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Initiation

100 Hour Sound Healing Certification

Want a taste of Sound Ceremony’s Teachings? Explore our free mini sound healing courses here.

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Location: Casa Floresta, Lake Atitlán, Guatemala

July 7 - 18, 2024

Nov 10 - 21, 2024

March 9 - 20, 2025

June 8 - 19, 2025

Nov 15 - 26, 2025

Join our Forest Path Immersion after your Sound Ceremony Certification in guatemala!

Have questions about the sound healing certification program? Contact us!

Welcome to Sound Ceremony

An experiential school of the embodied, experiential and direct teachings that open one to serve as an instrument in the hands of life. Sound Ceremony is the gathering in the reverence and presence of sound. It is the communion in vibration; and equally a contemplative inquiry and listening meditation on the life, spirit and source of all sound. After the initiation nothing sounds the same.

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A Transformational Sound Healing Experience Based in Tradition…

Woven through the inspirations from our work and studies within the realms of Buddhism (Zen & Dzogchen), Vedanta, Yoga, Neo-shamanism, the curanderismo and ayahuasca traditions of South America. The training has a foundation in meditative and experiential learning towards a holistic view of the contemplative life.

The sound healing certification course moves symbolically through the elements and a directional teaching that works from the ground up to help guide the individual through the process of inquiry into their own journey with the power of sound.

Unlock the Power of Sound with our Sound Healing Certification in Guatemala near Costa Rica…

What a day in our Sound Healing Certification Training in Guatemala Looks Like…

7.30 - 8 am — Meditation, Contemplation of Deep Listening

8 - 9 am — Morning Mantra, Vocal Exercises and Warm-ups and Scale Practice/ or Theory Classes

9 - 9:30 am — Smoothie Break

9:30 - 11 am — Voice Medicine or Sound Workshop

11 - 1pm — Nourishing Brunch & Personal Play Time

1:00 - 2:45pm — Interactive Instrument Lab

2:45 - 3pm —Fruit Break

3 - 5pm — Song Ceremony & Transpersonal Discussions

5.30 - 6.30 pm — Wholesome Dinner

6.30 - 8pm — Sound Ceremony

Who is this Sound Healing Certification in Guatemala For?

We have had hosted and held space for students from all walks of life and from all corners of the globe. If you have never played an instrument before, have no background in music but are curious, this course is a great place to start. Equally, we often have participants who are already skilled in instrumentation, professionals who are established and are confident that from beginners to the adept there is something here for everyone.

Who Should Attend this Sound Healing Training?

The takeaways from the course are well suited and a great addition for those who already work with existing modalities such as Yoga, Meditation, Medical and Hospice workers and Therapists of all kinds who wish to add to their tool belt.

It is great for those too who may feel stuck in an area of life and looking for a retreat to reset and lift them into their more creative and insightful self.

Come to learn, to give or simply receive the dynamic processes within the well held and professional space of our ceremonial family.

What are the Benefits of Sound Healing?

  • Reduce stress and relief from fatigue, pain, addiction, compulsive thinking, insomnia through deep relaxation and endorphin release

  • Accelerate the healing process

  • Lower blood pressure

  • Increased circulation

  • Increased sleep quality

  • Increased sense of calm

  • Alleviation from anxiety

  • Reduced symptoms of depression

  • Liberate emotional traumas stored within the body/mind complexes

  • Deconstruct negative patterns

  • Enhances homeostasis

  • Bring release to emotional imbalance

  • Remove blockages and facilitate free flow of energy channels – meridians, nerves, & blood vessels

  • Promotes creative potential

  • Expand the capacity for love, peacefulness and happiness within oneself

  • Increased concentration, focus and attention

What Will You Learn in this Sound Healing Certification in Guatemala?

  • Sound Ceremony - Participate and learn to give and receive interactive Sound Baths

  • Song Ceremony - Song carrying traditions, circle songs, chanting & Kirtan

  • Voice Medicine methodology - tuning, toning, scales and chanting

  • Nada Meditation - learn the power and process of deep listening to deepen the Non-dual understanding

  • Mantra Yoga - Transform into tranquility with the understanding and practice of Mantra

  • Bhakti Yoga - Daily devotional ceremonies and offerings to contemplate humility.

