SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Listening to Deb Yoder play her signing bowls in her meditation studio through stereo headphones really is the quintessential mind blowing experience.
The metal bowl's harmonics are not just of one note but a collection of notes bouncing around your brain then down your back and chest.
And that's the whole point--to use the vibrations of the bowls to help the body relax. And if you're into that sort of thing, tune your "chakras."
Seven chakras are associated with various portions of the body, starting at the feet and moving up to the head. The chakra system originated in India between 1500 and 500 BC and is sometimes used in yoga practice.
Further, according to the Indigo Massage and Wellness website, "The word is defined as a spinning disk or wheel; a chakra on the human body is a spinning disk or wheel of energy that runs along the spine."
Don't laugh.
Yoder, owner of Tibetan Temple Sounds, located in the upstairs of a historic old building on Phillips Avenue in downtown Sioux Falls, also performs for cancer patients going through chemotherapy. She says they say it helps them cope with their ordeal. Just listening to Yoder play the bowls and feeling their vibrations puts your mind in a different place, at least temporarily.
Participants lay on a thin meditation mat while she performs, using a collection of mallets to hit or rub on the sides of the bowls. Some bowls are plain, some are incredible decorated with etchings. They are made out of similar material to what traditional bells are made of--bell metal bronze--which helps to give them their resonance.
"Some bowls will ring two minutes or more," Yoder said. "Bowls will have a variety of notes. They'll have a primary tone They'll have higher notes within and lower notes."
She says the better bowls will have six to eight tones in them.
"The higher tones are female tones, the lower tones are the male tones," Yoder said.
Her bowls come from Nepal and are actually "Himalayan bowls."
She says there is a spirtual component to the signing bowls but they are not associated with any particular religion. Some people just find them relaxing.
Tibetan Temple Sounds is located in suite 220 at 122 S. Phillips Ave. The website is tibetantemplesounds.abmp.com.