effects reported in most studies. It also records rare cases in which people experienced increased anxiety, intrusive thoughts or a fear of losing control, and flags that extra care is warranted for people with epilepsy, certain psychiatric conditions, or a history of trauma.

Please tell us before the session if any of that applies to you, if you are pregnant, or if you have an ear condition or a hearing aid. None of these automatically rules anything out. They change how we run the session.

Sound healing is a complement to medical care, not a substitute for it. If you are being treated for something, keep being treated for it.

Booking, price and length

All twelve run 60 minutes and cost from NPR 2,500 / USD 25 per session. The group sound bath is from NPR 1,000 / USD 10 per person, minimum four people.

Each therapy can be booked individually on the sound healing sessions page — choose the one you want rather than sending a general enquiry, and we will know what to prepare.

If you would rather learn to run sessions yourself, our Level I practitioner course covers bowl technique, session structure and timing, and carries a certificate on completion. There is more background on the practice on our sound healing therapy page.

Not sure which of the twelve fits? Tell us what you are dealing with — sleep, tension, a mind that will not settle — and we will suggest one. You can also simply come to a group sound bath first and decide afterwards.