Sound baths offer relaxation, healing in Colorado Springs

Mar. 6—Inside Gigi Turner's dimly lit cavernous space exists a euphonious utopia.

And when she gently requests you close your eyes for a sound bath over the next hour, it behooves you to do so. With visual stimulation removed, your ears are more attuned to the symphony of sounds Turner will create with her multitude of instruments, providing a more transportive, healing and pleasurable environment.

"Sound is experienced very differently when our eyes are closed," said Turner, owner and founder of Singing Bowls of the Rockies — Sound Bath. "It's introspection. It's about yourself, your emotions, feelings, your body and mind so you are here all together as one. If your eyes are open, you are distracted."

The doors to the magical sound kingdom open after Turner has settled you on a soft mat, fluffed your pillow and tucked you in like a burrito. She spends the next hour listening to her intuition, as it guides her to play whatever sounds participants might need; she selects from her collection of more than 70 crystal singing and Tibetan singing bowls, chimes, flutes, rain sticks, drums, gongs, handpan and other instruments from around the world.

She plays the instruments strategically, moving from spot to spot around the room, surrounding listeners in a cascade of sounds. The click of shakers surrounds your head as Turner moves from right to left. Sometimes a large singing bowl is placed on your chest and hit with a mallet, sending vibrations deep into your marrow. A crystal Quartzophone harp is played near the crown of your head, the notes playing the sounds of the seven major chakras, or the energy vortexes Hindus and Buddhists say align up and down your spine.

The aural sensations will surely remind some of ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response), the physical response sought after by millions on YouTube, where video makers use an array of objects to create sounds said to cause a wave of tingles or goosebump-like reactions in the body.

Turner's sound bath might take you places you haven't been in a long time, if ever. At first you could find yourself walking along a dusty trail through a dense forest, the gravel crunching under your feet. And then some time later (though time is an elusive mistress in this den of aural delights), you are now sitting in a rocker on an old farm porch, watching as a storm rolls in, bending the fields with wind. Finally the rains come, drenching the parched land. A full moon rises in the sky. A Native American flute plays somewhere just out of sight.

Sound baths are a practice Turner encountered about seven years ago when she rented her Colorado Springs Airbnb to Greg Haner, a certified Tibetan sound bowl practitioner. At the time she had her psychology practice and was a psychology professor at University of the Rockies, but the experience transformed her life. She went on to complete a Sound Bowl Immersion with Haner three years later, and now she's done thousands of sessions for individuals, couples and groups, first at Marmalade at Smokebrush, then her home when the pandemic hit, and now inside Pikes Peak Metropolitan Community Church off 21st Street.

A sound bath is what you make of it. It can simply be a way to relax or a way to heal.

"The point is for you to enjoy the experience and relax and release energy that wants to be released," said Turner, who moved from Brazil to Washington, D.C., in 1986, and to Colorado Springs in 1993.

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"I'm not doing psychotherapy, although my background helps a lot, because people love to talk about their experience after. And I understand where they're coming from."

Nicole Garver has done about nine sound baths with Turner since August. It's become a necessity her body craves every couple of weeks.

"The first time she (Turner) described it as therapy without words," Garver said. "And I didn't grow up in a family that would ever consider therapy or talk about it. It was nice to not have to put thoughts and feelings into words and just let my body do its thing."

The 90-minute sound bath begins with 15 minutes of introductions and an explanation of what to expect, followed by the hourlong sound session and a 15-minute debriefing, when people are welcome to share their experiences. Turner offers a variety of experiences, including a Valentine's Day bath or those that feature cacao or tea ceremonies. Group baths are $36. A private bath is $110.

"One time there was a sound I didn't like," Garver said. "She said you might not be able to figure it out today. Later this week it might hit you out of the blue, but that was normal. She can't tell you what's wrong with you, of course, but she is there to help guide you and let you know thoughts, feelings and muscle spasms are part of the process."

A sound bath is contraindicated for those with epilepsy or who have seizures, due to the changing waves of vibration that could trigger a seizure. Those with metal in their bodies, especially something like newly placed screws, need to check with their doctor. Those who have recently had surgery and are not fully healed yet, are pregnant or have heart issues also need a doctor's OK.

Sounds have been used by different cultures around the world for thousands of years, including Indigenous Australians who played the didgeridoo and tribes in Brazil who used voices and drumming to heal, said Turner.

Every experience we have in life is accompanied by a sound. Our brains forget those sounds, of course, said Turner, but hearing them again can trigger an emotion, whether positive or negative, especially if the sound is associated with a trauma. Turner warns people this might happen during a sound bath, and she advises them to relax, breathe and tell themselves they are safe.

"People can also feel pain," she said. "It's believed this cleans the channels of energy. Vibrations cause energy to move. If there is a blockage due to stress or trauma, and it's trying to remove that energy but it's blocked, it's very common that people experience pain or discomfort. But then 99% of people say it's gone at the end."

Contact the writer: 636-0270

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