The first time I attended a sound healing session, I had no idea what to expect, and, as a professional singer who had spent much of my life on the stage, I was intrigued.
What was sound healing and how was it different from the music I was performing?
I happened upon this event during a time of great chaos in my life—I was reeling from a sudden divorce, had recently lost my dad to mental illness and addiction, and was losing my mom to stress. My world as I knew it was crashing around me, and it was becoming impossible to maintain the demands of my singing career. I had just completed three national opera tours, several apprentice programs, and was on schedule to audition for my dream program at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
It was too much. Stress suffocated me, stole my breath, and shut down my voice. I bombed my dream audition.
Healing was a distant tease.
When I arrived at the sound healing event, I immediately felt comforted by the 30 or so metal bowls that were thoughtfully arranged from smallest to largest. It was an orchestra like no other! I plunked down next to the largest bowl, tempted to sit in it.
An internal voice demanded, “Show me this thing you call ‘healing!’”
Certainly no “healing” was being demonstrated for me or my family. In that moment, life sucked. If my prayers couldn’t heal my dad, my marriage, my mom, my career, how could a simple sound session?
My cement heart and I lay on the mat, ready for the journey.
An hour passed as if it were a minute, and, as the facilitator brought us back, I truly felt healed—of what specifically, I didn’t know. I doubted that the chaos and disappointment surrounding my life had shifted in that magical hour.
But something within me had.
I felt lighter, softer, almost giggly. Even though my life as I knew it was shattering, a sensation of joy flowed through me. In that moment, I knew that I was going to be okay.
As I left the event, I vowed that I would learn that sound tradition and share it with others. Now, across the 13+ years following that event, my lifetime of musical training has merged perfectly with the self-healing and empowerment tools that saved my life.
I prayed for healing and in an unimaginable way, I found it.
Healing is many things. Although it doesn’t always happen on my preferred timeline or in the way that I envision it, healing energy is present for us to access here and now…even as we are moving into increasingly challenging times and rising chaos.
The stress may feel suffocating. You may feel like your voice is being strangled. You may feel shattered.
But you do not need to face it with a cement heart. I tried that. It’s not sustainable and it’s certainly not fun. Nor do you need to face it alone.
Here are some things you can do:
• Take care of yourself every day. For all the trembling news you hear, take that much more time to steady your breath and sense your center, your divine spark. That spark is powerful.
• Take time to notice the miracles unfolding around you. Open yourself to joy and awe.
• Your words matter and what you focus on matters. For as many horrors as you are witnessing, spend twice as much time envisioning the love, respect, kindness, and unity that you wish to see.
15 years ago, healing was a distant tease, but for me it snuck in a back door through divine sound. That one session jump-started my healing journey. And since then, it’s been my mission to share the healing space with others.
From relief of sciatica, headaches, and sinus infections to emotional healing, improved sleep, and stress reduction, the sky is the limit when it comes to the benefits of sound healing.
I invite you to explore my offerings as they unfold this year. From in-person to online, let’s connect and unite as we support each other on this divine mission of raising consciousness.
Love, Light and Connection,
Denise
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