I recently took a solo vacation to California for a few days of self-care in the sun. On this trip, I decided to be semi-technology-free and stress-free, meaning I didn’t take my laptop and didn’t check in at work.
I thought it would be a difficult task for me. Despite my anti-rise-and-grind tweets, I do tend to be a workaholic (shhhhh … don’t tell anyone I said that!). Instead, I found the silence and alone time comforting.
On my trip, I scheduled just two things: dinner with a friend on my last night and a sound bath. For those of you unfamiliar with sound baths, it is a meditative experience where those in attendance are “bathed” in sound waves. It might sound a bit hippie, but, working in the audiovisual field, I suspect most of you understand the healing power of audio.
So I headed to the Integratron in Landers, CA, on a Thursday afternoon. Built in 1954 by George Van Tassel, the structure is based on the design of Moses’ Tabernacle, the writings of Nikola Tesla, and—according to Van Tassel—telepathic directions from extraterrestrials.
After we got a brief history of the building, my group and I headed up to the structure’s second floor. The acoustics in the building are fascinating. I could hear perfectly what the people on the other side of the Integratron directly across from me were whispering. When I whispered notes of gratitude from a square in the center of the room, the entire group could hear my words.
The actual sound bath consisted of 35 minutes of 20 quartz crystal singing bowls being played live. According to the musician, the sound levels reached 100 dB, but the noise wasn’t ever overwhelming in the deeply resonant, multi-wave sound chamber. Instead, it was comforting and relaxing. As the sound waves washed over me, I felt completely at peace.
After the musician stopped playing, we all laid on our mats for a bit to relax to the sound of ambient music in the chamber. Leaving the sound bath, I felt completely refreshed and recharged.
It was the perfect ending to my vacation, all thanks to the healing power of audio.
Click here to read more stories from the August 2021 issue of SCN.
