Waves of sound washed over the participants Thursday in the first Sound Bath sponsored by the Bloomfield Public Library for people who have been affected by the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People epidemic.
It was the first in a series of free quarterly sound bath sessions to be offered.
Exactly what is a sound bath?
“A sound bath is a meditative practice where participants lie down and are immersed in a wash of resonant sounds produced by various instruments like singing bowls, gongs, chimes, or even the human voice, with the intention of promoting deep relaxation, stress reduction, and a sense of well-being by bathing in the vibration created by these sounds,” a sign at the event explained. “Essentially, it’s a full-body listening experience designed to induce a calm state through sound waves.”
The idea to offer a sound bath for people who have lost loved ones was conceived by Jennifer Spencer-Morris, Bloomfield library assistant. Spencer-Morris participated in several sound baths at yoga sessions offered in Bloomfield by Michelle Maranjo. The experience and her reaction to them caused Spencer-Morris to believe such an experience would help in the healing and perhaps offer a moment of peace for people experiencing the grief of missing and murdered relatives.
“I grew up traditional,” Spencer-Morris said, but grew to enjoy sound baths.
“It felt almost as good as coming out of a sweat or going into a ceremony and leaving – you feel like you have energy that you didn’t think you had, and it’s good energy,” she said.
Spencer-Morris personally knows several people affected by the terrible experience that is plaguing Native American communities, and her sister, Alyssa Begay, is a community advocate for MMIP. She said she wanted to help these families find the peace she experienced “even if it’s just for a couple of hours, even if it’s just for the day, I want them to feel the peace and relaxation that they need to take them further to keep going, fighting, speaking and sharing their stories.”
Two of the 10 people who attended were mothers whose sons went missing and were later found murdered. They shared their painful stories, and how getting answers from authorities, either from the Navajo Nation police or the FBI, has been a long, arduous and unfruitful journey.
The session was led by Maranjo of Sacred Sounds, with assistance from the Rev. Sandra McCready-Clark of Scared Spiral Healing. The instruments used in the sound bath included crystal singing bowls, native drums, tuning forks, Tibetan bowls, a Tibetan gong and a titanium gong.
Before playing the instruments, McCready-Clark shared some information, including the facts that the human body is 80% water, and that water is affected by vibration. She explained the philosophy that vibrations of the various instruments makes a person’s personal vibrations higher.
“When your personal vibration is higher, you have less chance of getting sick, being emotionally distraught, even in rough situations, you learn to calm yourself easier,” she said.
People spread out in the Bloomfield Multi-Cultural Center room, lying on yoga mats. McCready-Clark led a brief guided meditation, and then the two facilitators played their instruments for about 45 minutes. The loud, clear, deep vibrations filled the space, washing over the participants. Following, people comforted the two grieving mothers who shared their stories.
Another session is planned next quarter. To find out the date and time, as well as other events surrounding the Missing Murdered Indigenous Relatives movement, check out the Bloomfield Public Library Facebook page.
For more information about MMIP and MMIR, there is a website portal that supplies statistics in New Mexico – https://mmip.nmdoj.gov/. The Navajo Nation also has its own data set and has listed 80 people who are missing. Alyssa Begay also has a Facebook page that lists information about missing and murdered Indigenous persons as well as upcoming events.
