The Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving I woke up with severe vertigo whenever I moved my head even a fraction of an inch and wondered how I’d be able to start cooking the feast promised for the next day. Symptoms included the sensation the room was spinning around, nausea, light-headedness, feeling I was about to fall over and exhaustion. The only thing that had ever resolved vertigo attacks in the past had been acupuncture – and relief had only come the day following the treatments.
WHAT CAUSES VERTIGO?
“Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is caused by a problem in the inner ear. Tiny calcium “stones” inside your inner ear canals help you keep your balance. Normally, when you move a certain way, such as when you stand up or turn your head, these stones move around. Sometimes these stones move into an area of your inner ear called the semicircular canal. When you move your head in certain ways, the stones in the semicircular canal move. Sensors in the semicircular canal are triggered by the stones, which causes a feeling of dizziness.” (Michigan Medicine, 2019)
I mentioned the vertigo problem to a friend who told me about something called the Epley Maneuver that involves a series of head movements to shift crystals that have moved into the inner ear canal and cause the vertigo.
THE EPLEY MANEUVER
This short video explains the Epley Maneuver:
Now that I knew what had caused the vertigo, I figured this maneuver would probably work but the idea of going through it sounded horrific. I started to think what I could do that would be gentler and similar to acupuncture to move the crystal(s) that were causing the problem and recalled that sound vibrations have been used for centuries to heal various physical problems.
So I enlisted the aid of my chef friend, Curtis LaPrise, who’d come up from New Orleans to help me cook the Thanksgiving feast, and this is what we did.
I sat on the couch, put a red cushion ring on top of my head and had him place my largest Tibetan singing bowl upside down on top of the cushion so the bowl was balanced there.
Then, while I kept a pointer finger firmly on top of the center of the bowl to keep it from falling off, he used the mallet to sound the bowl, working slowly around the rim of the upside down bowl for about ten minutes.
And my vertigo was gone! I got up, felt quite fine and proceeded to do all the things required to get the feast ready.
USING A SINGING BOWL ON TOP OF YOUR HEAD
Here’s why this wonderful, enjoyable treatment worked – and also gave me a whole body tune up to boot:
You can see in the video example (not of me) that the sound waves produced by the singing bowl enters both ears.
HOW SINGING BOWLS WORK
When choosing a singing bowl, go to a Tibetan store or some other reputable place that sells them and try a few out. Then choose one whose vibrations feel most suited to your body. Also get a cushion ring and mallet that match the size of your bowl. This may be a substantial investment but one that will greatly improve all aspects of your health and over all well being for the rest of your life.
HOW SINGING BOWLS HEAL
Tibetan singing bowls have been used for centuries for sound therapy, a form of energy medicine. When gonged, the bowls create harmonic sound waves that restore healthy vibratory frequencies to diseased and out-of-harmony parts of the body, mind and soul.
“Healing processes are initiated through entraining our brainwaves to synchronise with the perfect resonance of the bowls. Unique tones create the perfect state for deep meditation, creative thinking and intuitive messages.
“The pure sonic waves that ring from Tibetan Singing Bowls wake up our ability to hear with more than our ears. We feel the sound (from) Tibetan Singing Bowls as much as we take it in with our ears. “Sound Healing expert, Diáne Mandle states that Tibetan Singing Bowls don’t only effect a great deal of physical healing but also have far-reaching implications that occur on emotional and spiritual levels. It is a regenerative process married to a spiritual awakening that can have profound consequences on illness, disease, and all aspects of our lives.” (Dangeli, 2019)
AN 11 MINUTE TOTAL BODY TUNE UP WITH SINGING BOWLS
Keep your singing bowl out of harm’s way and bear in mind that dropping a singing bowl on a hard surface may crack it and mean the end of its ability to produce harmonic sounds.
For another post on healing with Tibetan Singing Bowls and one on the value of Traditional Tibetan Medicine, see also:
REFERENCES
Dangeli, J. (2019). Tibetan Singing Bowls – The ancient brain entrainment methodology for healing and meditation. See: https://jevondangeli.com/tibetan-singing-bowls-the-ancient-brain-entrainment-methodology-for-healing-and-meditation/
Hardin, J.R. (7/25/2014). The Value of Traditional Tibetan Medicine in the 21st Century. See: https://www.allergiesandyourgut.com/post/the-value-of-traditional-tibetan-medicine-in-the-21st-century
Hardin, J.R. (8/14/2014). Vibrational Sound Therapy: Healing with Tibetan Singing Bowls. See: https://www.allergiesandyourgut.com/post/vibrational-sound-therapy-healing-with-tibetan-singing-bowls
Michigan Medicine, (2019). Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). See: https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/hw263714#aa38302 © Copyright 2019. Joan Rothchild Hardin. All Rights Reserved.
DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site or blog is intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Comments submitted prior to 8/25/2021
For singing bowls, and other Tibetan tchotchkes, Phurpa Lama is the best. He has really beautiful things, and claims to be a real Bhutanese lama. I tend to believe him. Padma Tibetan Handicrafts. 230 Thompson Street New York NY 10012. (212) 673-8491
Charles DeFanti
In reply to Charles DeFanti
Thanks,
Charlie. Always good to have a reputable source for all things Tibetan. This small & lovely store is in Greenwich Village, a block south of Washington Square Park, on the east side of Thompson St just below West 3rd St.
Joan hardin