SINGING BOWLS

As I've told you before I had the opportunity to do a lot of travelling while in India. When the school year finished I went to Kerala (which I recommend, by the way). Kerala is a state in the south-west of India, on the Malabar coast; it's the land of tea fields, backwaters, houseboats, palm fringed beaches, and Ayurveda massages. But I'll write about Kerala in another blog.

It is said that, as a woman, travelling around India alone is dangerous, but I had no problem. What you do have is a lot of opportunities to get nailed! Men there are specially eager to get to "know" a whitey!

The thing is that I arrived in Thekkady, willing to visit the famous Periyar National Park there, but there were no tickets, so I decided to go window shopping. Of course, Indians cannot let tourists go without jumping on them like vultures on a fresh carcass. And so did Mustafa, a muslim shopkeeper, hungry for selling and something else...

After showing me around the shop, he tried to buy me a cup of tea (it couldn't be anything else in the tea land). Well, not to buy, but to prepare it in the shop itself! I wanted to have an Ayurveda massage, so I just went, promising him, though, to come back later for the tea.

After the "relaxing" massage, I felt so great I decided to spend the rest of the evening with this guy. When I went into the shop, and while the tea was being steeled, he showed me the singing bowls.

This sound healing technique has been used for centuries by cultures around the world to balance the Chakras. A Chakra is a vortex through which energy flows both in and out. The body has seven major Chakras along the vertical axis of the body, running from the pelvic floor to the crown of the head. Our bodies, like guitars, are constantly moving in and out of attunement. Regular Chakra balancing helps you to maintain a vibrant life. Of course Mustafa wanted to tune my pelvic one!

A singing bowl can be a powerful tool to let go of current or past physical and emotional pain, in order to move forward in a positive, pain-free direction. It can also be helpful in manifesting your new life vision and in reaching your highest potential by removing physical and emotional blocks within the mind and body.

To play the singing bowl you have to rub the rim of the bowl with a padded mallet. It then produces overtones which create an effect that is unique to the instrument. If you want to know exactly how to play it, have a look at this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek_7NSsNdYk

Although I have to admit that I do "believe" in the singing bowls' "power", what I think it's a bit unbelievable are the sessions conducted over the phone or via Skype! That is too much to swallow!

Apart from being used to balance your Chakras, singing bowls can be used to entrain your brainwaves, relax, boost your immune system and creativity, reduce stress and anxiety, increase your intuition and your learning abilities, connect with your subconscious and program it, improve long-term memory,... So, why not give it a try?

Ah! And, in case you're interested, Mustafa didn't succeed!