Most singing bowls spend the overwhelming majority of their life not being played, which makes where they sit a more consequential decision than it first appears.
The argument for display
Straightforward and worth stating first. A bowl kept in a cupboard is used a fraction as often as one kept in sight.
This is true of every instrument and every piece of exercise equipment ever purchased. Visibility is a cue, and a cue is most of what turns an intention into a habit. If you bought a bowl to use it, it should be somewhere you see it several times a day.
Which means the practical answer to this question is usually: out, on a surface, in the room where you would play it.
What it should sit on
Not directly on a hard surface. A bowl resting on wood, stone or glass is in contact with something that damps its vibration, which matters if it gets knocked or played in place, and which can also mark a polished surface over time.
A hoop cushion is the traditional answer and it does two jobs, isolating the bowl acoustically and protecting the furniture. Cushions are sized to the bowl rather than being one size, and ours run from an 8cm cushion for 10 to 12cm bowls up to a 24cm cushion for bowls of 26cm and over.
Getting the size right matters more than people expect. A cushion too small lets the bowl rock; one too large lifts it awkwardly and can touch the wall of the bowl, damping it.
Humidity and where not to keep one
Metal bowls are more tolerant than wooden objects, but they do tarnish faster in damp air.
Bathrooms are the obvious place to avoid, along with kitchens where steam and cooking residue accelerate tarnishing. A conservatory that swings between hot and cold is not ideal either.
An ordinary living room, bedroom or study is entirely fine, which covers most of the places anyone would want to keep one anyway.
Out of reach of children and pets
A practical point. Bowls are heavy for their size and they are attractive to children, and a bowl pulled off a low table onto a hard floor is one of the commonest ways they crack.
Cats in particular find a hoop cushion inviting, and a bowl on a cushion at the edge of a surface is an accident waiting to happen. Set it back from the edge.
Storing several
The single most important rule is not to nest them without protection. Bowls stacked inside each other move against one another with any handling, and the contact points chip and eventually crack.
If they must nest, put cloth between them. Better, keep them separately, and better still keep the ones you use out and the ones you do not in a drawer with cloth around each.
Bowls as objects in a room
Worth saying, since it is how most people actually live with them. A singing bowl is a beautiful object and it earns its place on a shelf whether or not it is played that week.
Engraved bowls in particular, such as our Earth Powder mandala bowl or the 21cm five Buddhas healing bowl, are made to be looked at as well as played, and grouping one with a small statue or a candle makes a corner that reads as considered rather than as storage.
Using it as a bowl
People do ask. A singing bowl will hold keys, jewellery or a small plant, and there is nothing to stop you.
Two cautions. Anything with sharp edges will scratch the interior, and while that is cosmetic it is permanent. And water left in a bowl accelerates tarnishing considerably and can mark the interior, so if it holds a plant, keep the plant in its own pot.
Keeping it somewhere you will use it
To return to where this started, because it is the real answer. The best place for a singing bowl is the room where you would actually play it, on a surface you pass regularly, on a cushion, set back from the edge.
Everything else in this article is detail around that.
Questions people ask
Should a singing bowl be on display?
Yes, in most cases. A bowl kept in a cupboard gets used a fraction as often as one kept in sight, since visibility is the cue that turns intention into habit.
What should a singing bowl sit on?
A hoop cushion sized to the bowl, which isolates it acoustically and protects the surface. Cushions run from 8cm for small bowls up to 24cm for bowls over 26cm.
Can I keep a singing bowl in a bathroom?
Better not. Damp air accelerates tarnishing, and kitchens are similarly unhelpful because of steam and cooking residue. An ordinary living room, bedroom or study is fine.
How should I store several bowls?
Separately, or with cloth between them if they must nest. Nested bowls move against each other with handling, and the contact points chip and eventually crack.
Can I put things in a singing bowl?
Yes, though sharp objects scratch the interior permanently and standing water accelerates tarnishing and can mark it. Keep any plant in its own pot.
