How I accidentally manifested a whole sound Studio in 3 months
Inside my cozy little studio where I can accomodate 7 peaceful guests at a time.
June 24, 2025
🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨
I didn’t set out to become a sound healer. Not even close. If you had told me six months ago that I’d be spending thousands of dollars on bowls and gongs and harps - and asking my husband to build me a sound spa studio in the backyard - I would’ve laughed in your face.
It all started, as so many ridiculous stories do, because of a Facebook ad. Sometime before Christmas 2024, I started seeing these ads for floating sound baths - you know, the ones where you float in a pool under the stars while someone plays singing bowls. It looked cool as hell. I tried to book it for myself and Tony, but every time I checked, they were booked solid. I couldn’t get us in on any date that worked with our schedules. I got frustrated. And in that little bratty voice in my head, I thought, “Fine. I’ll just do my own sound baths.”
🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨
So then I remembered that my Aunt Squiggs (real name is Alene, but she goes by Squidge, and I’ve shortened it to Squiggs) had this old set of frosted singing bowls that she’d shown me years ago. I called her up; “Hey….do you still have those bowls? Can I have them?”
She said she did, but warned me, “I don’t think it’s a full set. I bought them like 25 years ago at an expo and have never really played them. I might have two of the same note, or be missing one. And you’ll have to drive to Santa Fe to pick them up. They’re big and heavy — you’ll need a truck.”
And that’s when I hit my first nope. “Yeah… no. Too much hassle.” So I shelved the idea.
🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨🪷🌙✨
But then Squiggs suggested later, “Why don’t we go to the Conscious Life Expo in LA in February? I used to go when I lived there. They always had sound healing stuff. Let’s just go see what they have. I’ll come see your new house - it’ll be fun.”
At this point, my life was already a little crazy, so I readily agreed. Tony and I had just bought our new house on Sirius Street, and getting it had been a whole rollercoaster. Three months before buying the new house, we refinanced my old house after we got engaged. We dumped about $150K into fixing that place up, intending to stay for a long time and use it. Then we stumbled on the Sirius house and fell in love with the backyard. Tony loved the 2-car garage, and we both thought it would be perfect for us.
Sabrina - my best friend and realtor - helped us get it, but it was a whole saga. In a little under two months, our offer was accepted over the original accepted offer. We went into escrow, assured we wouldn’t have any issues. Then we had major issues, drama with the loan we couldn’t work around. The loan was rejected and we lost the house. Sellers accepted another backup offer and entered a new escrow period. That offer also fell through. Our mortgage broker found a bank willing to fund, so we made a new offer on the house and then got it back at the last second. We closed escrow 2 weeks behind original schedule and spent every penny we had on the down payment.
And while the backyard was awesome, and Sabrina even said we should turn this into a spa like a mini Glen Ivy Hot Springs, by that point, I was thinking, Sure. If I had any money or energy left.
The idea of starting any new business was fully rejected at that point.
But the Expo trip still sounded like fun. Zero pressure. No expectations. A nice visit with my aunt. So we booked it - just a little hippie field trip for me and Squidge.
When we got there two months later, we were instantly highly entertained by the attendees, and also a little horrified. The sheer volume of freaky people at this Expo was off the charts. We saw more bearded women and more purple hair, nose chains, gauged ears, and random feral outfits than I could count. It was people-watching gold — but also had me low-key wondering if you had to be mentally ill to be into this side of life.
Early on, we walked past the Crystal Tones singing bowls booth. Neither of us had any clue what they were; I literally didn’t know if they were sound bowls, salad bowls, or decorative bowls for a shelf.
The booth was packed — we couldn’t get in — so we stood back and pointed out our favorites: I loved this peach and turquoise colored bowl that reminded me of a sunset, and my Jeep, and all the adventures I’ve had over the years. My Aunt Squidge loved this tall, narrow translucent golden peach-colored bowl. A moment later, we both pointed out the large translucent aqua-colored bowl.
We commented that all of the bowls were absolutely gorgeous. And then we moved on
A little while later, we saw Ashlee’s booth — and this is important - by that point, we were fully entertained but borderline disturbed by the Expo scene.
So when we saw Ashlee — totally normal, beautiful, polished, well put together — her booth stood out like a beacon.
Same thing later with Adrienne at Soundbird Healing, and Rana at Crystal Tones — these were the only people at the entire Expo who looked like the kind of women I wanted to be friends with — beautiful, healthy, successful, doing work I could actually see myself doing.
And yes — was that shallow?
1000%.
But when you’re swimming in a sea of freaks, you grab onto whatever signals make sense.
