The psychologist suggested that Rudd sit in a SO SoundChair, manufactured by SO Sound Solutions, which creates both sound and physical vibrations that resonate through your body. You are able to listen to your favorite music or watch movies while in the chair, and have your body experience what your ears hear, says Suzannah Long, cofounder of the Lafayette, Colo., company.

“Basically, you lie in it and you feel the sound waves giving you a musical massage,” Long explains. “If we sing or chant, we feel the sound from the top of the crown down. The SO SoundChair gets your body to respond to the sound by speaking into the skin, muscles and bones with resonance.”

SO Sound Solutions says its products can increase circulation, relax muscles, balance heart rate and ease the symptoms of many chronic diseases. To date, the company does not have any research to back up its claims, although scientists have known for years that music and sound can affect our mood and overall quality of health. For example, a study by Tzu Chi University in Taiwan found that premature babies who listened to music slept more and cried less. Their mothers were less anxious, too. Rudd says he saw similar benefits firsthand.

“The first time I used the chair, I was listening to music with a lot of bass and drums. I couldn’t see how that could be relaxing, but I saw my brainwaves before and after and saw how the stress evened out,” he says. “I almost fell asleep in the chair. Plus, my heart rate dropped by almost 60 percent.”

Rudd became so fond of the $7,700 chair that he purchased one for his home. The chair, he says, helps him think more clearly. He also turns to the seat for a less pressing reason, too. “I’ve always been a home theater and sound technology kind of guy,” he says. “You can’t imagine how great it is to feel your movies.”

SO Sound Solutions
720.935.2798,
www.sosoundsolutions.com