Kelloggsville — “Did you remember to bring your bathing suits?” asked music therapist Jenn Gietzen of the group of the fourth-grade students.
“What?” responded teacher Emily Oppenheizen. “I knew I forgot something: towels and bathing suits.”
But in truth, there was no need for bathing suits for a sound bath, a full-body listening experience where those participating are “bathed” in sound.
Students study energy and sound waves as part of the fourth-grade curriculum. This year, Oppenheizen and fellow teacher Rachel Coon decided to add a different experience to the unit: the opportunity to feel sound waves.
“In class, the students have been talking about energy transfer, so this provided a real world experience of how the sound energy is transferred from the instrument to our ears through the waves, as well as the vibrations the students feel from the sound,” Coon said.
Gietzen, who owns Monarch Music Therapy, said tones and vibrations help relieve stress and provide a calming atmosphere.
Gietzen started the 90-minute program introducing the various instruments such as a crystal pyramid, buffalo drum, crystal bowls, gong, Himalayan singing bowls and tuning instruments.
Bathing in the Music
To help get the “wiggles out,” students danced as they held a large, elastic circle while Oppenheizen reminded them about the types of energy.
As her class raised the circle above their heads, she asked them what type of energy it was.
“Kinetic!” they shouted.
“And what type of energy is it when we lower it to the floor?” Oppenheizen asked.
“Potential,” fourth-graders responded.
Afterward, students did some breathing exercises to calm down, then lay on towels to listen to the sounds Gietzen played.
As the program concluded, students reflected on what they had pictured in their minds as they listened to the sounds, ranging from sunrises and sunsets to butterflies and watermelon.
Fourth-grader Kinley Woodard-Wade said it was so relaxing that she fell asleep. “But for the program that I was awake for, I did feel the sound waves.”
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