Question: Why is it that sometimes when I go to various Sound Healing events, that some types of quartz crystal singing bowls will make my heart feel a little uncomfortable to the point where I either start Reiking my heart chakra to be able to continue listening or I have to go outside for short breaks?

Answer: Your question is a good one and how I understand your experience is why we ring the bowls the way we do.  You see, the chakra theories that I have studied point to wholeness being effected by a chakra being closed or too far open and the vibration of sound can put that in balance as we resonate with it.  The problem is which sound does one need?  Our solution is to ring all seven major chakras with the idea that all will come into balance, kind of the multi-vitamin approach.  Some sound healers “read” the client and prescribe specific sounds for healing but I find that prone to error, both in diagnose and treatment choice.  The problem with diagnosing is that they just may not have the ability needed.  The problem with treatment choice is that chi movement through the specific chakra can be greatly effected by condition of a different chakras, so that  what may be seen as a blocked heart chakra is actually a problem of a less blocked throat chakra and/or an overly open solar-plexus chakra.  Our multi-vitamin approach gives healing to all three. 

In your case, where you can feel discomfort, I suggest paying specific notice to which bowl is being rung when you experience discomfort.   That is the one that you can maybe do some work with.  That you do some reike and take a break is a good idea at the moment but don’t miss the diagnostic opportunity.  At our bowl ceremony we use a “rainbow bridge” candle set, lighting the appropriate color before we start each bowl.  When you feel the uneasiness, look up and see which is the most recent candle.  Then you can get some extra work with that sound.