Mysterious Meditation Bowl – How to use singing bowls

Sounds and music works great in improving the mood of a person. By reducing the amount of stress causing cortisol in the body and boosting your immune system, music can do wonder in calming you down. And, when it comes to sound, nothing can level the effectiveness of a meditation or singing bowl. The vibrations produced by a singing bowl has an intensifying effect on your body and soul that makes you feel relaxed physically, mentally and spiritually.

Meditation bowl is a distinctive bowl that in particular is made up of alloys. This metal alloy bowl when hit with a mallet produces a sound and vibration that has a soothing effect on your body and mind. This vibration can actually alleviate stress and depression, lower your blood pressure and improve your sleep quality along with relaxing your body. If you are also eager to know about how you can use meditation bowl for such purpose, keep on reading and find bleow:

What is singing bowl?

A singing bowl is a bowl that typically is made of a mixture of different metals that produces a special sound when stuck by a mallet. This simple phenomenon has been used since ancient times in Tibet and areas around as a successful sound therapy method. First discovered by the spiritual travelers of the Himalayas and later on popularised by the Chinese invaders, this method is still that good in giving your body a sense of deep relaxation.

There are even a few theories explaining how this Tibetan sound therapy can affect the mind and body through vibrations, enhance relaxation by impacting our brain waves and show the same psychological advantages that are offered by listening to music. Undoubtedly, Tibetan monks have been using this therapy since a long time.

How to use meditation bowl?

If you are also interested to use singing bowl in your meditation routine to give it a kick-start, you can follow just a few simple steps. You can place the meditation bowl on your body (like on belly) or near your body and can keep changing it’s angles at different points of time.

The simplest way to use singing bowl in meditation is to just strike it on with the help of a mallet. All you need to do is to simply hold the mallet with your dominant hand, place the bowl at a reachable distance and then gently hit the mid side part of the bowl. This will release a soft and gentle vibrational sound. Let the vibration flow around your ears and body. Don’t strike the bowl again until the vibration is completely passed.

If you want another boost to this easy striking technique to upscale your meditation session, you can try rimming with mallet that can give more deep vibrations. You can start by sitting in a comfortable position, holding the mallet with your dominant hand with a grip in the center. Grip it like a pen. Place the bowl in the desired place and strike the bowl’s rim with mallet in a vertical position and immediately circle the rim of bowl in a clockwise direction just as you’re stirring a pot from outside.

While doing so, it is important to make circle using your full arm support and not just your wrist. This will give a sweet female overtone that will get sweeter and sweeter as you make the contact between bowl and mallet firmer and firmer. This warm sound will harmonize with your body cells and kill all the toxins present in your brain by stimulating it’s both sides.

Benefits of singing bowl

Singing bowl works wonder for your overall health. You can get following benefits by adopting singing bowl in your normal meditation routine.

It’s sound stimulates the calming brain waves

The buzzing sound produced by a singing bowl can stimulate the calm brain waves. The alpha and theta waves present in your brain are calmed with the sound of bowl. This vibration works on the energy field of your body. This results into a therapeutic state where your mind and body feel peaceful and gets relaxed.

Can lower your blood pressure

While there are not any big researches that proves the fact, a few studies however have shown that the sound of meditation bowl can actually even your blood pressure. There is a reduction in your systolic blood pressure and heart rate as your body and spirit rejuvenate themselves in that healing sound.

Great for spiritual wellness

The healing vibrations of singing bowl works on your brain giving you a positive spiritual experience. You get a good feeling about yourself while being connected with yourself that results into an experience of bliss. The intense sound reaches your soul and promotes your energy levels. The seven Chakras inherent in our body also get cleansed with such vibration.

Boosts your physical health

A person who practices meditation with the help of singing bowl will notice many positive changes in his body. The whole therapeutic experience can soothe your muscles and improve your digestive system and blood circulation. The harmonizing sound results in elimination of toxins from your body. All the molecules, tissues and organs of your body work in a better way resulting into an improved immune system. One research has proved that meditation bowl can even lower the intensity of chronic spinal pain and gives you relief.

Reduces stress

As said earlier, nothing can match the effectiveness of sound therapy in relaxing you down. Your mood gets better as you enjoy the vibrational sound of the bowl and any stress that you are struggling with gets easily alleviated. No doubt, it can be the low cost method of fighting against depression.

Can improve sleep

As singing bowl stimulates the calm brain nerves and relaxes your body by reducing stress, it’s sound can help in improving your sleep.

