About Himalayan Singing Bowls

All the hand hammered singing bowls featured on Dharma Goods are crafted in the Himalayan Mountain region in and near Nepal. Many were created for local use 50+ years ago. Each bowl is chosen for its exceptional, tone, size, construction, clarity, resonance, multi-harmonics, relaxing and meditative qualities and affordability.

Everything in nature consists of vibrations of energy. Sound is an audible external vibration and can cause a sympathetic resonance in the cells of our physical bodies, Sound energy, like all energy can harm or heal, cause pleasure or pain, ie: it is dualistic in nature.

The sound vibrations of the Himalayan singing bowls permeate and resonate the whole body and mind, producing alpha waves in our brains, promoting relaxation and increased sense of harmony.

Healing sound modalities include the use of mantras, tuning forks, didgeridoos, gongs, bells, cymbals, drums, rattles etc. and singing bowls.

The hand hammered Himalayan singing bowls do not have one fixed pitch or tone, like crystal bowls. It is the multi-harmonic sounds produced by the alchemy of the mixed metals that make the Himalayan bowls so special. One bowl can have multiple effects and yet they are easy to use.

Different tools and materials and ways of playing the singing bowls also contribute to the different sounds and vibrations produced.

Materials: wood, felt, rubber

Methods: singing the bowl, gonging high on rim, the middle, inside and outside, direction of singing, playing with other bowls and more.

As each individual has a unique frequency or vibrational energy, so does each hand hammered bowl, and the bowl that moves you or resonates with you, will be one compatible with your own energy. The “song” of a singing bowl will vibrate through your outer body and right into and through your cells.

Choosing a bowl is an intuitive experience, take the time and space to truly listen (feel) and absorb the “song” of the bowl. The same bowl may even sound different to one person, at different times of day, according to different moods etc of the listener. The vibrations of a singing bowl are beneficial even for the deaf. Large bowls are generally more grounding, earthy, and resonate with the lower chakras. Smaller bowls are higher in tones and correspond to upper chakras & head.

The mystical lore of Himalayan bowls traditionally holds that they are created with 7 metals, corresponding to the 7 planets, 7 days of the week, 7 colors of the rainbow, cells of the body rejuvenate every 7 years, psychological models are based on 7 years cycles and the 7 chakras. The seven metals and their planetary associations are Gold (Sun), Silver (Moon), Copper (Venus), Iron (Mars), Tin (Jupiter), Mercury/Quicksilver (Mercury) and Lead (Saturn) all of which feature heavily in alchemical symbolism.

Crown Chakra / Note - B / Violet & White - amethyst , pearl, lapis lazuli, turquoise

Ajna Chakra / Note - A / Indigo - lapis lazuli, turquoise, blue sapphire

Throat Chakra / Note - G / Blue - Turquoise, Lapis Lazuli

Heart Chakra / Note - F / Rose & Green - rose quartz, turquoise, jade, malachite

Solar Chakra / Note - E / Green, Yellow, - topaz, amber, jade, yellow sapphire

Sacral Chakra / Note - D / Orange - carnelian,

Root Chakra / Note - C / Red - red amber, ruby, red coral

Though today some of today’s Indian and Nepalese traditional bowl-makers have begun to produce five, six and seven-metal hand-beaten bowls to order, the majority of new singing bowls are made with a bronze alloy of copper and tin. When these two metals are smelted together (about 80 parts copper to 20 parts tin) an alloy that is harder than iron and more resistant to corrosion is formed. The result is a type of bronze known as bell metal, an exceptionally sonorous alloy that has been used in the manufacture of high-quality bronze bells, bowls and gongs throughout Asia for centuries. Bell metal creates the healing and relaxing vibration used by musicians, spiritual practitioners and teachers, health professionals, school teachers, and studied by physicians. Singing bowls are used in health care by psychotherapists, massage therapists, cancer, and stress and meditation specialists. They are used to help treat cancer patients and also for post-traumatic stress disorder. They are popular in classrooms to help facilitate group activities and focus students' attention.

The singing bowls here at Dharma Goods sing very easily, even with the felt end of the singing tool and produce rich, harmonic and soothing long-lasting sound. They produce energetic and vibrating sounds which provide uplifting quality and stress free relaxation.

“Every atom constantly sings a song,

and it is this true tone that creates finer

or denser forms of greater or smaller density”.

-Lama Govinda-

References

Gunjan Y Trivedi, Banshi Saboo (2019) A Comparative Study of the Impact of Himalayan Singing Bowls and Supine Silence on Stress Index and Heart Rate Variability

Livia Bidin, Luca Pigaiani, Manlio Casini, Pietro Seghini, Luigi Cavanna (June 2016 ) Feasibility of a trial with Singing Bowls, and suggested benefits in metastatic cancer patients. A pilot study in an Italian Oncology Unit European Journal of Integrative Medicine

Tamara Goldsby, Michael Goldsby & Mary McWalters (2017). Effects of Singing Bowl Sound Meditation on Mood, Tension and Well-being: An Observational Study. Journal of Evidence-based Complimentary & Alternative Medicine 22 (3): 401-406.

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2156587216668109

Mitchell L. Gaynor MD (2002).The Healing Power of Sound: Recovery from Life-Threatening Illness Using Sound, Voice, and Music.

Jonathan Goldman (2002). Healing Sounds: The Power of Harmonics.

Boyd-Brewer, Chris, McCaffrey, Ruth. Vibroacoustic Sound Therapy Improves Pain Management and More. http://journals.lww.com/hnpjournal/Abstract/2004/05000/Vibroacoustic_Sound_Therapy_Improves_Pain.2.aspx

Lars-Olov Lundqvist, Gunilla Andersson, Jane Viding (2009). Effects of vibroacoustic music on challenging behaviors in individuals with autism and developmental disabilities. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 3, 390–400.

Eha Rüütel, Marika Ratnik, Eda Tamm & Heli Zilensk (2004). The Experience of Vibroacoustic Therapy in the Therapeutic Intervention of Adolescent Girls

Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 13 (1): 33-46.

Kim Salamon and Stefano J BeaulieuJ, (2005). Sound Therapy Induced Relaxation: Down Regulating Stress Processes and Pathologies

Med Sci Monit. 9(5): RA96-RA0.

Marie Menut. A personal account of using singing bowls in hospitals:

http://www.karenmrider.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MenutArticleWinterDO2013.pd