While sound baths have been around for thousands of years, they’ve enjoyed a recent surge in popularity. Despite the name, a sound bath does not entail the use of water. Instead, the client lies prone on a yoga mat as the teacher creates sounds that “wash” over them. It’s up for debate whether this ancient practice started in India, Egypt, or Greece, but one thing is for sure: Sound baths can be an effective form of meditation.

To learn more, we spoke with Susan Selckman, owner of Updog Studios, a yoga studio in Towson that hosts several sound baths a year.

So what is a sound bath?
A sound bath is an immersive sound experience linked to rest and healing energies. Different instruments are played, from gongs to singing bowls to rain sticks to drums. Sound baths have become popular as a way for people to have another method to restore energetically. The idea is to reach a deeper level of relaxation and reset with sound frequencies at various decibels.

What are the benefits of a sound bath?
People are looking for a different way to find some peace and rest—this is just another way to bring them there. It helps with sleep, both the level and depth of sleep for days after—I consistently hear that. People are seeking some form of release. They might not be ready to take a yoga class; even if it’s gentle, there are instructions to follow. With a sound bath, where you just lie there, the work—and it can be work—is to surrender.

Why have sound baths become a recent trend in the wellness community?
People are so tattered that they are looking to create ease in their life. Ever since the pandemic, a lot of people would love to go into some type of therapy, but they’re told, “There’s a three-month wait, and you’ll need to self-pay”—tell that to someone who is already not in the best mental place. A sound bath is not a replacement for therapy, but people are just looking to see if something like this can help.

When deciding where to go, what should we keep in mind?
Trusting where you go is important. The person who is playing the instruments must understand how to keep the instruments under control—it can get away from you and get loud. If that happens, it can completely disrupt the experience. It’s also important to be receptive. If you go into this thinking, “It’s hokey,” you’re not going to have the best experience.

Can’t we just do this at home?
There are some amazing meditation apps out there, like Calm and Headspace, but it’s hard to get out of our own way. People will say, “I can do that at home,” and I’ll say, “Awesome, do you?” The answer is usually no.

WHAT YOU NEED

Yoga Mat: A well-cushioned mat provides a soft place to land.

Bolster: Props keep you comfortable and help absorb the sound.

Hydrate: Drink a cup or so of water prior to your sound bath—you don’t want to interrupt the experience once it starts.

We all thought wearing crystals as jewelry was just another L.A. trend trying to make its way to the East Coast. Turns out we were wrong. Becoming increasingly more mainstream and popping up in trendy boutiques around the country, crystals are said to legitimately benefit overall spiritual and physical health.

Ever since the Egyptians, various cultures have claimed that crystals have healing properties and emotional effects, such as boosting moods and releasing negative energy. Authentic crystals may just be the holistic health product you’re missing.

In honor of the upcoming full moon (February 19), we sat down with the owner of Hampden shop Crystals, Candles, & Cauldrons, Shelley Klimm, to find out more about the specific benefits of crystals, which ones are most popular, and how to use them in your daily life.

Why do you think crystals have become such a huge trend?
We are seeing a sudden emphasis on people’s spiritual paths, especially with everything going on in the world today. We’ve got a lot of negative energy out there and people are realizing these things really do vibrate—they help you feel better. Spiritual vibration is really elevating, which is a good thing. I don’t think it’s going to be just a trend. People are going stick with it.

What are some benefits of crystal healing?
There are some crystals out there that work really well for depression and anxiety. Just holding them helps you. I’ve known people who are able to get off of anti-anxiety drugs just by pulling out their crystal out and holding it. I personally think the mental benefits really outweigh the physical healing. That’s just me. I’ve just seen so many cases where people have had a lot of emotional issues and these crystals have brought them back from the brink.

What would you say to someone who is skeptical about crystal healing?
I get a lot of, “Well, god wouldn’t approve of these things.” To those people I say, “Well if god created the earth, god created those crystals.” And his or her energy is put into them. Scientific fact: they vibrate. They’re alive. But you can’t twist somebody’s arm. Sometimes, I’ll have somebody like that come in here and I’ll gift them with a crystal and I’ll tell them to work with it for two weeks and see how they feel.

How do you use crystals in your day-to-day life?
I am one of those people at home I have really large pieces. So I have them under the bed, at the top of the bed, where I do my meditation. I wear crystal jewelry depending on how I feel that day. So like today I have on moonstone and appetite. They are two stones that work your intuitiveness. They’re also just very good “feel good” stones. They keep me grounded. When I got up this morning, that’s what I needed for today. Occasionally, I will have something in my pocket. If I know I’m going to be dealing with a lot of negative energy that day or as the day progresses, I will go grab a piece of black tourmaline and stick it in my left pocket.

