The SoundHeal pod or “Heal pod” is a physical sound space with a footprint of roughly 3.5 feet by 3.5 feet. The participant sits on a cushioned bench inside the Heal pod, which plays short 3-20 min audio pre-recorded orchestrated sequence of therapeutic sounds. These sound meditation sessions are designed to boost immune levels & functions (Trends in Cognitive Sciences April 2013, Vol. 17, No. 4 pg. 187, 188), help in coping with stress, depression, feelings of detachment, irritability, anxiety, and physical pain. The recommended times that participants use the Heal pod is 2-3 times a week leaving 5-8 mins post-meditation to document and journal in the questionnaire form provided for a minimum total time period of at least 8 weeks.

These sounds and tactile vibrations envelope the patient in 360 degrees soothing surround healing music, getting them to a stress free, happy and comfortable state of mind immediately for therapy to follow right after their meditation session.

The Heal pod introduces holistic, mindfulness-based sound meditation treatment practice in private and public health clinics, corporate offices, and public spaces aimed at relieving symptoms of addiction and mental health issues. The Heal pod also aids in relapse prevention, recidivism prevention and help with reentry. The Heal pod is an effective, adoptable, and sustainable treatment modality that can help reverse the growing upward trend of addiction and mental illness globally over time.

Sound meditation has been successfully used to reduce stress, anger, confusion, fatigue, anxiety, depression, etc. Sound meditation employs a myriad of instruments (Goldsby TL, Goldsby ME, McWalters M, Mills PJ. Effects of Singing Bowl Sound Meditation on Mood, Tension, and Well-being: An Observational Study. J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2017 Jul;22(3):401-406).

A review of 400 published scientific articles on music as medicine found strong evidence that music has mental and physical health benefits in improving mood and reducing stress. In fact, rhythm in particular (over melody) can provide physical pain relief. (Chanda ML, Levitin DJ. The neurochemistry of music. Trends Cogn Sci. 2013 Apr;17(4):179-93). One study found that sound meditation helped people reduce tension, anger, fatigue, anxiety, and depression while increasing a sense of spiritual well-being. People who had never done sound meditation experienced significantly less tension and anxiety afterward, as well as those who had done it before. (Naghdi L, Ahonen H, Macario P, Bartel L. The effect of low-frequency sound stimulation on patients with fibromyalgia: a clinical study. Pain Res Manag. 2015 Jan-Feb;20(1):e21-7)

Current integration of Heal is part of a California State Innovation program implemented in the San Luis Obispo county behavioral health department. We have 5 therapists with 32 of their clients using the Heal pod. Each client so far has used the Heal pod for an average of 34 sessions each with session averaging 7 mins of usage. The summary outcome from this data shows that the Heal pod helps 100% with anxiety, 63% of the clients for depression, alcohol addiction, PTSD, and drug addiction.

 The Heal meditation pod has given every single client as a part of this innovation study some form of coping skill and even helped 52% build a new one. 68% of the clients have had an opportunity to take a break, 50% said they enjoyed the alone time, 38% said it helped reorganize their lives, 25% said it motivated them to walk, run or bike, 25% said it helped in prioritizing tasks, 25% said it helped build good habits and 25% said it helped them start new arts and crafts projects.

Mindfulness meditation is currently used globally in group settings with a meditation teacher, but rarely are the programs able to track and measure outcomes to fine tune and improve efficacy of individualized therapy in the way the Heal pod program integration does.