What to wear to a sound bath

The short answer

Dress like you are about to fall asleep

A sound bath is an hour lying on your back under a blanket. So the rule is simple: wear what you would wear to lie on the couch on a Sunday. Soft, loose, warm, and nothing that digs in.

There is no dress code and nobody is looking. Most people come in trackpants and a jumper. Plenty come straight from work and just loosen what they are wearing. You will not be asked to move into any shapes in a sound bath, so you do not need activewear.

Head to toe

What to wear

• Soft, loose bottoms. Trackpants, leggings, wide linen pants. Skip jeans, belts and anything with a hard waistband or zip. They feel fine standing up and terrible after ten minutes lying flat.
• Layers on top. A t-shirt with a jumper or hoodie over it. You will want to add or remove something partway through, and layers let you do that quietly.
• Warm socks. This is the one people forget, and cold feet are the most common complaint we hear. Shoes come off at the door.
• Hair you can lie on. Claw clips and high buns press into the back of your head when you lie down. Wear it down, or in a low ponytail.
• Glasses off, or not. Most people take them off once the lights go down. Contact lenses are fine to keep in.

Why it matters

Why you get cold when you stop

When you lie still and your body shifts out of its stress response and into rest, your breathing slows and your body temperature drops a little. That shift is associated with the deep rest people come for, and it is also why someone who arrived warm is reaching for a blanket twenty minutes later.

We provide blankets, but layers you can adjust from under the blanket are better than lying there deciding whether to get up. This is true in a Melbourne summer too. A room feels very different when you are completely still for an hour.

Leave it at home

What to leave behind

• Strong perfume or essential oils. It is a shared room, the air is still, and some people are sensitive to scent. Go light or skip it.
• Jewellery that jingles. Bangles, charm bracelets, big earrings. They make noise every time you move and they get uncomfortable lying down.
• Your phone, switched on. Fully off, rather than on vibrate. A phone buzzing on a wooden floor carries across a quiet room.
• A watch that beeps. Same reason.
• A heavy meal. Eat something light beforehand. Lying still for an hour on a full stomach is uncomfortable, and lying there hungry is distracting.

Pack light

What to bring

Very little. Mats, bolsters, blankets and eye pillows are all provided, and they are set up for you.

• A water bottle.
• An extra layer or a scarf if you run cold.
• That is it.

If you want to make the most of it, bring a little time afterwards as well. Most people feel calm and slightly floaty for an hour or two. Our sound healing aftercare guide covers what helps.

Different classes

If you are coming to yin or somatics

• Yin + Sound. You hold long, supported floor shapes, so wear something you can stretch in without it riding up. Tibetan bowls may rest on your body, and a thinner top layer helps you feel the vibration.
• Nervous System Reset and Stress Release. These open with gentle movement and somatic exercises before you lie down, so wear something you can move in.
• Private 1:1 sessions. You stay fully clothed. Soft, simple layers are best, and bowls may be placed on your body over your clothes.

One more thing

Arrive fifteen minutes early

Give yourself time to take your shoes off, set up your spot and settle. The door locks five minutes after class starts so the room is not interrupted, and a missed class is marked as a no-show. Our how to find us page shows the walk from the street to the door, which helps the first time.

Where to start

What we actually run

• Sound Bath · 60 or 90 min The easiest door. You lie down under a blanket and the sound does the rest. No experience, no effort.
• Nervous System Reset Somatic tools and gentle movement first, then the sound. The one to book if you arrive wired.
• Yin + Sound Long supported shapes with Tibetan bowls resting on the body. Part deep stretch, part vibration massage.
• Private sessions Energy field reading, frequency and vibration work, one to one with Ange.

All at 5/1A Windsor Place, Windsor, ten minutes from the CBD. Mats, bolsters and blankets provided. See this week's timetable and prices.

Keep reading

More from the journal

• What to expect at your first sound bath
• Sound healing aftercare
• Sound bath vs meditation
• Every article in the journal

The rest of it

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