Such benefits clearly shows that singing bowl is used for purposes like reducing depression, stimulating immune system, relieving from pain, harmonizing body cells and boosting performance of other healing practices.

Dangers of singing bowl

While singing bowl is considered a very safe method for relaxation purposes with almost no side effects, you should note that the use of singing bowl causes intense vibrations around the body. People with certain health conditions should avoid it. If you have any metal component in your body, you shouldn’t use this sound therapy as the vibrations can affect the component badly. The placebo effect may help you feel relaxed but it won’t necessarily be helpful when trying to lower blood pressure, depression or respiratory rate.

Also, if you’re prone to headaches, you should avoid using this therapy by keeping the bowl very close to your body. And, since it has negative effect when placed on body, pregnant women shouldn’t seek this method for meditation.

How to choose the best singing bowl

After knowing about all the benefits and various uses of singing bowl, if you are also interested to purchase a singing bowl for meditation, you should be a little careful. It is important to know that different types of bowls releases different types of vibrations affecting our body differently. While starting using singing bowls, you should purchase the one which is not too big.

As a beginner, you should purchase a small bowl for meditation. The best size of singing bowl to buy in starting is of 5 to 6 inches. As you progress, you can look for a bigger size bowl. Choose a bowl that is made up of good layers of metal alloy as it gives the best vibrational experience.

Meditation of singing bowls are an intriguing option to try. With its amazing effect on your physical and mental fitness, sound produced by a meditation bowl gives an authentic spiritual experience. You can easily incorporate this instrument in your meditation session to give it an interesting twist. With the steps explained above, you can get all the good benefits that it’s vibration offer. Keep experimenting by placing the bowl in different points of your body or around the body. And, just strike it on and feel the relaxation.

Qigong Meditation Complete guide – Benefits and Techniques

The Chinese mainland has given the world a lot in physical and spiritual improvement. Various techniques that have been practiced there since the ancient times are still very useful and working. One such Chinese practice that is far better than it’s actually hyped is the Qigong meditation.

Okay, the word meditation may overwhelm you and that may be acceptable considering the fast paced lifestyle and how fancy this simple approach has gone, but this ancient technique is nothing sort of boring. Qigong meditation combines the meaningful slow movements of the body with the benefits of focused breathing. It makes you feel more connected with all parts of life. But, slow isn’t necessarily boring. Qigong meditation is a practice that is quite challenging. Come forward and keep reading to know about what actually this confusing title holds and how it can help you in your relaxation goals.

What is Qigong meditation?

Qigong meditation is an ancient Chinese meditation technique that gives you can follow to get the benefits of meditation using breathing and slow body movements. The word Qigong which is pronounced as chee-gung literally means “master of energy”. The Qi here means the energy. And in case of this mindful exercise, it refers to the energy present in our body.

With qigong meditation, you try to let this energy inherent inside you travel through your entire body. This energy surround the environment around you such that you feel connected with the nature and the universe. This connection is built using the slow movements practiced while meditating. You can promote your mental, physical and spiritual well-being by controlling your breathing and body movements and letting this energy flow throughout your body freely.

Techniques of Qigong meditation

Qigong meditation is such a vast relaxation method that it comprises of many different techniques each focused on making you feel connected with the essence of nature in a different way. In these techniques you’ll be learning some certain characteristics like visualization, breathing, posture and relaxation to achieve the ultimate objective of mastering that energy. These techniques are :-

Dong Gong

Dong Gong represent the yang, the active part of the energy. This technique is all about the intentional movements and breathing control to let you improve that active part of energy and hence, is also called active Qigong. You are focusing on the strength and vibrancy of that energy with repeated movements that are coordinated in a subtle flow. The continuous movements let energy flow through the body that improves balance, muscle flexibility, and awareness about the body.

Passive Qigong

Passive Qigong represent the yin part of the energy. This technique focuses on improving the mental aspect of your energy. You concentrate on your breathing and mental activities to bring stillness into the soul. This stillness is achieved by keeping your mind active with visualization and similar activities. While following this technique, your body is actually still outside while the mind is active and calm. This meditation technique is somewhat similar to a traditional one. You can practice it in the usual way by sitting, laying or in any other comfortable position.

