The science

The Library

The practices at Halcyon are old. The research on them is newer, and growing. These are the studies we read and return to, each with a short note in plain language and a link to the original paper. We share them to inform, not to promise, and none of it is medical advice.

3 studies

Sound Bath · Nature immersion

The Effect of Music on the Human Stress Response

Thoma MV, La Marca R, Brönnimann R, et al.

PLoS ONE · 2013

Sixty healthy women with an average age of 25 were randomly assigned to one of three conditions before a standardized stress test: listening to relaxing choral music (Allegri's Miserere), listening to the sound of rippling water, or resting in silence. Researchers measured cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase, heart rate, heart rate variability, perceived stress and anxiety. Surprisingly, cortisol response to the stressor was highest in the music group and lowest in the rippling water group. However, after the stressor, the music group's alpha-amylase, a marker of the autonomic nervous system, returned to baseline faster than the silent rest group. Heart rate and self-reported stress did not differ between groups. Limitations: the sample was small and included only young women, and the results were mixed rather than pointing in one direction.

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Sound Bath

Music therapy for stress reduction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

de Witte M, Pinho ADS, Stams GJ, et al.

Health Psychology Review · 2022

Music therapy means personally tailored music interventions led by a trained music therapist, which is different from simply listening to music. This multilevel meta-analysis combined 47 studies, 76 effect sizes and 2,747 participants to measure how music therapy affects stress, looking at both physiological signs such as heart rate and psychological measures such as self-reported stress. Overall, music therapy showed a medium-to-large effect on stress-related outcomes. Effects were larger in studies without full randomization, in studies comparing music therapy with a waiting list rather than usual care, and in studies from non-Western countries. Those moderator findings are also the main limitation: the strongest effects came from the weaker study designs, so the true effect in rigorous trials is likely smaller than the headline number.

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Sound Bath · Meditation

Effects of Singing Bowl Sound Meditation on Mood, Tension, and Well-being: An Observational Study

Goldsby TL, Goldsby ME, McWalters M, et al.

Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine · 2017

This observational study looked at how people felt before and after a Tibetan singing bowl sound meditation, a format close to what many people call a sound bath. Sixty-two women and men with an average age of about 50 took part. Compared with how they felt beforehand, participants afterward reported significantly less tension, anger, fatigue and depressed mood, and their sense of spiritual well-being increased. People who had never tried this kind of meditation before showed a larger drop in tension than those who were already familiar with it. The authors suggest singing bowl meditation may be a low-cost, low-technology way to ease tension and low mood. The key limitation is the design: there was no control group, so the changes cannot be separated from the effect of simply lying down and resting in a calm setting.

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