  • Shamanic Wisdom & Journeying - see into the lens of non-ordinary states of consciousness with insights from indigenous teachings

  • Instrument Labs - Introduction and use of sacred instruments with guidance from teachers

  • The healing power of Sound - therapeutic application for yourself and others

  • How to incorporate sound into yoga classes and more

  • How to hold space for transformation, growth and healing

  • How to facilitate sound & singing circles & ceremonies

What you will Love about Casa Floresta at Lake Atitlán…

Location and Environment

Immerse yourself in the serene and transformational soundscape of Guatemala as you begin your sound healing journey with us. Lake Atitlán was nominated as one of the seven wonders and is considered to be the most beautiful lake in the world. The hills and volcanoes around the lake offer dense forests, perfect for hiking with spectacular views and where the Quetzal, the National bird can be viewed.

Lake Atitlán is the home of Jaya and Hayley, where they have predominantly hosted this signature 100 hr Sound Ceremony Training for the last several years.

The recently built Casa Floresta is directly on Lake Atitlan in Pasajcap, between San Marcos la Laguna and Tzununa. This is the home of the Forest Path Temple where Sound Ceremony courses and Forest Path ceremonies will be held exclusively in Guatemala.

With lake access in a clean and quiet private bay for swimming, Casa Floresta is a beautiful space conducive for the transformational work.

Some accommodations for this Immersion will be available at Casa Colibri next door or with other neighbouring houses, with stunning views of Lake Atitlan. Temple sleeping will also be an option for those on a budget.

Join our Forest Path Immersion after your Sound Ceremony Training at our new Temple.

Explore Several types of Yoga in this Sound Healing Certification Program …

Nāda Yoga (नादयोग)

Nada Yoga is an ancient Indian metaphysical system. It is equally a philosophical system, a medicine, and a form of yoga. The system's theoretical and practical aspects are based on the premise that the entire cosmos and all that exists in the cosmos, including human beings, consists of sound vibrations, called nāda. (source: Wikipedia)

Bhakti Yoga (भक्तियोग)

The root Bhaj, which means “to adore, to devote or worship God.” Bhakti Yoga has been called “love for love's sake” and “union through love and devotion.” Bhakti is uniting of the individualized consciousness with the Universal through active surrender.

Mantra Yoga (मंत्रयोग)

Mantra Yoga comes from the root Man or Manas meaning mind and instinct and Tra, a tool or instrument to transcend or liberate the mind from itself. Mantras are used to awaken the Self and deepen the meditative aspects of a physical yoga practice. Mantra yoga is a meditation tool meant to engage the mind through focusing on sound, duration and number of repetitions (japa) as a means to get closer to the divinity within, creating positive vibrations that benefit both the one who chants and the one who listens.

What’s Unique about our Sound Healing Certification Curriculum…

We move through the five elements and seven chakras with corresponding sounds, mantras, sound healing instruments and movements to take you on a journey from the earth to the sky, and from your roots to your wings. We create soundscape experiences for you to embody the elements through the art of deep listening.

You will have the opportunity to develop your own ceremony through your co-creative practicum process with other students. Explore your understanding and relationship to earth, water, fire, air and ether through sound healing instruments, your voice, and by repeating sacred syllables and mantra. Dive deep into communion with yourself and Sound.

Why choose our Sound Healing Certification Program in Guatemala?

  • Expert Sound Ceremony Facilitators: Learn from Hayley and Jaya and their team of facilitators, who have years of experience facilitating sound healing ceremonies, song ceremonies, and sound ceremony trainings around the world including Guatemala, Peru and Spain.

  • Immersive Sound Healing Training: Dive deep into sound theory and hands-on practice of sound healing techniques in an 12 day intensive format.

  • Diverse Community: We attract a beautiful community of diverse sound enthusiasts from around the world to share this intimate and special experience.

  • Practical Hands-on Experience: Gain hands-on experience through workshops and instrument lab sessions with a practical at the end to integrate your skills and showcase your understanding with your peers.

  • Certification: Receive a certificate upon completion that applies towards 100 hr of continuing education with Yoga Alliance.

Some other things to expect in your Sound Healing Certification Program…

  • Bonus song book with over 500 chants and medicine songs from around the world

  • Sound Ceremony training manual with insights and resources to take home

  • Fire Ceremony, Water Blessing Ceremony celebrating and connecting to the Elements

  • Cacao Ceremonies with Guatemala Cacao

  • Optional Forest Path Immersion ceremonies for those who learn our traditional work with Ayahuasca

  • Integrated Breath work Ceremony with live sound

  • Improv singing circles and vocal activation work

  • Ecstatic Kirtan & Sacred Chant circles

  • Five Rhythms Guided Movement/Dance Therapy

And of course, enough space to integrate and make sense of all the wonderful things you will be learning in the lush setting of a gorgeous retreat center.