Benefits of Qigong meditation

Qigong meditation gives a person many health benefits making it a very successful mindfulness technique if followed seriously. Some of these benefits are even backed by studies. These benefits are :-

It reduces stress

Just like any other type of meditation, Qigong meditation is a proven method of reducing stress. The technique gives you a chance to focus on yourself. You give consideration to your breathing, your mind and your body movements. The coordination between such activities helps you relaxing your mind. When you concentrate on visualizing good things, you feel the goodness in life that further helps in reducing the symptoms of anxiety. You’ll get a better quality of life by incorporating Qigong meditation in your lifestyle.

Improved balance

You can experience a drastic improvement in your body balance with Qigong meditation. The meditation involves doing certain slow movements. These slow movements works to improve your balance. When you delve deeply into your body under this meditation technique, you get an awareness about all your body parts. You focus on the energy that flows gently throughout your body. This positively affect your muscle strength and flexibility. Even proved by many researches, Qigong meditation improves balance among all age groups.

May improve sleep

Since, Qigong meditation is a type of mindfulness exercise, it may help with insomnia issue and can improve sleep quality. Qigong is a way to awake the energy within you by focusing on your body, mind and breathing. As you are mindful about your body and thoughts, you feel a deep connection with yourself. This connection gets more deep as you connect your inner energy with the nature around you. This may help you in healing and you feel a sense of calm. You are completely aware about the present moment. Such awareness relaxes you down. This makes sleeping much more easy

Reduces the risk of chronic disease

Qigong meditation can prove very beneficial in lowering the chances of chronic diseases. While there is not any worthy research backing this fact, people can significantly reduce the risk of chronic disease by getting a proper meditation session on a daily or weekly basis. Like a physical exercise, Qigong meditation helps in enhancing blood flow, reducing stress on the body and improving the overall fitness. You may also avoid any chance of having stroke by combining Qigong meditation with Tai Chi practice.

Helps in improving focus

One benefit that you can get by doing Qigong meditation is boosting your focus. Since Qigong is one such practice that requires you to concentrate on a certain thought, your focus is enhanced. While meditating, you give full attention to your breathing, the things you visualize and the movements of your body. These slow movements are actually very hard particularly in terms of maintaining focus. If you practice Qigong rightly, you can brush up your concentration skills.

How to practice Qigong mediation as a beginner?

As already said, Qigong meditation is not easy to begin with. And, to practice this meditation correctly is harder than it’s pronunciation. But, with all the benefits, if you are a beginner looking for starting this meditation routine, here’s a quick guide for you :-

Starting an active Qigong practice

An active Qigong meditation technique requires following some certain body movements. These body movements are slow that require your body parts to move gently. All these movements are focused to stimulate the energy within your body and let this Qi travel around your entire self. These body movements actually takes time to learn. The best way to learn active Qigong meditation is to join a Qigong learning group or watch a guided video with all steps.

An active Qigong practice generally starts with breathing. You learn how to take control on your breathing. You learn so by focusing on your inhalation and exhalation. After that, you begin doing a series of slow body movements. You keenly observe your posture such that you feel the Qi getting awakened. As a beginner, you can start practicing 30 minute sessions.

Starting a passive Qigong meditation

While an active Qigong meditation requires a proper guidance in the beginning to learn, you can learn passive Qigong simply by yourself. If mental peace is something more intriguing for you, you can start practicing passive Qigong.

You can start by sitting in any position that you’re comfortable in. This technique involves mental activity and external stillness. Keeping this in mind, close your eyes and start the practice. Concentrate on your breathing. Feel your stomach rise as you fill your lungs with each breath you take and fall as you release that air. Let the negativity and tension within you also release as you exhale. As you are focusing on your breathing, fill your mind with positive thoughts. Visualize some positive scenes that put a sense of calmness and happiness to your mind. If you’re not sure about starting the meditation by yourself, don’t hesitate to follow online guided courses for better understanding.

Can Qigong meditation be harmful?

Qigong mediation is possibly one of the safest techniques for exercising. It is far more safe than going on a walk. You don’t need to worry much about any side effect. There is a usual risk just as in case of any other physical activity. You can harm yourself by falling while exercising. This risk is lesser in case of Qigong as it comprises of slow body movements over which you have complete control. However, don’t substitute the practice with any serious pre existing condition.

Qigong meditation has always been successful as a healing practice. This mindful technique that has nourished finely since ancient times in the Chinese land is still helping people get many physical and mental benefits. By relaxing you down, Qigong meditation can also heal you. This slow practice is indeed well worth to master. It can be practiced by individuals of all age groups. Give your boring routine a soothing twist and try Qigong meditation for a