Sound Therapy w/ Sri Kala

May 23

Written By Riyaana Hartley

The Sounds

This is not a sound bath. This is not sound healing. This, for me, was sound therapy. I was a participant in this experience. I did not just lie there while someone played crystal bowls; I did work. The work of surrendering over and over again, the work of going deeper, meeting myself, moving into and through sensation, memory, energy, sound. This active receptivity to the sound therapy and Sri Kala’s guidance made my experience a conscious journey. Distinct and differentiated from passive sound healing, this was multi-dimensional alchemy.

Another reason this work with Sri Kala is real physical and energetic medicine is the instruments used. These are not handheld bowls, chimes, or rain sticks you’d find at the end of a yoga class. The session takes place on a giant stringed instrument. You are literally lying on top of this vibrational tool designed to permeate your body with frequency. The cords run up and down along your spine and the length of your body. The sensation feels as if every layer of your gross, subtle, and energetic body is being tuned, plucked, twanged, and shaken loose.

Then there are two other anchors in the room, one on each side of me. Massive percussive pieces, one a kind of gong and the other cylindrical bells. Their resonance fills the space and moves through my body, amplifying feelings, unlocking different stuck emotions and energies.

The most potent instrument in the room is Sri Kala’s voice. There is seemingly infinite range, depth, reach, and height for where his cries and tones can go. He sings sounds that unlock me. When I’m in the throes and my open mouth makes no sound at all, he sings what I’m feeling, and it releases. I get to move in, move through, let go, go deeper. When the vibrations and sensations build and I feel taken by waves of grief, his voice comes in stronger—a commanding cry, tones that reverberate safety, presence, guidance, and direction. I come back to my body and myself. I feel sober in the fire of the purification. Held in the heaving of emotion. And as it draws to a close, his voice offers gentle come down and completion, soft reminders of being loved and cared for, blessed and safe.

The last sound in this collaboration is my own. Sri Kala invites me to make whatever noise or notes as we move through the journey. I often mirror his toning as he’s sounding what I’m feeling. This is helpful when I’m deep in the underground and overwhelmed by my exorcism. I breathe all the different breaths; shallow, expansive, quickened, contracted, and ones that go on forever. My noises are mostly low and grumbled or bursts of moans, sighs, and staccato release. The stringed table beneath me and the giant vibrational instruments produce a hum in my body. I catch the hum and amplify it until I feel it resonating in my throat, jaw, face, temples, third eye, and crown. This sensation shakes loose the plaster holding old pains in my body. And finally, of course, there is wailing. The wailing becomes a symphony with crescendos and silences and rolling progressions of cries that empty years and lifetimes of pent-up pain. The most beautiful sound that moved through and out of me that day was a scream. A divine, powerful scream that was a song and a restoration.

The space

Every sense is comforted in this space. It sits right on the ocean, and the room is filled with a breeze that caresses your spirit. The sun beams in and mingles with the intoxicating aromatherapy of healing essential oils. The room is double height with a cathedral effect, giving a sense of expansiveness. Like the waves crashing and receding outside, silence and sound alternate here, creating a perfect rhythm.

The Journey

I said yes to the session for several reasons. First, I know and trust in the potency and safety Sri Kala creates. Second, I needed to try something for relief in my physical body. I had been dealing with pain for weeks and felt that its lingering was in part an energetic manifestation. Third, I knew this experience would be not just insightful but also a portal for myself, an opportunity to expand my own creative healing awareness.

Once we began, I was immediately aware of this feral creature inside of me that was terrified of the light of attention. I could see it scratching at the walls, panicked to get out and away from the sound vibrations. I felt compassion for this resistance, which eventually soothed me enough to rest. This creature is not gone, but now there is more trust and a relationship. At this point in the session, the rolling reverberations had shaken my grip, and the tears were flowing. What followed was layers of release of grief and suppressed expression. Moans and sounds and trembles and more crying came up and out. Energy and emotion from recent years, all the way to childhood, were dislodged from tucked-away crevices. The healing excavation even freed up wails and screams that felt like they came from ancestors.

When it came time for the last round of sound medicine, I thought I was ready to rest in receiving, but the part of me that typically suppresses and swallows for the sake of others was coming undone. She had been stirred awake, and there was a shockwave of grief bubbling up. I told myself I had cried enough, that this was getting excessive, that I should get it together. I was concerned my coming undone was too much or too off-putting for Sri Kala. But I knew this part of me had always taken a back seat to tend to the comfort of others. I knew she needed to be honored, heard, and held. At this point, a divine intuition or intervention told me I was the one that needed to speak to her. I felt her painful cry for assurance and loving witness. I hesitated to tell her it was okay because I knew I had to say it out loud. She needed to hear my voice, a declaration of choosing her despite the craziness of how it would look and sound. The words quivered out of my mouth as I lay there crying. I repeated it several times and felt myself holding her, the one who never got to let it out, and have her suffering honored truly. Sri Kala held his hands on top of mine, and slowly my body and breath returned to more stillness. This journey went beyond any expectation because we kept choosing to surrender, to listen, to trust, and to love.

The Results

In the final moments of the session, there was a minute or two of uninterrupted gurgling and churning coming from my sacral and solar plexus area. I could feel the digestion of energy in my body. I knew this was a change manifest. The physical is always the last place it shows up. When I eventually sat up, I felt like a giant being of light. I almost slouched my shoulders and bent my hea,d feeling like I didn’t fit in the double height space. I felt wide open, massively expansive and brand new, like I had just fallen out of the heavens and landed on this planet for the first time. I felt ravenous, and I was offered berries and laughed, asking for a fresh animal carcass instead. I wanted to devour life, get it all over my face, and be elated in the present moment sensations of being alive. I felt patiently held and witnessed in my vulnerable state. Sri Kala’s earnest attention was a sustaining force during this sound surgery. We sat together sharing our experience, and all the while, I could still feel the resonance and reverberations rippling up and down my body. More unraveling, more therapeutic release, and restoration were to come.

The next day, for the first time in weeks, I awoke with no pain. I could move my body effortlessly. I meditated that morning and witnessed the most beautiful breath rise up and out of my body. It came with an ease and fullness I had not known before. It’s been days, and I am still noticing a more profound peace and expansiveness.

I look forward to what may come in future sound sessions. This spiritual technology, in the hands of a loving and gifted facilitator like Sri Kala, openly received and engaged, is infinite in its possibilities. I can’t recommend it enough.

Sri Kala Chandra