Cynthia Koh Played A Musical Instrument On Our Body When We Went For Her Sound Therapy Treatment… And It Was Good

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Picture this: It’s 11am on a public holiday (National Day, to be exact), and this writer is currently barefoot in a sparse studio, wondering how best to clamber gracefully onto a foldable massage bed in front of Cynthia Koh. 

How did we land ourselves in this situation? Well, it all started in July, when we first saw an IG Story from the 49-year-old actress sharing that she was opening up slots for sound healing sessions.

Interesting, we thought. And then our editor suggested that we go for a session ourselves. Which brings us to this very moment, here.

But what even is sound healing? According to Cynthia, who got hooked onto sound healing in 2010, it’s “all about the nervous system”.

She explains to 8days.sg that the vibrations of the sound waves from the tools she uses, from the simple tuning fork (Cynthia’s personal fave) to the monochord, which is an ancient instrument with only one string, interacts with the atoms in our bodies to regulate it, and create more nitric oxide.

Nitric oxide is said to be beneficial for health as it improves cardiac health and healing among other things.

Though she’s been into sound healing for quite a while now, Cynthia adds that she only started offering paid sessions recently, after spending two weeks in Spain to attain her diploma in sound healing.

These sessions take place at two studios, one in the East, and the other in town that she rents space from whenever she has a client.

“I felt that the market wasn’t ready [back then]. If I started doing this in 2010, I would be called funny names like a witch or a voodoo doctor or whatever,” she said.

So far, the reception has been good. The actress, who is only doing this in her free time in-between acting projects, shares that she’s gotten quite a number of clients already.

Cynthia, who can be next seen in local horror movie Confinement, shares that prospective clients usually DM her to express their interest, though she does look through the profile beforehand to ensure that they’re a real person, and not a troll looking to waste her time.

“So far, I’ve never rejected any client,” she says.

Speaking about a particular case where her client’s condition improved after a couple of healing sessions, Cynthia reveals: “I think this kind of thing gives people hope, and I do get repeat clients from years back [when I was offering Reiki and Bach Flower Remedies]. I think we work on trust, and once your integrity [is there] and your way of sharing as a therapist is honest and truthful, clients will trust you.”

So what is a session like? Cynthia charges a low three-figure amount (you’ll have to contact her to get the exact price) for an hour’s session, and she fine-tunes each one for every individual client.

What we got on the day we dropped by was a teaser of sorts. We climb onto the massage bed as Cynthia sets up the scene. The lights are dimmed, and a soft, soothing nature soundtrack plays from her phone. She then places a singing bowl between our feet. 

Then, she drips some essential oil from a bottle into our hands, for us to inhale. Placing her hands on our temples, she tells us to take a couple of deep breaths while she gets in tune with us. 

It’s a wee bit awkward.

Suddenly, it’s like we don’t know how to breathe. Are we inhaling too much? Breathing too quickly? But we soon get lulled into a state of zen.

It helps that Cynthia is pretty seasoned at this, and it shows in the way she speaks and conducts the session. 

She tells us that she senses some sort of anger and an unresolved conflict from us. Oops.

Maybe that’s why we can’t focus. She then tells us that she’ll try to help us work away the tension.

It’s hard to describe what the session is like. It’s definitely nice. You can actually feel the vibrations from the instruments and the sound waves resonating inside you — it’s an interesting experience. 

At one point, she places the tuning fork on different chakras spots – basically a bunch of energy spots in one’s body that’s said to correspond to certain nerve bundles or vital organs. For us, she places it at our heart, pelvic bone, wrists and ankles. 

The vibration of the tuning forks are supposed to help unblock these vital spots, so that our energy can flow undeterred. We can’t tell you for sure if it did unblock these spots, but it did feel weirdly calming.

Then out comes the monochord. It’s not as heavy as it looks, and Cynthia shares that this is the most expensive sound healing equipment she owns.

We lay on our front for this, and Cynthia strums the instrument over our back. 

Again, the vibrations from the notes are doing the heavy lifting here. As the name suggests, the monochord produces notes of the same chord, and the repetitive notes are said to help to soothe and calm one down. We prefer the tuning forks and singing bowls.

But if we were to sum up the session, it feels like that moment in a cinema, right before the movie starts and that disembodied voice goes : “All… around… you”.

It's real quiet in the studio, and listening to the sounds emitting from the various instruments Cynthia uses is a fully-immersive experience.

We come out of that session feeling lighter and more relaxed for sure. Post session and shoot, we receive a text from Cynthia following up on us, reminding us to drink more water, to help flush out toxins and bad energy.

She tells us that though we didn’t get the opportunity to follow up on the tension that she sensed pre-session, she hopes that the sound therapy helped. 

And weirdly enough, it feels like it did help. We got a great night’s sleep that night, that’s for sure.

To book a session with Cynthia, you can DM her on her IG @cynthiakoh27 or on the @pure__potential account.

Photos:  Jeff Tan (@j.chive), Cynthia Koh/Instagram

Catch Cynthia in Mediacorp drama My Star Bride on meWATCH or in the embedded video below: