Sound Baths and Movement Gatherings Draw Devoted Crowds on South Whidbey

On a rainy afternoon at the Nature and Spirit Center in Clinton, Joseph Sanchez drew a long, resonant breath into a French didgeridoo while Josh Pinkston rotated rubber-tipped mallets around a row of quartz crystal singing bowls, arranged largest to smallest on the floor before him. The sounds overlapped and settled into the bodies of everyone in the room.

That session captured what has become one of South Whidbey's most quietly devoted community practices. Sanchez and Pinkston teamed up this past January and now offer sound baths throughout the area, including on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at Soundview Center in Langley. The Nature and Spirit Center, co-owned by Pinkston and his wife Shawna, also hosts sessions.

Both men arrive at the practice through Prayerbody, the movement-and-music collective that founder Christine Tasseff has hosted at Bayview Hall every Sunday since 2016. Tasseff's gatherings weave music, collective dance, and guided movement drawn from multiple sacred disciplines. For Sanchez, who plays didgeridoo at every Sunday session and builds saunas in his off hours, the sound bath partnership with Pinkston felt like a deepening of what Prayerbody already cultivated.

"I was first introduced to sound bathing when I did didgeridoo over 30 years ago," Sanchez said. "For me, it's something to nurture myself and give back to the community. Now with Josh, we've combined forces. Sound bathing is needed now to sooth people's nerves. I feel our timing was perfect. I want to keep doing it. We're talking about doing this at hospitals, seniors' homes and schools."

Sessions run approximately one hour. Participants sit or lie on mats and blankets while Pinkston's crystal bowls, positioned to represent the body's seven chakras, produce high ringing tones that resonate in the chest and throat. Sanchez rotates among a Native American flute, a Tibetan singing bowl, and the French didgeridoo, which sends low bass vibrations through the floor. The two men improvise throughout, moving through the room and responding to its energy.

"We have a unique chemistry in the way we approach music," Pinkston said. "We listen. We don't talk over another."

Sanchez described the clearest measure of a successful session: "You know you're doing something right, if within 10 to 15 minutes in we hear someone snoring."

Pinkston moved to Whidbey two years ago after running a Portland event center out of a Presbyterian church that drew thousands of participants to yoga classes, AA meetings, concerts and children's programs. The Nature and Spirit Center carries that same broad community logic, offering what Pinkston describes as "contemplative resources, practices and experiences for those along the spiritual journey." Organizers position sound bathing as a complement to clinical mental health care, not a substitute for it. Scientific research on measurable outcomes remains limited, though practitioners point to studies on relaxation responses and the autonomic nervous system.

The practice itself draws on traditions far older than the current wellness scene. Ancient Egyptian, Indian and Greek cultures all incorporated resonant sound as medicine, and Pythagoras used harmonic frequencies as a tool for body and mind well-being. Quartz crystal singing bowls entered wider community use in the 1980s and 1990s.

For a first session: events run on a drop-in, donation or sliding-scale basis and are structured to be family-friendly. Soundview Center in Langley hosts Sanchez and Pinkston on the first and third Tuesday of each month. Bayview Hall and the Nature and Spirit Center in Clinton round out the regular South Whidbey calendar. Bring a yoga mat, a blanket and an eye mask. Those with serious medical conditions are advised to speak with their health care provider before attending.