I stumbled upon sound meditation through an Eckhart Tolle video—he rang a Nepal Cymbal (Tingsha) bell. He encouraged viewers to listen to the sound and follow it into the silence that remained after the sound of the bell could no longer be heard. From this, I started experimenting with sound meditation by sitting on random benches and listening to the sounds of bikes and walkers approaching and then the sounds fading as they walked away.
Occasionally, a train would go by, and the sound would continue on for what seemed like forever. Practices such as these can be very easy ways to create more calm. They help reduce our mental chatter, which is the origin of most of our stress.
What Is Sound Meditation?
In meditation, we are generally guided to choose an object to focus our attention on. You may have heard of focusing on your breath, noticing the details of a grounding object like a stone, or paying attention to the sensations in your body. In sound meditation, we focus our attention on sound (or sound vibrations). We can do this with a formal meditation practice (e.g., by sitting on the floor on a mat), during our daily life, or both. For example, we may do a deliberate sound meditation for 5 minutes each afternoon and also pause to listen for a moment when we hear a specific sound.
Sound Meditation Triggers
Using specific sounds as “sound meditation triggers” can be helpful in reminding us to do sound meditation each day. For example, sound meditation triggers like rain, a train, wind, or wind chimes can be great reminders to us to pause for a moment and listen. All you have to do is choose a sound, and when you hear it, just pause for a few seconds to pay attention to the sound (one in-breath and out-breath is enough).
Benefits of Sound Meditation
Sound meditation can have many benefits. For example, one study showed that after undergoing sound meditation, participants reported significantly less tension, anger, fatigue, and depressed mood (Goldsby et al., 2017). Another study showed that sound meditation resulted in greater relaxation and less acute stress (Philips et al., 2019). Overall, sound vibrations appear to be a powerful tool for reducing emotional distress (Ramnanan, 2021). The benefits we experience will often depend on how long and often we practice.
Sound Meditation Can Be Done Anywhere
The best well-being practice is the one you’re actually willing to do. That’s why people often benefit more from easy or accessible practices, even if other practices are more effective when used. Sound meditation might just be the easiest meditation practice because there are sounds everywhere. You can pause at any moment to listen and pay attention to the sounds around you. If your mind stops even momentarily, then you’ve just done a short meditation. Personally, I found this to be an easy and accessible way to build meditation into my life.
A version of this post also appears on berkeleywellbeing.com.
