Asa Aziz’s Healing Journey of Sounds

In her former life as a respiratory therapist, Asa Aziz saw the worst of the Covid pandemic of 2020. After the initial surge, she started hosting women’s circles at home with friends.

“It just kind of happened naturally,” Asa said. “People were going through things, and [I thought] let’s create space where we can come together. I would lead meditations and play the [sound] bowls.”

Sound bowls, also known as singing bowls, are essentially inverted bells and can be played by striking them or running a suede-covered mallet around the edge to produce a note. They are used in meditative practices and in sound healing.

Her meditation practices inspired her to learn more about sound bowls, so Asa found an instructor online and began working over the next nine months to understand how sound affects the body. She began to feel pulled towards sound healing as its powers became clear to her.

“My name means ‘healer’,” said the 34-year-old. “So I was drawn to it. And as I learned more about it, I was like, ‘Yes, this is for me. This is what I want to do.’ It started a journey. This is a part of me. It grows with me.”

Most people think of crystal bowls when they think of sound healing, says Asa, but these never resonated with her. Instead, she was trained to use her voice in sound therapy (also known as sound bathing) and other instruments like the tongue drum, wind chimes, and rattles. She says sounds should mimic the elements.

“Rain sticks and the ocean drum are my favorite,” she said. “You want things that are like water, air, and things that ground you.”

Of course, not all south baths are created equal. Asa says sound is simply a frequency your body absorbs; some can be disrupting and irritating.

“Some people claim to be sound healers, but they’re just playing sounds. They don’t understand what they’re doing with the sound,” she said. “Sound bowls are very transient, so the person playing them also affects the sounds being played… If [the person using the sound bowl] is not also a calm person, the sound can be affected.”

Like many people who are passionate about their work, Asa isn’t in it for the money. The deep love she has for sound healing makes it hard for her to put a price on it.

“I can live off my passions,” she said. “But that puts a constraint on it because now you’re trying to put a price on it, you’re trying to put a time frame on it, you’re trying to market it to certain people.”

But Asa cannot, in good conscience, package sound healing as just another health trend or sell it as “corporate wellness.”

“I don’t want to put any of those categories on it because it’s very personal,” she said. “The sound that come for a person comes from what they need at that moment. Everyone’s going to have a different experience. People cry. People release. It’s deeper than just a surface service.”

While she is willing to work with larger groups, Asa prefers more intimate sessions that can be done anywhere: at home, outside, or even in creative and communal spaces. Through sound healing, she says people can do deep work. They ask themselves important questions, connect to their inner self, and maybe find moments of stillness and feelings of peace.

“Sound healing gets you to be clear on what you want in life,” said Asa. “What you’re here to do… to connect you with your own passion and purpose. Sound healing can be a tool to know your passion and your purpose. You need stillness. You need peace. You need calmness. Sound healing can start you on that journey.”

Photo credit: Yohann Nganza

Asa, known in her professional life as a DJ as ASA ACE, is using sound healing and live music to promote wellbeing in Fort Worth and around the world. Preferring to be known as a “vibe facilitator,” she has played DJ sets everywhere from Africa to Asia and at local venues like The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. She says music found her when she was not looking.

“I was a full-time respiratory therapist and trying to figure out my passion,” she said. “I wanted to create more. I just wanted a hobby.”

After becoming inspired by the way a friend mastered the room as he DJed, Asa decided to dedicate herself to the craft. Her uncle, a former DJ and producer she says worked with some big names in New York in the 1990s, encouraged her to follow her passion. He helped set her up with all the right gear and pushed her to work hard.

“All my days off, I would be in the house, practicing mixing,” she said. “I would take courses from people. I would find DJs that I like and ask them for lessons.”

Asa loves watching people as she DJs.

“You see the reaction of people – how they relax and are excited. This is what people need. It’s a form of healing. It opened up a whole new world for me.”

One of Asa’s first big shows as a DJ was in 2019 when Leon Bridges flew her to Las Vegas to DJ at a nightclub. From there, she went on to score residencies at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas and Hotel Dryce in Fort Worth. She released an EP in 2024 called “Sound Heals” with Zimbabwean producer Josh Major, and DJed shows in Ghana and South Korea.

Asa says you don’t always know what you are moving towards, but if you pursue your passions, journeys of self-discovery can begin.

“That’s what I found out about DJing,” she said. “These are the places that I’m supposed to be in and that I feel most alive in. And it’s because I followed my passion.”

When she is not facilitating vibes around town, you can find Asa at her and her sister’s boba shop, 1102 Bubble Tea & Coffee in Flower Mound. Go by and say hi, and stop for a bit to listen. It may be the first step on a new journey.