⸻
Ashlee’s booth had a sign for Past Life Regression — something I’ve always been curious about.
So I asked her about it.
She said she didn’t do those at the convention — too chaotic, too much energy, not the right setting — and sometimes people remember their own death, which can be a bit much in a public space. Okay, fun! I’m totally in, but later.
⸻
But she was offering psychic readings — and had a spot open right then, which is always my favorite time — so I booked 20 minutes to start.
⸻
We started with her asking about my kids, my mom, my aunt, and Tony and then telling me about each of them as they relate to me in detail.
I didn’t tell her who was living or dead — but she picked up on some of it — other parts I clarified.
Once we got rolling, she really connected.
⸻
I extended another 20 minutes.
And then another.
⸻
In that last 20 minutes — the magic happened.
Ashlee asked:
“Have you been thinking about a career change?”
⸻
I said:
“Sort of. But I already rejected the idea.”
⸻
Then I explained:
I’m a photographer.
👉 I work for GenRight.
👉 We just bought a new house.
👉 A friend suggested turning it into a spa — I liked the idea, but it’s too much work, too much money, too much time.
👉 I thought about adding sound baths — they seemed cool — but I didn’t know much about it, and I didn’t want to spend money after buying the house and paying off my credit cards.
⸻
That’s when Ashlee suddenly got VERY adamant.
She said:
👉 “You NEED to do this. Even if it’s just for you and your friends — start. You are going to open up your entire world — meet people you don’t know yet — it will change your life completely. You NEED to do this.”
⸻
I half-joked:
👉 “So… should I just bust out my credit card and go nuts at this convention and buy a bunch of shit?”
Ashlee, very serious:
👉 “YES. Seriously. YES.”
⸻
Then she added:
👉 “Follow the birds. Birds are important for you — they’re a sign.”
👉 “Light-colored or white birds — that’s your mom visiting you.”
👉 “Dark, powerful birds — that’s your dad.”
⸻
I told her:
👉 “I’m not really into birds.”
But then I started thinking about it:
👉 “Well… my JPP logo has a bird on it. My bedspread at home is covered in birds. Oh… and I have this HUGE tattoo of birds on my side.”
⸻
I showed her — and she laughed:
👉 “Okay… so you’re not into birds… but you’re totally into birds.”
⸻
What I didn’t tell her was why that tattoo is so meaningful.
⸻
After I lost the twins, I wanted something permanent to honor them.
I worked with a tattoo artist named Jim — and we designed this big, beautiful piece:
✅ A tree branch
✅ Two big, colorful birds
✅ Pink flowers — like the ones blooming in Texas when I was born
✅ Texas bluebonnets — with my babies’ footprints hidden inside
Julian and Aria’s footprints — exact size.
Joey and Hudson’s footprints — shrunk to match.
⸻
So yeah.
👉 “Okay, maybe I’m into birds.”
⸻
Right after the reading, I went to the very next booth — Adrienne’s Sound Bird Healing Booth — with a moon gong for sale front and center.
I bought it on the spot.
⸻
Lotus Moon Sound Spa was born right there.
The “moon” came from the gong — but also from my Buddhist name — given to me at age 14 at a retreat at Tara Mandala.
👉 Lotus Moon.
⸻
Then, on the way back to Crystal Tones, I bought a Therapy Harp — with a Tree of Life and heart chakra tuning.
It sounds like angels singing just to you. They sang “buy the harp, it’ll make sense one day…”.
I didn’t care what it cost — swiped the card — took it home. I was on a roll!
Thanks, Ashlee!
⸻
Back at Crystal Tones booth at the expo the next day:
Rana’s employee — let’s call her Priya — kept trying to pick bowls for me — but kept second-guessing and switching them — over and over — for like 30 minutes.
Finally, Rana came over:
👉 “What are you doing, Priya? You must be tired. Go take a break.”
Then she said to me:
👉 “Come over here. Let me help you.”
⸻
Without knowing anything, Rana pulled the exact three bowls Squidge and I had picked the day before:
✅ Laughing Buddha
✅ Grandmother
✅ Aqua Aura
👉 “These are your bowls.”
And I just knew:
👉 “Yep. Those are my bowls.”
⸻
I played them — loved them — THEN asked the price.
Rana:
👉 $5,600.
I nearly died.
👉 “I can’t afford that.”
Rana tilted her head:
👉 “Are you sure?”
⸻
In that moment, something clicked — I COULD do this. Plus, Ashlee said.
That’s my new excuse for everything - Ashlee SAID I could! 😂
Rana offered 4 monthly payments — no interest.
👉 “Okay. Here’s my card.”
⸻
And that’s how it happened.
