About Joann Schermerhorn + Carried sound bathsI didn't plan to become the person
who plays bowls for a living.
But twenty years of following what actually worked brought me here. And here is exactly where I'm supposed to be.
The nonlinear path.
It doesn't look like a straight line. That's the point.
The beginning
I started in national parks. Spent time in permaculture. Moved cities for spa management positions — once, twice, a third time — learning how real people in real bodies respond to care. Not textbook care. The kind that actually lands.
The accumulation
Over twenty years, I collected credentials the way some people collect houseplants — because each one opened something new. Licensed esthetician. Ayurvedic Health Counselor. Vodder lymphatic specialist. Clinical herbalist. Registered yoga teacher. Breathwork facilitator. Each one is a different door into the same question: how does the body actually want to be held?
The discovery
Sound healing found me at the moment I needed something I couldn't think my way out of. I'd been in wellness long enough to know most of the options. I'd tried most of them. Sound was the one that worked differently — not by giving my brain something to do, but by bypassing my brain entirely and going straight to the body.
Right now
I became an ISTA Certified Therapeutic Sound Practitioner because I take this seriously. I built the most comprehensive instrument collection I could. I set up shop in Overland Park at Very Well KC. And every Wednesday night, I open the doors and play bowls for whoever needs an hour of going somewhere beautiful.
"I've been in wellness for twenty years. I've tried most of it. Sound healing is the thing that actually worked on the stuff I couldn't think my way out of."
Why sound. Not yoga. Not meditation. Sound.
Here's what I tell people who ask.
Yoga asks something of you. Meditation asks something of you. Both are extraordinary practices — I teach both — but they require your participation. Your willingness to keep showing up to the breath, to the body, to the moment.
Sound doesn't ask anything. You lie down. You close your eyes. And the sound does the work without requiring a single thing from you except your horizontal body and your approximate presence.
For people who are burned out, overstimulated, and exhausted by the constant requirement to produce and perform and try — that's not a small thing. That's everything.
There's also the science. Sound baths work on the nervous system through resonance — the bowls' frequencies interact with your brain waves and your body's own vibration in ways that shift you out of fight-or-flight and into parasympathetic rest. Your nervous system doesn't need your permission to respond. It just responds.
Which means it works even when you're skeptical. Even when you fall asleep. Even when your brain is still running through your to-do list while your body is lying there. The sound finds you wherever you are.
"The sound finds you wherever you are."
The collection.
Every instrument is tuned to 432Hz. Built to layer, built to carry you.
I am slightly obsessed with my instruments. This is a known fact. Every piece in the Carried collection was chosen deliberately — for its frequency, its resonance, its ability to layer with everything else. All tuned to 432Hz, so they sing together rather than against each other.
Crystal Singing Bowls: C, F, and A · 432Hz · the foundational voice of every Carried session
Bronze Yoga Nidra Bowl Set: 432Hz · the warm, earthier complement to crystal — particularly beautiful for nidra
Chau Gong: The big one. Full-room resonance. The sound that changes the air in the space.
Koshi Chimes: 432Hz · four elements · the lightest, most ethereal layer in the collection
Wave Drum: Ocean-like resonance · grounding and deeply meditative
Solstice Minichord C: 432Hz · warm harmonic overtones · adds a melodic breath to the sound landscape
Chakra Tube Chimes: Full set C D E F G A B · 432Hz · tuned to the complete scale
Tongue Drums: F# Minor · 432Hz · sounds like a forest. My personal favorite.
Every session uses a curated selection from the full collection — chosen based on the group, the energy in the room, and what the moment calls for. No two sessions sound exactly the same.
The credentials, for those who want them.
Twenty years of formal training. The short version.
I lead with experience because credentials without experience are just paper. But the paper matters too — especially in a field where anyone can call themselves a sound healer after a weekend course. Here's what's behind Carried.
rimary · Sound
ISTA Certified Therapeutic Sound Practitioner
International Sound Therapy Association · 100-hour certification · Sound Science Meets Arts Academy with Guy Yair Beider · Certified May 2026
Ayurveda
Ayurvedic Health Counselor
AHC · Constitutional wellness approach · body-type specific practice · informs how sessions are shaped for individuals
Movement
Registered Yoga Teacher
RYT 200 · Yoga Alliance accredited · informs yoga nidra facilitation in sessions
Skin + Body
Licensed Esthetician
LE · ASCP Professional Member · 20+ years skin and body care · the foundation of somatic awareness in practice
Manual Therapy
Vodder Lymphatic Specialist
Certified in manual lymphatic drainage · informs understanding of the body's fluid systems and nervous system response
Plants + Herbs
Clinical Herbalist
Plant medicine and botanical wellness · informs holistic approach to nervous system support and session preparation
Where this work comes from
Twenty years of study across disciplines. Here's the lineage behind the practice:
Sound Healing
Crystal and Tibetan Singing Bowls | Tongue Drum | Koshi Chimes | Chau Gong | Ocean Drum
Training in vibrational therapy and sound bath facilitation. Studied with Guy Beider of Sound Medicine Academy
Yoga
Yin yoga | Yoga Nidra | Hatha & Restorative Yoga
Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT200) Training emphasis: somatic, slow, nervous system-informed. Studied with Ira Ohm of Zen Den Yoga School
Breathwork
Physiological Sigh | Nadi Shodhana | Bhramari and beyond
Pranayama lineage through Ayurvedic and yogic traditions
Ayurveda
Ayurvedic Health Counselor (AHC)| Panchakarma Technician | Clinical Herbalist
Studied with Kerala Ayurveda Academy and Corrina Maharani of Maharani Ayurveda Academy
Esthetics
Facial Massage | Marma Therapy | Kansa Wand | Lymphatic Drainage
20+ years practicing in the wellness and spa industry. Licensed Holistic Esthetician and Licensed Esthetician Instructor through the state of Kansas
Additional study: Permaculture design | National park interpretation | Spa management
You don't have to be anything in particular to come here.
You don't have to be a longtime meditator or a dedicated yogi. You don't have to know what a crystal bowl does or why breathwork matters.
You just have to have some part of you that's tired of running — and some part that suspects there's another way.
That's enough. Come as you are.
