Jak’s World Soundbath

5 January 2026, a common winter afternoon in frozen Manchester after New Year’s arrival, my phone received a message from Jak’s World, asking whether I am available for tonight’s sound bath session. I suddenly realized it has been almost a month since I attended the ‘Mindfulness’ last December. And I replied ‘Sure’ without hesitation.

We only had four participants tonight, because of the weather conditions and the unfinished holiday, but it had little effect on our amazing experience. Basically, a sound bath is to lie down on a mat with tailored music that helps you truly unwind. For me, a sound bath is a term that only exists in the IELTS listening test. I have never experienced it before, nor could I see the difference between common night sleep and sleeping with therapeutic sounds.

I lay down on the mat and put my head on the pillow with a slight touch of fragrance. As the lights went off, the projector released purple patterns dancing on the roof, making the room swell with delusive atmosphere. James, our specially invited music therapist, started knocking different instruments alongside the background music shifted. At the beginning, I had to say that I was too nervous to immerse myself in the session. The only thing on my mind in the early few minutes was nothing but my final essay of the module. As time went by, my brain was gradually mingled with rhythm and sounds from James; my consciousness became vague as I gazed at shifting patterns on the roof.

When I heard three gentle knocks from James, I took three deep breaths and woke up slowly. Having taken the session, my body and mind became much lighter and well-balanced, and even my eyes felt refreshed. It was a completely different experience, since the sounds and atmosphere insulated me from anxiety and disturbance from techy stuff. As life becomes hectic and demanding all the time, the quality of rest is not guaranteed by time spent, but depends on how much calm and peacefulness you can enjoy.

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