Meet your Sound Healing Certification Facilitators…

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Hayley Saraswatī

Lead Facilitator

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JR Jayananda

Lead Facilitator

A Transformational Experience in Guatemala: Sacred Sound Healing Instruments

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You do not have to play any instrument(s), however if you do, you are most welcome to bring it along to share.

AND, due to our relationships with CRYSTAL TONES sound healing singing bowls, MEINL SONIC ENERGY series, HOKEMA Kalimbas/Sansula, HIGH SPIRITS & LA ROSA Flutes, and KOSHI Chimes, we will have many beautiful sound healing instruments for sale and ready for you to try, buy and take home if you so desire.

Learn more about working with Hayley and Crystal Tones Sound Healing Singing Bowls here.

Hear from our Sound Healing Certification Graduates…

 
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"I didn’t know the power of my own voice until the past few weeks in Sound Ceremony with Jaya and Saraswati. I had intended to learn how to host sound baths and learn more about using the instruments, mantras, and kirtan in my yoga classes and DJ sets, but I hadn’t expected that I would be singing so much and building the confidence to share my voice so freely." — Anna

 

“Intention + Vibration = Healing! Journeying through the Sound Ceremony Course has gifted me with me a strong foundation of tools/ practices/ discussions and deepened experiential understanding of explorations that I had already innately and intuitively woven throughout my life: deep listening, space-holding, sacred sound, song, and devotional offerings. I appreciated the diversity of practices we explored, the depth of understanding with which they were presented, and the creative curiosity that unfolded! This course was transformational in helping me to allow the dove in my heart to sing freely, in the support of sound sangha (community). I felt supported and held throughout, but not coddled. There was spaciousness to step into my own intuitive process of co-creation. Looking forward to continuing this work.” — Stephanie K.

Enroll Today and Start your Sound Healing Journey

  1. Deposit to Secure Your Spot. Place your $500 deposit for the course dates of your choice.

  2. Begin the 50 hr Online Module. We ask that participants complete a 50 HR Go At Your Own Pace Sound Ceremony Online Training Module. This is encouraged to be completed prior to your in-person 100 hr Initiation: Sound Ceremony Training.

  3.  Pay your Remaining Balance. You will be required to settle the full cost of the course with your room and board choice in full 60 days prior to the course in order to confirm your place for a future In Person 100hr Initiation: Sound Ceremony Training.

  4. Welcome Packet Email Follow Up. We will follow up within 30-60 days prior to the training with additional Welcome Packet information to prepare you for your training.

Pricing:

Shared Accommodation at Casa Colibri next door - $3270 USD

Private Accommodation at Vistas de Pasajcap nearby (5 min walk along lakefront, then 5 minutes up their stairs) - $3770 USD

All inclusive of course, certification and 2 daily vegetarian meals, and accommodation.

Tuition & Food Package Only (accommodation off-site) - $2700 USD

All inclusive of course, certification and 2 daily vegetarian meals. This option requires you to find your own accommodation, you can walk or boat in from San Marcos, Pasajcap or Tzununa for Q5. We will arrange any boats required for evening drop off if required to these locations.

For private requests from July 2024: Please note in your registration if you would like a private accommodation option. We will reach out to let you know if a space becomes available 10 days prior to the training (ie. we have not filled to capacity) however if you are set on a private option, you will need to find an off-site option. The total cost of private accommodation that is available with us will be $3770 USD. We have two neighbours that offer airbnb options here and here.

Off-site accommodation options/when reserved accommodations fill: We recommend our new Boutique Hotel Kula Maya which is a 1 minute walk from the public dock in San Marcos to be able to boat to our dock at Casa Floresta, Pasjcap. Alternatively, you can book your own accommodation on Airbnb for a house nearby in Pasajcap.

See our policies for cancellations and transfers on our policies page.

Join our Forest Path Immersion directly following your Sound Ceremony Training.

Have any questions about our Sound Ceremony Certification Program?

Frequently Asked Questions about our Sound Healing Certification Program in Guatemala…

  • This course counts as 100 hr of Continuing Education credits if you are are a Yoga Teacher certified through Yoga Alliance. You can see the requirements as a Yoga Teacher here.

  • Every organ, tissue, and cell has its vibration which, when in harmony, creates the most wonderful symphony imaginable, the human body. And all of it is continuously absorbing and emitting sound. Our body as well as our minds, in a relaxed harmonious state, are vibrating at a fundamental frequency of about 8 cycles per second, allowing us to be attuned with the basic electromagnetic field of the Earth itself.

