Parity staff are delivering a new kind of musical experience for students, after a parent funded a trial ‘soundbath’ session at the Camberley day service.
A soundbath uses sound to create an immersive experience, leading to therapeutic and restorative processes in the listener. Everyone attending the Camberley service on the day took part as guided meditation specialist Siobhan from Your Peaceful Heart played an immersive range of resonant sounds using instruments like Tibetan bowls, a gong and a beaded shaker.
Staff observed all the reactions. “You could sense people relaxing. It was almost hypnotic,” said Day Service Manager Darren Shergold.
The team lost no time in developing their own, shorter sessions, to be guided by the students participating in them. Parity provided instruments but staff also experimented with what was to hand. “You can introduce any sound, like tapping fingers,” Darren said.
In a recent soundbath activity run by Darren and Senior Keyworker Becky Wawick, the two participating students each responded in a completely different way.
One normally very boisterous student seemed totally entranced. For this student, it was as though the music was a physical experience, like being in the water.
The second student, who tends to sit expressionless, with their head resting on their hand, came alive. On their journey to the area where the session was held and throughout the session itself, this student grinned and made happy noises. They only became still again, with their head back on their hand, after the music stopped.
“All the students have been through a lot,” Darren said. “This will help them combat stress, alongside other benefits.”
