Thinking around the pervasive and popular assumptions around the mind and body being two distinct entities, as explored in Descartes’ Meditations, Cherelle Sappleton invites you to create a space of calm where you can consider your relationship to your own body and take space and time to nourish your mind. Thinking about this disruptive (in good and bad ways ) and perhaps unsettling time, she offers a moment to catch up to yourself through a deep, relaxing sound bath.

Not being a student of philosophy herself, Cherelle has curated a number of accessible resources participants can choose to engage with prior to the sound bath including music, podcasts covering texts and ideas relating to Descartes’ Meditations, and Maurice Mearleau Ponty’s version of Phenomenology, talk by VS Ramachandaran on the workings of the brain and human perception. Prior to the sound bath Sappleton will give a short talk about the (in)significance of Dualism within her art practice and how sound therapy has become a focus within her personal and professional life. 

Resources

Participants can read/listen to any/all of the below before the session. If you don’t have a lot of time to spare, we would recommend that you at least listen to one of the longest and one of the shortest podcasts:

• On Matthew’s mind (text)
• VS Ramachandaran‘s BBC Reith Lecture ep 1 of 5 Phantoms in the Brain (43 mins)
• Philosophy Bites Podcast, Tim Crane on Mind and Body (10 mins)
• Philosophy Bites Podcast, A.C. Grayling on Descartes’ Cogito (12 mins)
• The Partially Examined Life – Descartes’s Meditations: What Can We Know? (99 mins)
• Passion Pit, ‘Smile Upon Me’ (song, 5:49 mins)
• Laima ‘Disco pregnancy (edit)’ (song, 3:38 mins)
• Deekie, ‘N35’ (song, 4:54 mins)
• Karen Gwyer, ‘Hippie Fraca’ (song, 15:21 mins)

What is a sound bath?

A sound bath is a relaxation technique and meditative experience in which participants ‘bathe’ in the sound waves produced by the human voice as well as instruments such as chimes, gongs, drums and singing bowls. The instruments used have unique sound signatures that elicit a variety of responses in the mind and body. In this session Cherelle will be playing Himalayan singing bowls and a Sun Gong with the aim of inducing a deeply relaxed state. You will be asked to lie down with your eyes closed, although sitting up also works if that’s more comfortable, and encouraged to breathe deeply whilst a soundscape is played to you live. All you need to do is listen, relax and receive. 

What is Sound Therapy?

Sound therapy is a healing technique that draws together scientific principles of sympathetic resonance and sound frequencies along with entrainment and the psychology of musical intervals to varying therapeutic effect. Depending on the practitioner’s interest and training, sessions with a sound therapist can utilise reflection as part of the treatment to address areas the participant may feel needs addressing or wish to explore. Sound Therapy has been proven to help alleviate stress and anxiety as well as physical pain. 

What do you need to enjoy a virtual sound bath?

• Leave 1-2 hours between eating so a gurgling stomach won’t distract you.
• Headphones – the better the quality, the better the experience you will have, but that doesn’t mean they have to be expensive (anything a step up from iPhone earbuds is ideal). It is recommended that you use headphones as the inbuilt speakers on laptops or phones are not capable of relaying the full spectrum of sound being played.
• Jumpers or layered clothing – it is important that you don’t get cold or too hot as this is likely to bring you out of the relaxed state.
•  Somewhere quiet and comfortable to lie down where you are unlikely to be disturbed. Blankets and cushions are a helpful for this.

Booking

This session will be taking place online via Zoom. There are limited places available and you must book your place via Eventbrite to receive the Zoom link and password. You should receive this information via email immediately after booking. If you do not receive this information then please email info@openschooleast.org well before the event starts so that we can assist you. When joining, please ensure that your mic is muted unless you are speaking. These sessions may be recorded for archival and promotional purposes, so please switch off your video feed if you do not wish to be included in this. Please join early to avoid delays (there may be a queue, the host will let you in to the session).

About the artist

Cherelle Sappleton is a Visual Artist and Healing Sound Practitioner based in Ramsgate. Having always had a love of music, which often inspires her artwork, she became fascinated with therapeutic sound practices after experiencing her first sound bath and almost immediately enrolled on a Sound Therapy course to know more and share its benefits with others. She now hosts in-person and virtual group sound baths for relaxation at various studios, venues and festivals.