When I met Leigh Ann Phillips a few years ago, I never would have thought that I would find myself under her spell of sounds and harmonics. Leigh Ann is a therapist who utilizes Quartz Crystal Singing Bowls and vocal toning for sound healing. I spoke with her last February, gaining insight into her work through both an interview and a personal session with her and her bowls.
As a seasoned patron of alternative therapies, I have tried the gamut. Biofeedback, massage therapy (and its many branches), Ayurvedic traditions, acupressure and aromatherapy. But sound is the one branch of alternative medicine I had not experienced or studied, and I feel blessed to have met Leigh Ann for this reason. On her website, www.leighannphillips.com, she describes the typical session with her bowls and how they work :
“Sound can be a direct path for shifting consciousness for the better allowing greater intelligence deeper relaxation, less stress, and more creativity”.
“We have the capability of improving our health and well being dramatically by using and understanding the power of sound. Sound healing is a direct path to establishing new neurological networks that create the conditions for increased happiness and health. Because we literally hear with our skin- not just our eardrums – we literally “feel” music and it can be transformative on many levels”.
Leigh Ann Philips works with sound to heal past traumas and to free trapped emotions. As a therapist, she feels that her quartz crystal bowls convey sound messages that are unique to the client’s personal needs. For many therapists, projection is a delicate matter, and they must be careful not to project their opinions onto the susceptible client. Leigh Ann feels that working with the bowls creates a 3rd party for the experience. The bowls become the vehicle for healing, taking the judgement and projection out of the session and creating a unique relationship with the client. After the session, she’ll share what her interpretation of the bowls has been (if that is what the client desires) but also allow space for the client to sit with their own understandings. She feels that especially for people who live mostly in their rational, left-brain worlds, the bowls give patients the emotional, non-logical right-brain experience they may want.
The history behind synthetic quartz crystal bowls began with their accomplished inventor, Marcel Vogel. Read more about the man behind the sound here.
Personally, I can attest to the profundity of experiencing Leigh Ann's bowls. The sound reverberates through your entire being, so no muscle or fiber is left untouched by the music. Simultaneously, the sound surrounds you, especially since the bowls are played directly on the body. If I could have, I would've tried to open my eyes and grasp the multitasking nature of this therapy. Leigh Ann plays more than one bowl at a time, switches them out and also incorporates her own lovely voice when appropriate.
In all honesty, though, it was nearly impossible to stay objective during this experience, and I really didn't want to. The sound was intoxicating and I wanted to lose myself in it, to feel without judgment or opinion. It took me to a place that not even the most psychedelic concert could've. I was sensing and sensitive to it while it washed over me. Once the music ceased, I found myself facing a troubling understanding of how much I take for granted the power of sound. Leigh Ann shared that this post-session period of silence was the most important for integration, and I agree.
The silence that followed the session was testament to how profound and infinite sound is. It continues to move and affect us even after our ears cannot register it. And it was during the absence of it, after the session, that I began to integrate what it meant to me, how it resonated within my body, and how good it felt to be surrounded and filled by it. This may be due, in part, to the brain state it imparted upon me- Delta and Alpha waves at work! I left feeling more connected to my body- after having sound penetrate me it seemed to leave no stone within me unturned. I also left from that experience recognizing how careless I can be with my own sounds- the words I may not always mean and the meaningless sounds I constantly take in, through radio and tv, gossip and baloney.
Leigh Ann has found several benefits to experiencing Crystal Bowl Sound Healing.
These include:
Increases intelligence
Increases problem solving
Increases Creativity
Increases Wellness
Encourages Emotional releases
Encourages Somatic work
Types of pure Gems and Minerals used in Leigh Ann’s Synthetic quartz crystal bowls:
Rose Quartz + Laughing Buddha (iron and cobalt)
Grandfather – iron- solid sound
Vanilla Quartz – ultra thin
Silver- Feminine Inward
Ocean Gold
Iron- Gutamala
Sedona Vortex- redrock – rhicker
Clear Quartz
Muldevite- titic (meteorite)
Tibetan Bowls
Charcoal – clears emotional and physical toxicity
Diamond – like a laser – pinpointed for trouble areas
Emerald – high heart and compassion
Gold – yang energy powerful in Egyption alchemy
Vanadium – Also in Egyptian Alchemy
Amethyst- merge spirit and heart
Common powerful protective
Indium – digestive trace element
Morganite- lungs and grieving
Ryvy – blood circulation heart
Rose Quartz- emotional heart (with Platinum)
Black tourmaline – detox protection
Lepidolite and lithium for depression
Kyanite – Soft divinity
Pheancyte- most electrical strone on planet
Serpentine – Earthy
Yagna – Karma Clearing
Azeztalite – high frequency
Imperial Topaz
Learn More about Leigh Ann and the power of her crystal bowls at www.LeighAnnPhillips.com
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