    Scientific studies show us that sound has the capacity to create change in the autonomic, immune, endocrine and neuropeptide systems. Both sound and music (simply put, organized sound) assist in allowing the body-mind to come into a deep state of relaxation where the bodies inherent capacity for self healing can occur.

  • See our policies page here for a detailed breakdown of our refund and cancellation policies.

  • Two and a half thousand years ago the famous Greek philosopher Pythagoras utilized sound as a form of medicine treating a variety of ailments and we can trace this idea back further and outward across continents, cultures and ages right into something we know in our hearts yet cannot find the sufficient words to speak its Truth.

    As cutting edge as this modality might seem, there is nothing new about Sound Healing and its Power to pierce the veil of thoughts and allow us to perceive the source of where all sound is springing from.

  • Sound ceremony is the gathering in the reverence and presence of sound. It is to be an embodied, experiential and direct communion in vibration; and equally a contemplative inquiry and listening meditation on the life, spirit and source of all sound. If you are not in awe at all that touches your ears then you are not listening carefully enough.

    If you listen carefully you may begin to perceive a sound, and the source of that sound, if you inquire, has no beginning and has not an ending. Unstruck and uncaused, ceaselessly humming through more than just your ears. There is a symphony inside of you that is waiting for you to listen.

  • These are just some benefits of toning, mantra and sound healing work:

    • Increases sensory perception, clarity, and intuition

    • Releases limiting beliefs, stress, and dis-ease

    • Charges the brain and alters our brain state, inducing alpha-theta states associated with healing.

    • Synchronizes heart-brain-body rhythms, producing a state of centeredness, balance, and integrity

    • Dissolves the veils to remembering original intention

    • Expands our life potential and creativity, opening a gateway to soul freedom

    See our list of benefits of sound healing above.

  • Sound healing can be used in ceremonies for physical, emotional and energetic healing. If you are already a musician or yoga teacher, or hope to expand into the work of sound healing, you can develop it as your profession and your way of connecting with Spirit and your Soul's purpose. You can use sound healing for your own and others' healing on many levels, as well as a way to connect to your creative capacities and flow states.

  • Sounds are constantly affecting our hormone secretions, emotional states, breathing, heart rate, and our brain waves.

    There are four key ways that sound affects us on a daily basis: Physiological, psychological, cognitively and behaviorally.

    Physiological changes include fluctuations of hormones, heart rate, and even our breathing. For example, when we hear the sound of ocean waves lapping at the seashore, we experience a significant drop in stress hormones. A study showed that this drop was caused by our biological stress messengers, catecholamine neurotransmitters, which slow down when one is exposed to oceanic sounds.

    Psychological effects of sound are a bit more obvious, the most prominent being our perception and experience of our emotions.

    Cognitive effects have been shown by various studies. In 2009, a study was Training Manual 17 done by Lund University in Sweden that expanded upon six ways in which sound can evoke emotions in the brain.

  • Nāda is said to be one of the simplest and most straightforward approaches to Yoga not only for its ability concentrate, calm and restore well-being to the individual both physically and mentally but too, as a tool for self realization and as a path for spiritual liberation and awakening.

    The word Nāda or Nad refers to sound or tone in a similar sense it also means current, stream, river or flow. Therefore Nāda is the flow of sound, the constant current, the sacred sound stream; a river of sound. The Nāda Yogis see this constant current as the basis for all things. Indeed, they declare that the world is sound. Subtle sound vibration extending and rippling outwards to create a vast network of events we call the universe. Nāda Yoga then is the uniting of the individual consciousness with the universal through involvement with the flow of sound.

  • Yes. We have some opportunities for sound scholarships and helper opportunities here. Talk to us about payment plan options.

  • Sound ceremony is the gathering in the reverence and presence of sound. It is to be an embodied, experiential and direct communion in vibration; and equally a contemplative inquiry and listening meditation on the life, spirit and source of all sound. It can include nada yoga, bhakti yoga, mantra yoga etc. A sound bath is only one aspect of sound ceremony.

  • No! Sound Healing Training programs are not governed by any organizational body (like the Yoga Alliance for Yoga Teachers).

    We are a part of The Sound Healers Association that was founded in 1982 as an organization dedicated to the research and awareness of the uses of sound and music as therapeutic and transformational modalities, as well as are certified as a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Program.

  • Yes! We have instrument labs as part of the curriculum that focuses on many different types of instruments including didgeridoo, Crystal Tones Singing Bowls, Himalayan bowls, harmoniums, guitar, drums, chimes, tuning forks, shakers and percussion instruments, different wind instruments including flutes, harps, and so much more!

  • No! It is go at your own pace and you can complete as much as you want before and after the training as an integration tool.