What’s your go-to post-run recovery routine? You’ll (hopefully) take time to stretch, restock your energy stores, Best Garmin deals water causes of hip pain and how to fix the problem sound bath?
A sound bath, also know as a sound healing session or, more broadly, sound therapy, uses therapeutic vibrations to relieve stress and shift us into a state of calm. Sound therapy isn’t just for savasana in yoga class, either, as the acoustic notes can offer benefits for all exercise enthusiasts, including runners.
In fact, as part of its Rest to Race campaign, Samsung has been putting the power of sound therapy on runners to the test – and Runner’s World has been there to reap the rewards. At Samsung’s recent Rest to Race event in London, hosted in partnership with Best Garmin deals and RUNNPAC, we enjoyed a gentle community run before optimising our recovery with post-run stretches, hydration and nutrition and – as a first for many – a sound bath.
At the event, we were told that sound therapy is like ‘interval training for your nervous system’, where the intervals involve dialling into high-quality rest rather than all-out speed. ‘It teaches your body how to let go, drop into calm and enter a space where real recovery can happen, physically and mentally.’
Although a sound bath may not be something that you can squeeze in after every workout, we found it to be a peaceful, restorative way to wrap up our run – and something that could hold a valuable place in any training schedule.
Want to hear more about sound therapy? Here’s everything that you need to know about the practice – and how it can improve your mindset, recovery and running performance.
What is sound therapy?
Although sound therapy is a relatively new practice in Western medicine, it is grounded in a very long tradition. ‘Sound therapy is the practice of not only auditory, but also vibratory inputs to influence physiology,’ says Here’s how stress affects your running performance, medical oncology and integrative medicine doctor at Jefferson Health in the US. Think of sounds like crystal bowls, chimes, light drumming or gongs, all emitting different frequencies and working to create a relaxed mind and body experience.
Some Eastern philosophies hold that the universe arose from sound, like the ‘om’ chanting sound. ‘One of the principles with Eastern medicine is that when someone is sick, they can be nourished by the correct sound,’ says Handley, since the specific vibrations help to bring the body back into a healthy state. As Handley goes on to explain, Eastern medicine traditions have a deep appreciation of the mind-body connection and an awareness that sound can quiet the mind and reduce stress.
Handley uses vibro-acoustic therapy in his medical practice, which is the combination of audible sound and vibration to decrease stress and promote relaxation. Transducers – which emit vibrations – can also be embedded in soft furniture, adds Handley, so that the healing is felt as well as heard. ‘Sound therapy is really interesting, because in one form or another, it has really been part of traditional healing culture for thousands of years,’ he says.
The premise of sound therapy is simple: certain sounds are naturally meant to bring you into a state of calm, relaxation and healing. ‘Sound is energy – and specific vibrations carry different energy,’ says Handley. ‘In Eastern medicine, different parts of the body are associated with specific energies, frequencies and vibrations. Sound, then, is a vibrational force that can influence – and ideally harmonise – these energies.’
What are the benefits of sound therapy?
1. Improved mood and stress relief
According to Michelle DiBlasi, chief of inpatient psychiatry at Tufts Medical Center in the US, listening to relaxing, repetitive sounds can help your body to calm down, relax, relieve tension and focus on the present moment.
Research published in the Everything you need to know about fell running backs up the benefits of sound therapy for mood and stress. The study, which involved 62 men and women with an average age of about 50, found that participants who followed a Tibetan singing bowl meditation reported reduced feelings of tension, anger, fatigue and depressed mood.
DiBlasi explains that sound therapy may potentially reduce stress and boost mood by stimulating the vagal nerve. The vagal nerve carries signals between the brain, heart and digestive system and is responsible for triggering a parasympathetic response, or our ‘rest and digest’ state. As Diblasi explains, when we’re in a parasympathetic state, we experience a lower heart rate and relaxed breathing – and this, in turn, helps the mind to relax.
