Healing Through Sound: Hoodland Bazaar’s Monthly Sound Baths Offer Community Calm and Connection

Most people who are not native to the Mt. Hood Villages likely assume stresses for the members of our community are few and few between, easily solved with a quick walk in the Mt. Hood National Forest. The average resident will tell you it’s not that easy. A stroll near the Salmon or Sandy rivers is sure to provide pleasant distractions, but the overall stress of everyday life exists no matter how close one lives to a beautiful volcano. For those reasons, the Hoodland Bazaar offers sound bath classes twice a month at their location in the Thriftway Plaza.

With deep roots to ancient cultures across the world, the practice of a sound bath – using sound as a technique to heal bodies from a variety of ailments –  is now an experience available to members of the Mt. Hood Villages. While the idea of a sound bath may seem like a new-age technique, according to Christen Prudence, Hoodland Bazaar Event Manager, the practice is rooted in science and quantum physics. “A sound bath is an ancient restorative meditative experience where various frequencies of sound “wash” over participants, which can provide deep relaxation and healing – physically/mentally/spiritually –  improve mood, and spark creativity by helping brainwaves relax into a theta-dominant state,” Prudence said. “Hundreds of clinical trials and peer-reviewed studies have been done to demonstrate the healing effects sound can have,” Prudence added.

Although the sound baths hosted at the Hoodland Bazaar are geared towards healing and helping community members within the Mt. Hood Villages, Prudence also explains that the continued classes help keep the memory of the late Susan (Phoenix) Lane-Fournier alive. A proponent of community healing activities, Lane-Fournier began hosting events at The Hoodland Bazaar as a way of sharing and giving back to the mountain town she loved. “Phoenix and I collaborated on an event in 2018 where I did Reiki while she performed a sound bath for a small group of women in the community,” Prudence said. “When Phoenix began offering her sound baths at Hoodland Bazaar in the summer of 2023, I attended regularly. Our last conversation was about sound baths and I feel as if she “handed me the torch,” so to speak, for keeping sound baths going for the community. We need it now more than ever after suffering such a devastating loss,” Prudence added.

A healing and relaxed environment is the goal of any sound bath technique. Prudence explains that no two sound bath experiences are the same. “As a Reiki Master Teacher, I infuse and amplify this universal life-force energy through my instruments; participants receive this through immersion in the overlapping healing vibrations from sound,” Prudence said. “I begin with a guided meditation and then play the instruments intuitively. All participants do is relax and allow themselves to soak in the sounds and honor what their body asks of them,” Prudence added. Using meditation and sound techniques that have stood the test of time, Prudence is able to help participants release “stuck” emotions and feelings.

While the focus and goal of the sound baths is one of positive and calm healing within the community, honoring their friend and her memory by performing these rituals and practices she loved is a way of giving back to the community itself. Allowing neighbors and friends to decompress in the “Phoenix Room,” where the sound baths take place, has provided a peaceful complement to a most profound loss. For more information on the sound baths and upcoming events at The Hoodland Bazaar, please email HoodlandBazaarEvents@gmail.com or visit one of the classes offered the first Tuesday and third Saturday at 7 p.m..