⸻
That night, I had to go home and tell Tony:
👉 “So… I went to a hippie Expo… and now I need you to build me a sound spa studio.”
⸻
PART TWO:
That night — after Squidge and I played the bowls for a while in the living room — I sat down with Tony and Squidge and we all got on YouTube.
I searched:
👉 “What is a sound bath?”
⸻
And that’s when I found Susy Schieffelin’s video:
👉 “What is a Sound Bath?”
⸻
I LOVED the way she explained it — it really resonated — clear, elegant, and exactly what I needed to hear.
So then I clicked over to her Copper Vessel website to see what she was all about.
And there it was:
👉 The Sound Healers Academy.
⸻
I saw that the last cohort had been in Fall 2024 — and it looked absolutely PERFECT for me.
⸻
There was a contact form on her site — so I sent her an email:
👉 “Hi, I don’t know what I’m doing, but I just went to this Expo in LA and I ended up buying these really expensive Crystal Tones bowls — and I have no idea how to play them. I saw you offer lessons and the Sound Healers Academy looks perfect, but it looks like it’s over. Are you offering it again?”
⸻
And I’m not kidding — she emailed me back in less than five minutes — with the warmest, most welcoming message:
👉 “Hi Jennings, so nice to meet you! I’m so glad you reached out. Yes, I offer the Sound Healers Academy twice a year. Our Spring cohort will start March 24th. The cost is $4,444 — but if you’d like to join, you can get in on the Early Bird pricing of $3,333.”
And…
👉 “Which bowls did you buy? I LOVE Crystal Tones bowls — they will change your life. I’m so glad you reached out — this is the BEST thing you could do for yourself!”
⸻
And the moment I saw that number — $3,333 — I knew.
The alignments with 11s, my baby mantras — it all felt so meant to be that I immediately said YES.
I charged it that same week. Ashlee said I could.
⸻
And here’s the kicker:
👉 I found The Sound Healers Academy— and enrolled — THE SAME NIGHT I came home from the Expo.
That’s how fast this whole thing started moving.
⸻
By the next morning, I was pacing around the house thinking:
👉 “Shit… I need a SOUND SPA STUDIO.”
And also:
👉 “Shit… I just charged $15,000 on instruments in 48 hours.”
⸻
Naturally, I went to Tony with the most rational, grounded pitch possible:
👉 “BABE. I need you to BUILD ME A SOUND SPA STUDIO IN THE BACKYARD.”
⸻
To his credit — he did not immediately call for a psych eval.
But the man was definitely giving me the:
👉 “I love you but you’ve lost your damn mind” look.
⸻
I explained:
👉 “They said if I play these bowls outside, I’ll lose the vibrational frequencies. They need to be in an enclosed space. And I can’t put them in the house — it’s too small — so OBVIOUSLY we need to BUILD A STUDIO.”
⸻
Tony was like:
👉 “We just bought this house three months ago. We spent every penny we had. I’m not building you a studio because some psychic told you to.”
Fair.
Technically accurate.
BUT ALSO — not the energy I was looking for. That is NOT what Ashlee said, Babe!
⸻
So I did what any reasonable, slightly obsessed new sound healer would do:
👉 I manifested the shit out of it.
⸻
The next day, Tony asked me to call about combining our car insurance.
I called — found out we’d save $450/month if we combined.
$450/month.
MORE than enough to cover a loan payment for a studio.
⸻
I ran back to him like:
👉 “BABE. It’s a SIGN. It’s MEANT TO BE.”
And because he’s a golden retriever husband who loves me, he caved.
⸻
And that’s how — in the span of one weekend — I went from:
👉 “Maybe I’ll try a sound bath one day”
to
👉 “I’m building a boutique sound spa business and I own $10k + in bowls and I’m starting a certification program and we’re getting a studio and this is happening NOW.”
That is the real story.
That is how Lotus Moon Sound Spa was born. Yes, it’s ridiculous and magical and 100% true.
P.S.!!!! When I finally went to pick up the bowls from my aunt — the ones she had bought on a whim 25 years earlier at that original healing expo — we unboxed them together and were both stunned to discover what had been sitting there all along. It was not just a random set of bowls — it was a full and complete set of seven quartz crystal singing bowls, one for each chakra, perfectly tuned. And even more incredible — they were made by Crystal Tones, one of the first sets the company ever produced. Somehow, all those years ago, my aunt had chosen bowls from what would become the most respected maker in the world — and now, all these years later, I was stepping onto the path to become a Crystal Tones partner myself. The full circle energy of it gave me chills. It was an undeniable sign that I was exactly where I was meant to be, doing exactly what I was meant to do.
Follow along for more stories!
