The School of Physical Sciences’ Office of Access, Outreach and Inclusion and Office of Inclusive Excellence hosted a Sound Bath and Meditation Circle as part of “Whispers of Wisdom: A Community Healing Series” on March 6. Due to unforeseen weather circumstances, students, faculty and staff gathered in Rowland Hall to meditate and experience a sound bath led by the founder of i am healin, Karina Trejo. i.amhealin is a wellness platform that guides individuals along their journey to self-discovery and emotional healing through an empowering and inclusive environment.
Sound healing is an ancient practice that utilizes frequencies to calm the nervous system and restore balance to the body and mind. According to Trejo, a certified and trauma-informed sound practitioner, the practice facilitates deep meditation and relaxation.
“Sound healing is a wellness modality — or healing modality,” Trejo told New University. “It helps us come into a deep state of meditation. It helps relax ourselves, our nervous system. It helps connect our mind, body and spirit.”
The instruments used in sound healing each serve a specific purpose. Sound bowls help align the chakras. Rainsticks and ocean drums mimic natural elements to clear energy blockages, and chimes introduce an air-like quality to deepen meditation. The National Library of Medicine suggests that certain frequencies can be effective in “reducing feelings of tension, anxiety, and depression, and increasing spiritual well-being.”
Jose Mendez, a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the School of Education, reflected on his experience with stress in college, as well as the importance of taking moments to pause amid the fast-paced quarter system at UC Irvine.
“There’s just a lot going on all the time,” Mendez told New University. “The quarter system makes it hard to kind of stop and take breath, so this event was cool for stopping and taking a breath.”
Mendez said he practices meditation regularly as part of his wellness routine whenever life brings adversity.
“I’ve done a lot of meditation before,” Mendez said. “I usually go into it thinking of a problem or worry that I have, and then afterwards I either feel better about it or have a solution to whatever problem it might be afterwards. I kind of feel the same way with this. I just feel mentally more clear.”
According to Diane Flamm, a career counselor for the Information and Computer Sciences Department, the experience was transformative.
“I was like today actually not feeling so well, I was getting pretty stressed today, so it was perfect timing to have the sound bath,” Flamm told New University. “The negative thoughts are gone and I just feel like I have more control of my day and I feel not overwhelmed anymore.”
As mental health awareness grows, students and staff explore alternative wellness practices for a more personal approach to self-care. Ash Hormaza, program coordinator for the Office of Access, Outreach and Inclusion, believes younger generations feel more motivated to discover diverse healing modalities.
“People our age are more interested in healing and taking care of ourselves, or being mindful of the traumas that we’ve endured, or just the challenges of today’s world — especially now,” Hormaza told New University. “I think people are just looking for different modalities that are more inclusive of all aspects of the human experience.”
According to Trejo, sound healing can be particularly beneficial for those experiencing high stress or trauma. While some individuals may react emotionally to their first sound bath, others find themselves experiencing deep relaxation and mental clarity.
“If someone has a lot of trauma, it can be a really intense experience,” Trejo said. “Their nervous system is super shocked, they haven’t done a lot of maybe healing work just yet, or they’re barely tapping in.”
On a college campus, students and staff are always seeking ways to manage stress in their daily lives. The sound bath and meditation circle’s effectiveness encouraged participants to add these activities as a regular part of their self-care routine.
“I feel like I need this honestly, like monthly, weekly,” Flamm said. “I definitely want to be incorporating it because I had knots I could feel in my body that I really needed to breathe through and hear the sound to clear them out, and I was using my breath with the sounds to help remove the blockages. And by the end, I felt, just my body felt all nice and zen inside.”
The Office of Access, Outreach and Inclusion plans to continue the “Whispers of Wisdom” series with future events designed to support the well-being of students, staff and faculty. Hormaza highlighted the series as an opportunity to foster a sense of community healing.
“We have to be tending to ourselves and our bodies, our minds and our energy,” Hormaza said. “This series is a reminder for all of us to really tend to that, and also have an opportunity to be in community and have that priority with other folks, kind of an accountability of we are all resting together.”
For more information on future events, visit the School of Physical Sciences events website and follow the Office of Access, Outreach and Inclusion on Instagram.
Melissa Mixon is a Features Intern for the winter 2025 quarter. She can be reached at mixonm@uci.edu.
Edited by Alyssa Villagonzalo.