Ihnna Han, Essence for Life, invited the Gazette staff to experience Crystal Bowl Sound Meditation. Of course, our adventurous editor was ready to go, but he was encouraging strength in numbers to venture into this untested territory. Douglas Carpenter decided he needed a break from the kitchen. C.W. Pruitt II, Broad Ripple's own "love poet", was looking to free his mind and boost his creativity. The editor's father-in-law, David Huffman, provided family support. Rhonda Lynch, a friend of Ihnna's had tried it before. Before wrinkles, I used to dabble here and there in crystals, tai chi and meditation, so I was curious.

Seven white bowls of varying sizes were sitting on the floor when we arrived. The crystal bowls are made of pure quartz crystal and are based upon Tibetan bowls that are often used by monks in ceremonies. Each crystal bowl is tuned to one chakra in the human body. Chakras are the energy centers of the body, where body and spirit most strongly connect. The centers are at the third eye, head, throat, chest, navel, abdomen and groin. For those who don't know about their third eye, it is also called the psychic eye. This mental eye is not physically visible and is located in the middle of the forehead. The sounds of the seven bowls make up one octave. According to the description of the technique, the entire human body in a relaxed state vibrates at a fundamental frequency of 8 cycles per second. Sound affects our bodies and can produce changes in our system.

It was time to begin. Ihnna directed us to take off our shoes and lie on the floor. She encouraged us to take a mat, a blanket, a pillow. A candle was lit and the lights were shut off. The powerful perfume of Paper Whites filled the air. In a soft voice, Ihnna directed us to breathe deeply and let our thoughts flow. She explained the sounds would soon help slow and even stop our thoughts, calming our nerves and leading to a meditative state. The sound began. My immediate response was that there was a loud, painful noise racing on an oval track in my brain. (My engineer husband says this was because the sound must have resonated with my auditory nerve or was it my cranium?) My head tingled. I was fascinated at what would happen next. The sounds changed. Some were distinctly different. Some were pleasant. Some caused my ears to ring. I did not have many thoughts. I wanted to sleep, but forced myself to stay awake and experience the entire session. Perhaps I should have let myself slip into deep meditation so I could benefit from the full effects of the session. I thought I'd be cold, but I felt warm. I was not immediately conscious of the others. Soft bells were moving about the room and then Ihnna told us the session was over. It felt like a few minutes, but we were there for more than thirty.

People were slow to sit up. I wanted to linger under the blanket. David asked if the technique reduced his heart rate. Ihnna said it happened frequently. C. W. was clearly wowed by the experience. He had been suffering from the gray February creativity doldrums. He was now anxious to start writing. Our editor was glad he came, but he confessed his thoughts did not quiet as much as he hoped. After all, this was his first meditation session ever. He said he did feel very relaxed afterwards. All of us agreed we were mellower than when we came in. Ihnna presented us with a bag of her homemade Detox bath soak. (If you want to try Detox, the cost is $10.) She recommended we go home and immerse ourselves for at least 30 minutes and our body would be shed of toxins. She suggested we try a healing essence session next. Sounds good to me.

Try for yourself and erase your stress. Call for an appointment.

Take a test to find out about your chakras at: www.eclecticenergies.com/chakras