Can Sound Bath Meditation Result in Measurable Durable Inner Peace? An investigation into the effect of sound baths on well-being, stress and resilience to stress

Description

Bakcgroun
In most cities and towns worldwide, soundbaths are offered, and claims made regarding their healing properties. Soundbaths have even been offered for stressed covid weary nurses in a recent Health Care Trust report (Manning & Pattani, 2021). However, there has only been a handful of studies undertaken on soundbaths thus it is important to carry out empirical research to assess the benefits of soundbaths as a unique form of contemplative practice. Higher Education students start University with lower-than-average stress, yet by year two their stress levels are much higher (Macaskill, 2013). Therefore, it is important to identify specific interventions that can address this issue and improve students’ wellbeing and resilience. It is also important to understand the individual differences in response to sound baths.

Aims
The aim of this study was to examine undergraduate and postgraduate responses to taking part in six virtual or face-to-face soundbaths over six weeks.

Method
Students’ wellbeing was measured before and after the six face-to-face or virtual sound bath sessions using the a GP-CORE wellbeing questionnaire. In addition, student’s resilience to stress and physiological wellbeing was measured using the biomarker of heart rate variability (HRV).

Results
Preliminary results for the pre and post intervention GP-CORE measure show there was a significant difference in in subjective wellbeing as a result of taking part in a sound bath intervention. There was also a significant difference in HRV measures before and after taking part in the soundbaths.

Conclusion
The findings show that taking part in soundbaths can significantly lower stress, increase wellbeing and also resilience in higher education students.

Period	19 Jun 2025
Event title	International Network for the Study of Spirituality (INSS) 2025: Spirituality, Consciousness, Technology and Wellbeing: Implications for Research, Education and Practice
Event type	Conference
Location	Northampton, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International