Painting With Sound: Inside Sheila Khan’s Healing Practice

San Francisco Bay Area, Calif. – Sheila Khan is a sound healer working at the intersection of ancient practice and modern medicine. Sound therapy, which uses instruments like crystal singing bowls to create vibrations that affect the nervous system, has gained recognition in clinical settings for its ability to reduce stress hormones, ease pain and improve mood.

Sheila’s path to sound healing might resonate with anyone facing a fork in the road. Before she picked up a singing bowl, Sheila spent years shaping brands at companies like Hasbro, Meta, and Apple. She and I actually crossed paths at Hasbro long before her career pivot.

In her interview with Artisan Joy, Sheila tells us about her work at Stanford Hospital, including what inspired her to create affirmation cards.

Tell us about your work as a sound healer.

I'm a sound healer, creator of affirmation cards and podcaster, but mostly a connector. I paint with sound and words, trying to help people feel better, more connected to self and more connected to others. I mostly play my sound bowls at Stanford Hospital and, on rare occasions, do other events.

Sound healing is almost the opposite for me in terms of approach and thinking. I'm playing for people who are managing recovery, sickness, dense grief or staff who are in a constant fight-or-flight state. Crystal sound bowls give off strong frequencies that massage the vagus nerve and drop you into a parasympathetic, rest-and-restore or rest-and-digest state.

I use a combination of the ISO principle from music therapy, perception of someone's emotional state, as well as blood pressure and heart rate for patients who are monitored to decide what notes and how to play. There are some basic techniques that work very well for a healing setting environment, such as using harmonies vs dissonance and having short repeating patterns which create familiarity and a sense of safety for people. One of my besties in an ICU hums the patterns I play as I've rounded there so much!

What was your inspiration for using affirmation cards in your work as a sound healer?

The reason I give out affirmation cards before a sound healing session is that we know what you resist persists. Sometimes clearing our mind can be difficult, and rather than try to control or push thoughts away, having a beautiful or hopeful thought to focus on is more effective.

Also, when we listen to sound bowls, the mind is moving from Beta to Alpha and sometimes Theta, which is when new neural pathways can be created and a beautiful moment to install new beliefs. Our thoughts become our beliefs, our beliefs become actions. And that is how we "manifest" or create things in our lives. It's also tied to scripture ("Do not be afraid") and psychology that visualizing our positive state helps us get there. Olympic skiers do this before they compete a run: visualize it in their mind first.

What is your process for writing the affirmations that appear on the cards?

My process to make the cards is mostly creative-led and a playground for testing intuition, as I do not lean on these to make money.

Those come from God and Mother Gaia, truly. I rarely get what I'm looking for when I force myself to sit down and write cards. It'll be in the middle of a walk, or on a beach, or maybe a word that a friend has said that just sparkled as they said it and caught my eye. All of my affirmations come from my heart.

How did you come to this work?

I never intended to become a sound healer. I am self-taught on the piano and have been playing since I was a kid, probably as a way to self-soothe and express myself. My story of going from Apple to Stanford Hospital is certainly God-guided. My first Sound Bath was in Peru during one of those life-changing trips on a yoga retreat. I found myself in a Sound Bath with Tibetan Bowls and a Didgeridoo. The feeling of the vibrations going through my chest helped me release a lot of anxiety that I had been unconsciously holding.

Later, I saw someone playing crystal bowls online and fell in love. I went through sound school saying I wasn't going to make this a business and that I was just doing it for fun. While classmates were asking about rates and setup, I wasn't paying attention. Instead, I was diving deep into frequencies, brainwave states, color and music theory and playing my bowls. Then, as God does, a random event led me to coffee with someone at Stanford, and it began.

Try your best to stay authentic to what works for you; don't be afraid to take a step back and try again if something doesn't work, and use "for now" often. It keeps you out of fear and in the mindset of playfulness. "Success" comes more easily when we do not grip to a specific outcome.

How did you shift from working in a corporate environment to a therapeutic one?

I do also recognize it's a big moment to move from corporate work to anything else. I've kept my toe in the water with corporate work, consulting on projects and doing visual and sound projects. I remember the moment I added "Sound Healer" to my LinkedIn profile. I was terrified. I thought people would reach out to me and say, "What are you doing?" To be transparent, I kept sitting with the fear until one morning I woke up and thought, "Today's the day." I updated my profile, and it was hardly noticed! No big deal at all! I loved that.

How does your work connect to community, tradition, or values?

Oooh! I love this question! The people in my inner circle all live lives of service in some way, from healers to builders to people who cultivate community and connection. Some of my besties are nurses! I want people to remember you are loved because you are alive. In the infinite combinations of things in the Universe, you were chosen. You were chosen to be here, to be alive, and that is love. You are a gift to the world. And sometimes we need to listen beyond words to hear where we are guided by God.

What are you working on now?

My latest love is a collaboration with Maryam from Stirbar Labs. She reached out to me asking to meet. I ended up in her beautiful lab where she makes all-natural cosmetics, and she mentioned rose water. Roses are special to me for many reasons, including the seven rose bushes I have in my backyard. We made a beautiful craft batch of fresh rose water from the roses in my garden. I took photographs of the roses for a new set of divine rose affirmation cards.

This is the Rosewater Ritual: Each morning you spray a cold spritz of the fresh rose water, inhale, exhale and choose an affirmation for the day. You will be literally holding photos of the roses you've just sprayed onto your skin and hair in your hand, so it's full circle. It's a one-time thing, and like most things, I cannot explain why I'm doing this other than pure happiness and love.

What do you wish more people understood about running a creative business?

Knowing yourself, what works for you and then creating a plan based on that is paramount. I have a friend who is a graphic designer and a "thinker" on Myers-Briggs. She had a structured system when she left corporate of how many hours a week she needed to continue working an hourly job while she built up her client base for graphic design. It worked beautifully for her.

I'm a strong "feeler" and so for me to put pressure on my creative outlet with monetization would take too much of the joy out of it for me so I focus on sound healing, corporate consulting and partnership projects for income and let my cards just be my cards (for now).

What advice would you give someone just starting out?

Try your best to stay authentic to what works for you, don't be afraid to take a step back and try again if something doesn't work and use "for now" often. It keeps you out of fear and in the mindset of playfulness. "Success" comes more easily when we do not grip to a specific outcome.

What brings you joy outside your work?

So many things – people, nature, mountains, the sound and look of a fire. My teenage girls; they are gifts from God. The love and learning I receive in being their mom doesn't compare to anything else. But for me, the biggest exhale moments will usually be after I've hiked to the top with someone I care about, and yes, I bring a sound bowl!

Thanks, Sheila! You can learn more about Light Notes at https://lightnotes.love/.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.