Sound Bath: Meditate, Heal and Connect through Listening

by Sara Auster

Use the power of sound to bring balance, relaxation, and a sense of well-being to your mind, body, and spirit with this unprecedented and comprehensive guide to sound baths.

Discover the power of sound to transform consciousness, heal the mind, and calm the body.

Sound therapist and meditation teacher Sara Auster has traveled the world facilitating sound bath experiences, bringing the transformative power of sound and listening to the masses, and building diverse communities.

In this comprehensive guide to Sound Baths, Sara introduces the therapeutic properties of sound, shares her personal journey to recovery from a traumatic accident, and answers the most commonly asked questions about sound therapy, meditation, deep listening, and healing. Sound Bath provides helpful tools for even the busiest skeptic who wants to achieve a reflective, self-healing state and invite calm into their daily life.

Learn techniques that will support states of deep rest, focused meditation, and abundant creativity. Explore drawings, photographs, and stories that will transport you; as well as information, statistics, and essential terminology to help support your growth and ground your practice.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Audiobook

336 pages, Hardcover

Published November 19, 2019

Reviews

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated this guidance into better, more intuitive listening, and was able to glean a lot of insight from it. I wish she had studied and incorporated more information on frequencies, as listening to these are an integral part of healing through sound.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Sound Bath" is about the author's life, what led her into facilitating Sound Baths, and what her Sound Baths are like. The book sometimes came across as an ad for hiring the author to do a Sound Bath for your group or for buying her recordings. She spent chapters describing how she got into doing Sound Baths, what attending one of her sound bath sessions is like (with sound alone or in combination with scents, yoga, etc.), and how to get the most out of a Sound Bath session. There was a chapter full of letters from people who attended a sound bath and how it helped them.

She also gave an overview of the (mostly Eastern) ideas that inspired what she does in a sound bath. She talked about deep listening, yoga, mindfulness meditation (using sound as your guide), why stress is bad, your voice and words as sound, mantras, doshas, meridians, prana, chakras, etc. I thought the book was supposed to be about how sound benefits physical health, but she started talking like the point of Sound Baths is to achieve an altered state of consciousness. The author also briefly described the instruments that she uses and their history (origins, what they were used for in religious rituals, etc.). At the end of each chapter, she gave an exercise relating to that topic that you can do by yourself, but I felt like this was primarily a what-she-does book rather than a how-to book (especially if you're not interested in dabbling in Eastern religious practices).

I received an ebook review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you, Tiller Press, for the review copy.

I'm torn on how to review this book. On the one hand, Sound Bath /does/ deliver on its promise to talk about the therapeutic effects of sound baths and suggests methods for having our own sound baths. However, the book spends more time focusing on Auster's life. We learn about her relationship with music, how she got into the field of sound meditation, and what she exactly she does for a living. There are ample plugs for her sound bath album and for her guided meditation practices. In fact, there are swaths of pages dedicated to testimonials from customers. The one or two testimonials that focused on the experience (not the product) might have fit, but glowing praises of Auster and her work made me question the intention of this book.

I'd love to try a sound bath because I'm quite sensitive to sound and I've long been interested in the sonic experience, but I don't think this book would have convinced me to try one if I didn't have the background that I do. I would have loved for Auster to go more into sound baths themselves. I'm giving the book three stars for the information it does provide, but taking off stars for the marketing effect.

[C.M. Estopare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked out this book on a whim, but what I was met with inside seemed perfectly tailored to people like me. As a highly sensitive person, sound and music can be as detrimental as it is gratifying and freeing. In this book, the author taught me how to tune in deeply to sounds through a practice called deep listening. She includes a wealth of science-backed information on why and how sound bathing is not only good for your body but good for your soul as well. There are beautiful graphical depictions of meridians, the workings of the inner ear, Hindu goddesses, and much, much, more. At the end of every chapter is an exercise meant to help you fully grasp the information learned. For this book, you'll want to have a journal handy.

Read my full review here: https://rainymorningreads.weebly.com/...

This ARC was given to me by Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

[Audio Athena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook duration: 6 hours 41 minutes
Narrator: Sara Auster (the author)

This audiobook was done RIGHT. It wasn't just someone reading the paperback into a microphone.
1) The author narrated it and did just as good as any professional nonfiction audiobook narrator.
2) There is a 10 minute sound bath in the audiobook so you get to experience what the author is talking about.
3) Each chapter opens with the sound of a singing bowl.

This was an interesting listen and the author adds just enough personal history to help the listener understand the importance sound baths and healing had on her life and what they can do for others. I do wish there was a bit more scientific data referenced on the benefits of sound baths, but she does do a good overview of music and sound terminology and types of sound therapy.

[Stefanie Dettmers]

The audiobook is very well presented, I really liked listening to it, but content-wise it wasn't for me. I hoped to learn more about the modalities of a sound bath, scientific background, the author's experiences with the subject - just some new input, when in fact this is a book on the basics of sound healing. It doesn't deliver on its premise of the "sound bath", it doesn't deliver on the premise of how to meditate, heal and connect through sound baths. The information given is clearly directed towards the total novice in the field of sound healing. If you already read books on sound healing, if your a sound healing professional looking for information on a different modality, you probably won't need this book. I'm not rating it, as I'm clearly not within its audience.

[Fed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her voice is really soothing (audiobook)
Some of the mentioned exercises are really good
I liked the idea of tuning with one's voice and body as well as being in senc with others
It's a generalized, simple,and informative book. It suits beginners who want to have a simple idea about Eastern alternative medicine and sound healing.

[Sabrina Quairoli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about sound bath and what it is and how to use it for relaxation and within your meditation practice. I listened to the book through Audible. In the recording, she used sounds as well to get a glimpse of what it is like being in a sound bath.

[Erika Mazzei · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve had this book forever (two years to be exact) and I found myself reading it when I needed inspiration. As a sound bath practitioner I found her insight and stories insightful and informative for my own practice.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started out okay. She spent a lot of the book on testimony from her clients, and towards the end I felt like she was only trying to sell me stuff.

An absolute beginner could benefit from the first half of the book. Even for an absolute beginner, I recommend a different book.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy attending a sound bath and have given a few myself. The author seems very experienced and I would love to attend one of hers. The book has made me pay more attention to sounds of every kind.

[Anya Blanche · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing. I was expecting more in-depth manual about how one can start with giving sound baths. Also not that much about ancient traditions… I felt it was too general… Have not learnt anything I did not know before…

[Neo · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Review to come, when enough energy to write it.]

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible and confirms my suspicions around sound and healing.

[Saraa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super interesting read! Loved the audiobook version with included sound baths!