Acute Relaxation Response Induced by Tibetan Singing Bowl Sounds: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Cristobal Rio-Alamos; Rodrigo Montefusco-Siegmund; Toni Cañete; Joaquín Sotomayor; Alberto Fernandez-Teruel

doi:10.3390/ejihpe13020024

Acute Relaxation Response Induced by Tibetan Singing Bowl Sounds: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ. 2023 Jan 29;13(2):317-330. doi: 10.3390/ejihpe13020024.

Authors

Cristobal Rio-Alamos¹, Rodrigo Montefusco-Siegmund^{2

3}, Toni Cañete⁴, Joaquín Sotomayor¹, Alberto Fernandez-Teruel⁴

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychology, Austral University of Chile, Valdivia 5090000, Chile.
² Human Cognitive Neurophysiology and Behavior Lab, Locomotor Apparatus and Rehabilitation Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Kinesiology, Austral University of Chile, Valdivia 5090000, Chile.
³ Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios del Sistema Nervioso, Austral University of Chile, Valdivia 5090000, Chile.
⁴ Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Institute of Neurosciences, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.

Abstract

The prevalence of anxiety has increased dramatically due to COVID-19, so effective preventive interventions are welcome. The main objective of our study was to compare the acute relaxation response (RR) induced by Tibetan singing bowl (TSB) sound-based treatment against progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) and a control waiting list group (CWL) in a single treatment session in an adult nonclinical anxious population. In this cross-sectional randomized control trial, 50 participants selected based on high state anxiety were randomly assigned to one of the experimental groups. Pre/post self-reported anxiety, electroencephalographic activity (EEG), and heart rate variability (HRV) were recorded at baseline (T1), minute 15 (T2), minute 30 (T3), and minute 45 (T4). The TSB group showed significant reductions in alpha power (from T2 to T4) and increased HRV (from T3 to T4) compared with the PMR and CWL groups. Moreover, TSB and PMR both showed significant reductions in self-reported anxiety compared with CWL, with this effect being more evident in the TSB group. We concluded that a single session of TSB treatment was able to induce a more evident psychological/physiological relaxation response compared with PMR and CWL. TSB could be a relevant acute intervention in stressful situations or crisis intervention and while waiting for conventional interventions.

Keywords: Tibetan singing bowl; anxiety; heart rate variability; music therapy; relaxation response.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Fondo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia, FONDECYT Chile, through the grant Fondo Iniciación a la Investigación ref. nº 11190240 (Fondecyt Iniciacion nº 11190240) (to C.R.-A.). A.F.-T. received support from grants PSI2017-82257-P (MINECO), PID2020-114697GB-IOO (MINECO), 2017SGR-1587, and ICREA-Academia 2013 (to A.F.-T.).