Of all the beautiful things in life, music and sound have to be among the most precious.

I have felt the power of music my whole life. You could track themes of my childhood through mixed tapes and pages of lyrics scribbled on pieces of paper after diligently pressing play/stop/rewind over and over on my tape player (who’s with me?!!). When I am happy, I sing. I often wake up with a song in my head. For me…music. is. life.

It is no surprise then that after a life-changing event, I turned to my love of sound and music when I was desperate for healing.

In October of 2020, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The call I received that something wasn’t right with my recent mammogram, and all the bits and pieces of terrible conversations, tests, and decisions that followed are still etched in my mind with a particular sharpness. I am a mom, and the first and most painful parts of this news centered around thoughts of my two teenaged children. Ironically, for many years prior, since the sudden death of their father when they were only 3 and 6 years old, my main goal in life was to “stay alive” for them. Breast cancer was not only a shock to me, it was an ironic twist that cut deep into my life’s purpose.

Since this happened during the height of the COVID pandemic, I moved myself into a room in my basement soon after the diagnosis. I didn’t want to be exposed to any sickness that would hold up my treatment. A few weeks later after surgery, I was sent home, bandaged and in pain. It was very quickly apparent that I could not tolerate the pain medication that was prescribed. Tylenol was my only option, which didn’t help at all.

So there I was, isolated from my family, in my basement, tightly bandaged and in pain, emotionally exhausted and physically depleted with a heaviness of all that was going on that felt crushing. In that moment I knew, no one was coming to help me. I had to figure this out on my own.

With a depth of trust I had never called on, I looked within myself with determination to find a solution. I followed my instincts of what would help my pain. For my physical body, I wrapped myself in blankets as tightly as I could. For my mind, I returned to a meditation practice I hadn’t used regularly in years and repeated my mantra over and over. And for my spirit, I looked towards my love of sound and I googled “singing bowls” for the first time in my life. I put headphones on that played them in 8 hour blocks of time. When I was in this state everything was tolerable, the pain was minimal, and I could get relaxed enough to fall asleep. After about 3 days of following these practices (and no medication) I was able to get out of bed and move around in a way that was not possible before.

The simple passage of time may have been what was needed for my body to heal. But I know, with 100% certainty, that the calming, peaceful sounds I heard in my ears, that permeated my entire body, made that time not only tolerable with less pain, but also put my body in a space of safety and relaxation that allowed maximum healing.

My body healed itself as a body does, but the music put my body at rest so the work could be done.

I moved on from that experience to the next phase of my treatment. I knew I would go back at some point when time allowed to find out more about these bowls. I carried the experience of my healing in those days in my basement with a particular tenderness and curiosity.

Two years later, I took a certification course in Vibrational Sound Therapy using Himalayan singing bowls. My intent was to learn more about the bowls, about sound therapy and about music therapy in general. I wanted to share this gift with my friends and family. The course taught me an added layer of benefit, with the bowls being placed directly on a person’s body. I became a Certified VST Practitioner in the Summer of 2022.

Since then I have had the honor of introducing the bowls to so many people who are now as in love with them as I am. I have a particular ambition to share VST with women of all ages. I have come to deeply understand the importance of purposeful relaxation as a true gift to women who juggle so much throughout all the stages of their lives. I started Breath & Bowl with a passion in my heart to help people relax and feel good. I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to accomplish this than with the use of beautiful sounds and vibrations.

Sound is a gift.