Summerlin residents learn relaxation with singing bowls
Chuck Stinnett of Summerlin climbed a mountain in Nepal four years ago, starting at Annapurna Base Camp. He also made a discovery.
He stopped by a souvenir shop after, where he was exposed to singing bowls for the first time.
“The guy at the store hadn’t sold anything in the store for months because of the big earthquake that came through. He told me all about (the bowls) — how they have healing powers,” Stinnett said.
Stinnett, 65, since has returned to the shop twice. He and his wife have trekked across the country since they moved to Las Vegas and became active in the hiking community here about 15 years ago, he said.
“Each one of them makes a very, very individual sound,” he said. “(My wife and I) looked at bowls of various sizes and came away with this one because I like this sound and it’s really healing to you.”
Stinnett was referring to a brass metal singing bowl he bought at the souvenir shop; it’s engraved with words from the chants of monks. On Saturday, Stinnett was in a crowd of about 140 people for an informational presentation centered around crystal singing bowls at the Summerlin Library of Performing Arts.
“I’d never heard of crystal singing bowls before this event,” Stinnett said. “I thought they would be playing the sounds off of bowls like mine.”
Hundreds of years ago, Buddhist monks used singing bowls as a form of prayer and meditation, according to Ann Vannoy, who presented at the event. She added that monks used the bowls to signal when it was time to wake up, eat and perform other daily activities.
“They would also walk into town to their monastery, and people would put food into these bowls,” she said, adding that “in exchange, they’d be given a blessing from the monks.”
The bowls have healing effects that align with each of the body’s chakras, Vannoy said. Chakras are considered the center of spiritual power in the human body.
“What the bowls do is vibrate,” said Frances Meyer, who accompanied Vannoy in a performance after the presentation. “That’s why we suggested that people take their shoes off to feel the vibrations … That vibration causes cells and energy in the body to vibrate. Through the process, we are opening each chakra and balancing them to each other.”
Meyer conducts facilitated meditations with her husband, Scott, using the bowls at the Stillpoint Center for Spiritual Development. She said the bowls are tuned to carry specific notes. Each note coincides with its designated chakra.
Diondra, performing arts center coordinator at Summerlin Library, said she has played crystal bowls since the 1990s. She said Saturday’s event was aimed at exposing residents to a new method of relaxation.
“When people get relaxed and forget about things for a minute, that’s when good things slip in,” said Diondra, who goes by one name. “If that hour takes them away from worrying, stressing, thinking whatever because they’re focused on that thing, it’s a blessing. That’s a healing.”
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