IMMERSIVE RELAXATION isn’t limited to fancy spas. Just ask Santa Fe–based sound healer Adrienne Smith, whose Perfect Fifths Sound Healing travels wherever Smith is booked to fine-tune mental and emotional well-being. “We are so used to experiencing sound through our ears,” says Smith, “but feeling it in our bodies is totally different.” For many years, Smith made a living as a lawyer in Boston, but always had “a weird feeling” that she’d like living in New Mexico better. Her intuition was affirmed during a road trip in 2021, when she first visited Abiquiú’s Ghost Ranch with friends. She found inspiration in the area’s radical rock formations and cerulean skies; before long, she was fully committed to learning everything she could about the practice of sound healing. She now holds one-on-one sessions by appointment at Ghost Ranch and at Heal, a Santa Fe alternative-medicine center. To conduct sound baths, Smith uses a suite of eight frosted quartz singing bowls ranging from six to 12 inches in diameter. “Quartz singing bowls resonate more loudly than metal ones, and the ones I use cover every note of the octave,” she says. She also gave us three tips for making the most of a sound bath.
Go inside. It’s best to experience sound baths indoors, where the effects can’t be muted by New Mexico’s glaring sun, sudden monsoons, or high winds.
Come as you are. Try to empty your mind, but otherwise, Smith says no special preparation is needed for sound healing.
Set aside expectations. “The more open-minded you are, the more benefit you’ll receive,” she adds.
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