Why do you think crystals have become more mainstream?
We are getting more open—that’s the whole thing. Be aware that there is this market where they’re scamming people. There are also a lot of crystal practitioners that are scamming people. We know where all our crystals come from since daughter and I hand-pick everything. I think that’s why people come to us because we can tell them the story about the crystal. As long as there are places like this, you are just going to see an increase.

Do different crystals have different traits and effects?
You can go through the books and it will list rose quartz for your heart chakra, crystal quartz as your master crystal, and most of the black stones tend to be grounding stones or protecting stones. I am a firm believer that, if you are drawn to a particular crystal, there’s a reason for it. That crystal is calling out to you for a certain reason. I don’t tend to get too hung up in what the books say—and I will tell my customers that. You can’t tell something that is hundreds and thousands of years old: “Hey you are going to do this for me.” I let that crystal tell me how it wants to work on my body. My customers that listen to that and follow that are very happy and pleased with the outcome.

What are a few basic fundamentals to crystals and crystal healing?
I usually tell people to start with the basic crystals: crystal quartz, amethyst, rose quartz, citrine, and labradorite. From those five crystals, you can pretty much do anything and then you can build your collection around them. Everybody wants rose quartz because everybody really thinks it is a crystal to attract love. It’s really a crystal about self-love and self-esteem. If you don’t love yourself and you don’t have good feelings about yourself, you can’t love someone else properly. So that’s usually the crystal we get the most requests for.

How do you cleanse crystals and why is it necessary?
A lot of people will use them three days before a full moon, during a full moon, and three days after. So you’ve got a seven-day period that you can put your stones on the window sill and have them cleansed and charged up by full moon. I have so many that it’s just not feasible for me to put everything out on the window sill. I use a stone that is called selenite, which cleanses and charges your crystals. It grabs hold of negative energy and transmutes it to positive energy. Crystals pick up energy. Selenite will pick up and release it. Everything else picks it up and holds on to it. It’s really good once a month to go ahead do a cleansing to get rid of all of that negative energy around you.

Years ago, Brianna Bedigian was in a car accident that left her with a serious ankle injury and walking with a cane. Then, to compound matters, a few years later, she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue. “For two years, I lost my life, and I couldn’t hold down a job,” recalls Bedigian. “Someone suggested I try reiki, but instead of going for a session, I trained as a reiki [master]. It changed my life.” Eleven years later, Bedigian is the owner of Mt. Vernon’s Quiet Winds, where she combines aspects of reiki, yoga, and hypnosis. “At the time I got into reiki, I understood the overall concept,” says Bedigian, who also works with rehab patients at University of Maryland Medical Center for Integrative Medicine. “But I was not prepared for how much it genuinely helped me feel better and inspired me to work with others.”

Can you define reiki for us? Reiki is a form of energy work defined as universal life-force energy. It is similar in concept to what is now understood to be the quantum field in physics. It’s the idea that everything is energy, including us, and that energy is flowing around us all the time. When someone becomes a reiki, they can draw that universal energy through themselves and offer it out of their hands. Reiki is given through light touch or by hovering just above the body——traditionally, the 12-hand placements move from the top of the head to the feet.

Who can benefit from reiki? Reiki is good for those who are suffering from overwhelming stress, battling an illness, recovering from an injury, suffering from grief, struggling with depression, or feeling disconnected. In addition to private sessions, people can be trained to become a reiki and use it as a self-healing tool.

What does it feel like to have reiki and how does it work? For each person, the sensation of reiki can be really different—some people only feel sensations of heat, while others feel sensations of waves or tingles. If you were to come in for a session, we’d talk briefly and you’d explain to me why you’ve come. In my studio, you lay fully clothed and face up on the massage table. The treatment I offer is based on the traditional 12-hand placements. Most people become so relaxed, they shift into a meditative state or fall asleep. From my experiences, I have observed it relaxes people in a way that is overwhelmingly profound.

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WHAT YOU NEED

Use these items to maximize your reiki session.

Be Calm
Lavender oil is a great additive for a calming, relaxing, and soothing experience.

Bath Time
After your session take an Epsom salt bath to draw the energy off.

Reiki 101
Pamela Miles’s Reiki: A Comprehensive Guide is a great tool to learn more about the practice.