The first Monday of every month, as evening settles over downtown Albuquerque, something unusual happens inside the Cathedral of St. John. The air, usually filled with organ music or the murmur of prayer, instead carries the deep, resonant hum of crystal singing bowls and the shimmering wash of symphonic gongs. The historic cathedral transforms into a sanctuary of sound healing — and it's completely free.
The event is presented by Lotus Sound Bath, led by Douglas Cardwell, who brings over 30 years of professional orchestral experience to sound healing. His mission, as he describes it, is to raise public awareness and increase access to sound healing — a practice that "bathes" participants in sound waves produced by instruments tuned to specific frequencies, promoting deep relaxation and a range of reported benefits from reduced stress to improved sleep.
The setting could hardly be more fitting. The Cathedral of St. John has graced the corner of 4th and Silver in Albuquerque since 1882, when it began as a small parish church. It became the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande in 1920, and the current building — designed by the renowned architect John Gaw Meem and completed in 1950 — is listed on both the State and National Register of Historic Places. Its nave is illuminated by 52 stained-glass windows crafted in the tradition of the Charles J. Connick Studio, and its Reuter pipe organ is the largest in New Mexico. The building has even appeared on screen, serving as a stand-in for a Chicago church in the first season of the acclaimed series Better Call Saul.
The cathedral's acoustics are part of the experience. The tranquil, beautifully acoustic atmosphere of the historic space adds a dimension that a studio or yoga room simply can't replicate.
Each session is different, but the instruments remain consistent: tuned quartz crystal singing bowls, symphonic gongs, hand-made chimes, and other select specialty instruments. The result is a purely instrumental meditation that guides participants into a state of deep full-body relaxation. Regular attendees report feeling rested, energized, focused, and peaceful — and many bring friends and family to introduce them to the practice for the first time.
The event is open to everyone, regardless of experience. Whether it's someone's first sound bath or their hundredth, the invitation is the same: unplug from the outside world, be present, and share in a moment of collective stillness.
There's a certain poetry in the pairing. A cathedral built on land once cultivated by Pueblo peoples, standing for over a century as a center of downtown Albuquerque's spiritual life, now hosts a practice that draws on traditions from across the globe. The Cathedral's own history acknowledges that the land it occupies has a legacy of ownership that is "complicated and uncomfortable" — a reminder that this sacred ground has been a gathering place for far longer than the current building has stood.
Each month, the boundaries between ancient and modern, sacred and secular, seem to dissolve. The gongs ring out, the bowls sing, and a diverse gathering of Albuquerque residents share in a moment of rest and renewal. It's a small act of community care, offered freely in one of the city's most historic spaces, and it happens every first Monday of the month.