| <!--StartFragment--> | | | | levels of creativity. |
| Tibetan singing bowls, also sometimes known as | | | | Singing bowls have also increasingly been used by |
| Tibetan bells, or Himalayan bowls, are believed to date | | | | complementary medicine practitioners for cleansing |
| back as far as two thousand years and were used | | | | crystals, clearing rooms of negative energies, by reiki |
| by Tibetan Buddhist monks as an aid to meditation. | | | | practitioners, for chakra balancing, and people using |
| However, as far as the uses of singing bowls is | | | | sound as a tool for healing. Singing bowls are |
| concerned, this is pure speculation. There is no | | | | particularly widely used for chakra balancing because |
| evidence to support the meditation theory, but they are | | | | of the fact that is believed that each chakra (or |
| used as an aid to meditation these days in the west. | | | | energy centre in the human body) has an affinity with |
| According to tradition, they have been made from an | | | | a particular note. |
| alloy consisting of seven different metals, copper, | | | | <!--StartFragment--> |
| nickel, tin, zinc, brass, gold, and silver. Today, the best | | | | How to Play your Singing Bowl |
| quality hand beaten bowls are still made from an alloy | | | | Learning to play a Tibetan singing bowl effectively is |
| of different metals but the gold and silver is omitted. | | | | not a science, although some people longer to master |
| These days, the majority of singing bowls are not | | | | it than others. The secret is not to rush it, just take it |
| made from an alloy of different metals. A lot of the | | | | calmly and slowly. Sit down in a comfortable chair in |
| cheaper, inferior quality singing bowls are actually cast | | | | a quite room, cupping the singing bowl in your hand |
| rather than being hand beaten. This type of singing | | | | without gripping it with your fingers. Take the |
| bowl does not produce the best sound, whereas the | | | | wooden beater, or stick, in your hand and hold it as |
| hand beaten singing bowl, made in the traditional way | | | | you would a pencil with you finger positioned half way |
| by far produces the best resonance. Each singing | | | | down. If you have one of the beaters which is partially |
| bowl is different, producing a different note, often with | | | | suede covered, use the suede end of it to make |
| many rich harmonics. As a rule, the smaller the bowl, | | | | contact with the bowl as this produces a much better |
| the higher the resonance will be and the bigger bowls | | | | sound than the wooden end. The wooden part of the |
| will produce a deeper resonance which will also be | | | | stick can produce a very harsh, clattering sound until |
| longer lasting. The size of singing bowls can very | | | | you are well practised at using it. Make contact with |
| greatly from weighing 150 grammes to 10 kilos | | | | the very outside rim of the bowl, and slowly and gently |
| These bowls are still made by skilled craftsmen in the | | | | go around the outside with the stick, making sure that |
| Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. The mass- produced, | | | | you retain contact with the singing bowl at all times. |
| cast bowls are generally made in India or China. | | | | You will begin to feel the bowl vibrate, and the "singing" |
| In the past 20 years, Tibetan singing bowls have | | | | will begin. Carry on running the stick around the each |
| become increasingly popular as an aid to meditation. It | | | | and the resonance will increase. You may need to |
| is believed that the resonance from a singing bowl | | | | increase or decrease the pressure on the bowl but |
| produces alpha waves in the brain, a state only | | | | knowing this will come with practice. |
| achieved by the most experienced yogis. The Alpha | | | | <!--EndFragment--> |
| state is an intensely pleasurable and relaxed state of | | | | <! |
| consciousness essential to stress reduction and high | | | | |