Sound therapy practitioner, Sara Auster, visits Shakti Hour to talk about listening as a meditative practice.
Sara Auster is a certified Sound Therapy Practitioner and meditation teacher based in New York City. Using holistic approaches to healing with the transformative power of music and sound, she has been a driving force in bringing sound meditation and sound therapy to contemporary culture.
Show Notes
Sound Therapy (Opening) – Sara talks about how she, as a sound therapy practitioner, teaches her students and clients to use sound as a tool to support, access, and cultivate deep relaxation.
“What’s attractive to people about it is that there is not really a discipline attached to it. In that, they can show up and be as comfortable in their physical body as they need to be. The only engagement then is active listening.”
Vibrations of Sound and Thought (10:40) – Sara discusses the role of vibration and sound in mantra and thought. She talks about using external sound in meditative practice. She and Melanie discuss the way sound can be used to change our perception.
“The sound bath is an opportunity to give you a different relationship to all of those vibrations. That allows you just a bit of space to maybe start perceiving other things differently.”
Perseverance on the Path (22:30) – Melanie and Sara talk about finding practices that work for us, amidst the incredible variety and selection available. Sara emphasizes the importance of being persistent in exploring new disciplines, even if it doesn’t work out at first.
Dismantled (29:00) – Sara shares the story of a life-changing accident that introduced her to yoga and alternative forms of therapy, which put her on the path to helping herself heal. She shares her journey of rehabilitation and talks about unpacking the mental and emotional trauma that came along with the physical recovery.
Entrainment (39:40) – In group sound therapy, each person is having their own unique experience simultaneous to their shared external state. Sara talks about the concept of entrainment and bringing a group together in their own experience with music.
Fruits of Practice (45:35) – Why bother going through all of the work that comes along with spiritual practice? Sara and Melanie discuss struggles and rewards that come along on the spiritual path, as well as what motivates them in their own practice.
“The great gift of being human is the potential to explore and know yourself better.”
Find Sara online and on Twitter.
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Photo via Sara Auster