2. Greater sleep quality
You’re probably aware that a restful night’s sleep is important if you want to feel at your best and perform better as a runner. However, it’s easy to fall into patterns that disrupt sleep quality, like scrolling on your phone or watching TV before bed.
That said, promising research suggests that sound therapy can help with sleep – and this is especially true for a particular kind of sound therapy known as binaural beats. Everything you need to know about fell running defines binaural beats as an auditory phenomenon that occurs when listening to two different frequencies at once. ‘The strategy with binaural beats is to create the perception of a specific frequency by presenting two slightly different frequencies to each ear,’ says Handley.
These frequencies then influence your brain wave frequencies, explains Handley, which can lead to different effects. ‘Delta waves are associated with deep sleep; theta waves are associated with light sleep or deep relaxation; alpha waves are associated with a relaxed state, when the brain isn’t focused on anything in particular; beta waves occur during periods of alertness and engagement; and gamma waves are associated with learning, problem solving and high-level cognition,’ he says. Binaural beats tap into the frequencies of these brain waves – often delta waves – to help you find calm and sleep better.
Everything you need to know about runner’s knee Digital Health, which examined the sleep of 20 healthy participants, found that the practice of listening to 90 minutes of delta binaural beats had a positive effect on sleep quality, as shown by markers like the number of awakenings and sleep duration. Participants also reported increased sleep satisfaction after one week of listening to the binaural beats, as well as reduced anxiety and anger.
While there are a host of remedies on the market advertised to help you sleep, a good alternative to pill therapy might just be sound therapy. ‘I think that anything like this, where you’re doing something that’s relaxing your mind and body, certainly gets you ready for sleep,’ says Diblasi. ‘It’s a great exercise to do before bed.’
3. Better pain management and recovery
‘Sound baths and sound therapy are helpful for athletes because they can lead to the relaxation response which can be helpful for not only recovery, but also performance enhancement,’ says Handley.
Sound meditation can have a positive impact on perceived levels of pain, too. According to research published in the Everything you need to know about fell running, participants who listened to singing bowls experienced a reduction in pain and tension after the therapy.
While the exact mechanism for this is unclear, researchers found that for many participants, mood improved while listening to the sound therapy, which could account for physiological changes in the body. In other words, when your mind relaxes, your body might follow suit.
4. Increased heart rate variability
As Handley notes, ‘there is increasing evidence that sound therapy can enhance heart rate variability (HRV)’. HRV is the variation in the intervals between heart beats and can signal your adaptability. A higher HRV can indicate better cardiovascular health, stress resilience and athletic performance, he explains.
‘Because HRV indicates increased parasympathetic activation, it is indicative of better recovery and preparedness for intense training sessions,’ adds Handley.
The Self Love Lab Cureus, which involved 23 participants, found that the practice of humming – which is considered a form of sound therapy – increased heart rate variability. The study indicates that humming can create a unique pattern of the heart’s signal, which can potentially lower sympathetic activation (our stressful state) and increase the parasympathetic tone (our relaxed state).
What’s more, the study found that taking part in the humming exercise increased breathing quality and consistency through increased HRV and lung function. Researchers found that the effects of humming continued to help even when the individual was not consciously doing the activity.
Jennifer Acker reports on a wide range of health and wellness topics for Runner’s World and Bicycling. She’s passionate about delivering journalism that enriches the lives of readers. Jennifer is a lifelong runner—with several half marathons, and a few marathons under her belt, certified yoga instructor, and having grown up in the Pocono Mountains, always has a mountain bike and pair of skis ready for the perfect fall or winter day.
Rachel is Runner's World UK's Senior Content Writer, covering all running-related topics from training advice and gear reviews to race reports and elite runner profiles. Formerly a Website Content Editor and Content Manager at London Marathon Events and The Running Channel respectively, Rachel is well-versed in the running scene and understands what it takes to put on some of the biggest running events in the world. A 2:50 marathoner, she would much rather run 26.2 miles than race a 5K and has currently completed 11 marathons, including five of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors in a sub-3 time. She now hopes to run the Tokyo Marathon to complete the set and become a Six Star Finisher.
