Questions, asked.
Answers, cited.

A sound bath is a guided session where you lie down (clothed) and receive sustained tones from singing bowls, gongs, chimes, and voice. The frequencies move through the body and the room, prompting the nervous system to drop out of fight-or-flight and into a parasympathetic, restorative state.

Most people fall into a half-sleep, half-awake state. Some cry. Some don't. The point isn't a particular experience — it's the recalibration that happens underneath.

Vibroacoustic therapy (VAT) delivers low-frequency sound directly to the body through transducers embedded in a sound table or chair. Where a traditional sound bath travels through air, VAT travels through tissue.

Clinical research links VAT to reductions in pain, anxiety, and Parkinsonian symptoms; improved sleep; and measurable shifts in heart rate variability. See PubMed for the active literature.

No. You need to be willing to lie down for an hour and let your nervous system do something it hasn't been allowed to do in a while.

Wear something you can lie down comfortably in. Bring water, a yoga mat or blanket if you have one, and an eye mask if light bothers you. Everything else is provided.

Increasingly, yes. Peer-reviewed research has documented effects on cortisol, heart rate variability, sleep architecture, chronic pain, and mood. It is not a replacement for medical or psychiatric care — it is a complement to it.

This site is not a medical resource. If you are managing a serious condition, talk to your physician.

"Frequency medicine" is shorthand for the use of acoustic and electromagnetic frequencies to influence biological systems. It includes vibroacoustic therapy, infrared therapy (BioMat), pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy, and traditional gong/bowl practice.

Different tools, same underlying premise: the body is a resonant system, and you can affect it with energy as well as with chemistry.

Sustained tones — especially in the lower frequency ranges — entrain the autonomic nervous system toward a parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) state. Slower breath, lower heart rate, increased vagal tone, decreased cortisol.

Over time, repeated sessions appear to widen the "window of tolerance" — the range in which a nervous system can stay regulated under stress. That is the underlying goal.

Pregnancy: in most cases, gentle sound work is considered safe in the second and third trimesters. Always check with your OB.

Pacemakers and active medical implants: vibroacoustic delivery on a sound table is contraindicated. Acoustic-only sessions (no transducers) are generally fine.

If you are on psychotropic medication or in active treatment for trauma, please disclose this when you book — we will adapt the session.

Certified sound therapist (186-hour program, Globe Sound Healing Institute). Certified Reiki I & II (Golden Light Academy). Decades of practice in voice, plant medicine, and somatic work.

Yes. Cimcie is the daughter of 8× Grammy-winning recording engineer Roger Nichols (Steely Dan, Aja, Gaucho). She grew up inside studio culture and the science of sound.

The Roger Nichols archive — including the discovery and delivery of "The Second Arrangement," the legendary lost Steely Dan track — is part of that ongoing work. Read the archive →

Hatchet Granny is the botanical / nutrition arm — bitters, tinctures, food protocols, lineage. Sound therapy and Hatchet Granny share the same root: practical work that respects the body, the plant, the frequency, and the room.

Use the contact form on the Sound Therapy page or write directly to cimcienichols@gmail.com. Include what brought you here, anything relevant about your nervous system, and your timezone.

Both. In-person sessions in Los Angeles include access to the Sound Table (vibroacoustic + BioMat). Remote sessions are conducted live via video and have their own structure.

Sound baths run 60–75 minutes. Vibroacoustic + BioMat sessions are typically 90 minutes including intake. Group circles run longer.

Yes. The Discord community is where the practice continues between sessions — daily conversation, sound drops, and live circles.