Doorways Into Stillness — A Sound Bath Reflection
- Feb 2
- 4 min read
Welcome to another Afterbath Session with Mat Creedon 🌿
There are moments when stillness feels far away.
Moments when the mind feels busy, restless, or loud — and meditation seems like something you’re failing at before you’ve even begun.
This Sound Bath reflection is an invitation to look at stillness differently.
Not as a destination to reach, but as something already present — quietly waiting to be noticed.
In Afterbath, stillness isn’t something we force.
It’s something we remember.
This page accompanies a full one-hour Rain Stick Sound Bath, embedded below, offering a complete listening experience. You’re welcome to read first, listen first, or simply rest with the sound.
Why We Think We’re “Bad” at Meditation — A Sound Bath Perspective
One of the most common things people tell me about meditation is this:
“I’m terrible at it.”
“I can’t stop my thoughts.”
“My mind just won’t quiet down.”
From a Sound Bath perspective, this misunderstanding makes perfect sense. We’ve been taught that meditation — and even sound meditation — should begin with silence.
But it doesn’t.
The Sound Bath doesn’t ask the mind to be quiet.
It asks the mind to be noticed.
The first doorway into stillness isn’t silence at all — it’s awareness.
When we stop trying to change what’s happening and simply listen, something subtle begins to shift. The Sound Bath becomes a space where the nervous system can soften without effort.
Waves and the Ocean — A Sound Bath Metaphor
The mind is like the surface of the ocean.
Thoughts rise and fall like waves — sometimes gentle, sometimes chaotic.
Stillness isn’t found by stopping the waves.
Stillness is the ocean itself.
A Sound Bath works in much the same way. The sounds move, change, appear, and dissolve — yet beneath that movement, there’s a steady sense of presence holding it all.
When you listen to a Sound Bath, you’re not trying to control your experience. You’re learning to sense the deeper current underneath it.
This is one of the quiet gifts of sound: it allows awareness to settle naturally, without instruction.
Listening as a Doorway — A Sound Bath Practice
One of the simplest doorways into stillness is listening.
Not listening to something, but listening with your whole body.
In a Sound Bath, the ears soften.
The breath slows.
The body begins to listen before the mind does.
You may notice moments where thought briefly steps aside — not because you pushed it away, but because attention found somewhere else to rest.
This is not something you need to make happen.
It happens on its own when sound is allowed to do its work.
The Inner Body — A Sound Bath Awareness
Another doorway into stillness is the felt sense of the body.
Not the idea of the body — but the direct experience of being here.
A Sound Bath gently draws attention inward. Vibrations move through the chest, the belly, the limbs. You may feel warmth, tingling, heaviness, or spaciousness.
None of this needs interpretation.
Simply noticing sensation anchors awareness in the present moment. And when awareness rests in the body, the mind naturally loosens its grip.
Stillness Isn’t an Achievement — A Sound Bath Reminder
Stillness isn’t something you achieve through discipline or effort.
It isn’t a reward for doing meditation “properly.”
Stillness is what remains when you stop trying to fix your experience.
A Sound Bath offers a container where this can be felt directly — where the system remembers how to settle without being told how.
If your mind wanders during the Sound Bath, that’s not a problem.
If you drift in and out, that’s not a mistake.
The sound continues to hold you, whether you’re paying attention or not.
The Rain Stick Sound Bath — A Full Listening Experience
Embedded below is a one-hour Rain Stick Sound Bath, designed as a complete, uninterrupted listening experience.
This Sound Bath can be used for:
Deep rest
Nervous system regulation
Gentle meditation
Sleep preparation
Or simply as a quiet companion to your day
There is nothing you need to do while listening.
No posture to maintain.
No outcome to reach.
Let the Sound Bath meet you exactly where you are.
You can listen to the complete Sound Bath here:
This Sound Bath is suitable for meditation, deep rest, or drifting into sleep.
After the Sound Fades — A Sound Bath Reflection
After the Sound Bath ends, notice what remains.
Perhaps a sense of ease.
Perhaps nothing at all.
Stillness doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes it’s only recognised in hindsight — in the way the body feels lighter, or the mind feels less urgent.
Afterbath is about these moments after the sound fades — when something quiet continues on its own.
Be gentle with yourself.
Return whenever you need.
— Mat
✨ If this Sound Bath resonates with you, please like, comment, subscribe, and share.
It helps this sound medicine reach the people who may need it most.
With gratitude,
— Mat Creedon 🌀
