Sound bath classes in Varkala
Let gongs and bowls wash through you.
A sound bath is a class where you lie down and listen while a facilitator plays gongs, singing bowls and other resonant instruments around you. There is nothing to do and nothing to get right. The sound is the whole practice.
No classes scheduled in the next two weeks.
What Sound bath does for you
You lie still and let layers of tone and vibration move through the space, and often through your body. Many people drift into a dreamy, half-asleep state and come out feeling rested and quiet. A gong can build into a wall of sound that is surprisingly physical, while bowls are softer and more bell-like. It is a low-effort way to switch off for an hour.
It suits you if
- you find silent meditation hard
- you love music and texture
- you need to rest without effort
- you want an evening that ends horizontal
Read the full guide to Sound bathWhat a class is like, your first time, history and the words you will hear
What a class is like
Classes run 45 to 90 minutes, often in the evening. You lie on a mat with a blanket, a bolster and maybe an eye pillow, while the facilitator plays metal or crystal bowls, one or more large gongs, and sometimes chimes, drums, a monochord or voice. There is often a short breathing or relaxation intro, then nothing but the instruments, rising and falling in volume. Some facilitators place a bowl on or near your body so you feel the vibration. No movement, no sweat, very little talking.
Your first time
- Wear warm, comfortable clothes and socks, since you will be lying still for a long time.
- Arrive early to set up your mat and blanket, and go to the toilet before it starts.
- Bring earplugs if you are unsure about volume.
- Switch your phone fully off, not just to silent; a buzzing phone carries in a quiet space.
Good to know
- Gongs can get loud; if you have tinnitus or are sensitive to sound, take a spot farther from the instruments or talk to the facilitator first.
- Some facilitators place bowls on the body; say beforehand if you would rather they didn't.
- Lying in the dark with intense sound can stir up emotions or restlessness; you can sit up, open your eyes or step out at any time.
Where it comes from
Sound has been part of ritual for millennia. Bronze bells and gongs come from East and Southeast Asia: the word gong itself comes from Java, and Buddhist temples across Asia strike standing bells and bowls to mark meditation and chanting. Gongs entered Western orchestras in the late 18th century.
The singing bowl, played by circling a mallet around the rim until it hums, is younger than its marketing suggests. Bowls sold as Tibetan often come from Nepal or northern India, historical accounts of Tibetan music do not mention them, and Buddhist ritual strikes bowls but does not use the singing technique. Singing bowls reached the West in the early 1970s, helped by the 1972 album Tibetan Bells, and became a staple of new age music.
Germany played a big part in turning bowls into a practice of its own. The engineer Peter Hess, after a long stay in Nepal, began working with bowls placed on and around the body in 1984, calling it Klangmassage (sound massage), and his institute has since trained practitioners in more than 20 countries. Germany is also home to well-known gong makers.
Group gong baths and sound baths grew in popularity from the 2010s, often adding quartz crystal bowls, chimes and voice. In Berlin you find them as evening classes in yoga studios, seasonal and full-moon events, and as the closing part of yin or yoga nidra classes, sometimes in dark, candlelit spaces and sometimes in daylight lofts.
Words you will hear
- Singing bowl
- A metal bowl that rings when struck and hums when a mallet circles its rim.
- Klangschale
- German for singing bowl, a word you will hear in many Berlin classes.
- Gong
- A large metal disc struck with a soft mallet, producing a swelling wash of sound.
- Crystal bowl
- A bowl made of quartz glass with a pure, long-lasting tone.
- Monochord
- A long wooden box strung with many strings tuned to one note, played with the fingertips.