“Sound as medicine is nothing new. Sound as medicine has been used for hundreds of years on all continents. For example, Tibetan throat singers use vibration to heal, shamans in Latin America use flute and singing and many other instruments, and percussion instruments used in Africa are some of the examples of how sound is used as medicine.”  

– Guadalupe Maravilla

Join artist Guadalupe Maravilla and other sound healers for an hour-long sound bath at the ICA Watershed. In this immersive, full-body experience, Maravilla will activate the installation Mariposa Relámpago (Lightning Butterfly), a sculpture he has turned into a large-scale vibrational healing instrument. 

Maravilla’s personal story of migration, illness, and recovery has informed an artistic practice grounded in activism and healing. The sound baths harness the sonic vibrations of gongs and other instruments to restore calm and balance in the body and have been performed by Maravilla and a group of sound healers for communities across the world. 

The Sound Baths are free to attend, and tickets for June 10 will be available online starting May 10 for ICA members and May 17 for the general public. The Water Shuttle between the ICA in the Seaport and the Watershed in East Boston is included with general museum admission and requires a timed ticket to ride. Reserving a Water Shuttle ticket with museum admission on these days will include admission to the Sound Bath experiences as well.

 Please note: the Watershed will not be open to visitors outside the Sound Bath experience.

What to expect

The sound bath will last for one hour. Participants will be given a yoga mat and are invited to sit or lie down in the Watershed space. A limited number of chairs will also be available. Please note that the sound baths involve sustained noise of varying volumes, and the Watershed floor is concrete. Visitors are welcome to bring additional yoga mats or blankets of their own. Visitors of all ages are invited to participate. 

About sound therapies

Sound healing is one of many alternative or complementary therapies experiencing a widespread resurgence of interest. There are abundant examples of sound as healing in the earliest recorded histories: Greek physicians used flutes and lyres; ancient Egyptians describe musical incantations. Western medical researchers began to study the application of sound and music in healing beginning at the end of the 19th century. They found that sound therapies are able to induce deep relaxation states in the brain, vibrate cells in the body, and produce a host of positive outcomes including pain relief, reduced stress, and improved sleep. 

 

Sound healers include Guadalupe Maravilla, Daniel Givens, Michael Jay, Hillary Ramos, and Miralva Swaby.