Despite how long I’ve lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, I still hadn’t been to Grace Cathedral into recently.
It’s no secret that I’m a lover or music and believe in the power of music and sound for healing. If you’ve never heard of sound meditation before, think of it as a deeper meditation experience through both sound and music.
Sound Healing Symphonies at Grace Cathedral
Recently, Chase and I headed to Grace Cathedral to experience a sound healing experience. Sound Meditation San Francisco puts on concerts and performances in the area, including Grace Cathedral. If you’ve never experienced it, I’d suggest you check out their schedule of events — sound meditation and healing can be so transformative.
Inside Grace Cathedral for sound healing
Let’s face it, for thousands of years, sound has been used in ancient cultures to ease anxiety and promote a sense of well being.
And, as we’ve written about before in our review of gongs and singing bowls, cultures have used sound as a tradition in many ceremonies, whether that be religious ceremonies or traditional ones.
For centuries, music has helped yogis, meditators and practitioners more easily get into trance and meditative states.
This is one of the reasons Kirtan has become so popular — listening to chimes, gospel, harps, bells, singing bowls, chants and more can all be a gift to the Soul.
Sound Meditation SF particularly praises and follows the tradition of Nada Yoga, an ancient Indian system of philosophy, medicine and yoga that focuses on sound vibrations. So in this process, they focus on ancient Tibetan instruments, particularly gongs and crystal singing bowls.
They apparently also incorporate shamanic drums, hang drums, ocean drums, koshi chimes, tingshe chimes, harps, Native American Flutes and more.
We loved our experience at Grace Cathedral, which has such a beautiful space inside and out. They say that within an hour of sound meditation, participants can come closer to a state of peacefulness than if they were to sit for a weekend of silence.
If you’re suffering from anxiety or depression, or frankly just over stimuli from work or home life, sound meditation can be really relaxing.
Next time you’re in San Francisco, head on over to Grace Cathedral for not just sound meditation or sound healing evenings, but also for other musical artists you can hear on their premises as well.
Grace Cathedral is an Episcopal cathedral located on on Nob Hill and is the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of California.