sound therapy in action

ANCIENT ARS RETUNING MODERN LIVES:

what is the science of sound healing with gongs?

In order to answer this question, one needs to understand that the fundamental building block of life and everything in the universe is Energy. All things are made from energy, even the tiniest sub atomic meson or Higgs – Boson particle. I believe the ancients knew this (or at least the concept) and finally science, mainly through quantum physics is now proving this.

All energy vibrates. If it doesn’t vibrate, it is ‘dead’ i.e. no longer energy. Slow vibrating energy goes into making up ‘solid’ particles, medium-vibrating energy forms liquids and fast vibrating energy forms gases. It also exists in ‘pure’ form from light, heat, gamma rays etc. etc. and of course, sound.

As all energy vibrates, all the physical forms it makes also vibrate. So if we take the human body, then all DNA vibrates, all cells vibrate, all muscles and bones vibrate and ultimately we also vibrate. All the different parts of the body therefore vibrate, at different frequencies according to what they are.

All energy vibrates at a certain frequency, and this frequency is different depending on the type of energy. It also vibrates at a certain frequency in the physical form depending on how the physical parts are inter-reacting. Crucially, though, there is an ‘optimum frequency’ which, in its purest and natural state, the energy vibrates at. Again, extrapolating this into the material form, all our cells etc. will vibrate at an optimum frequency when we are completely free from stress, illness and as ‘happy as Larry’ (whoever this Larry bloke is…). Vibrating at the optimum frequency allows the subtle chemical and physical interactions of how our physical body works to proceed in the most efficient manner. Nature is designed to work in the most efficient manner with the least expenditure of effort.

When we get stressed (and stress is the particular trigger) but also, when we get ill, this ‘optimum’ vibration changes. The energy then vibrates at another frequency and, depending on the extent of change from the optimum frequency, the stress and illness manifests itself in physical form. The chemical bonds formed during the subtle physio-chemical interactions can change which lead to the physical symptoms which we recognise as ‘being ill’. Chemical bonds are not solid links between atoms as portrayed in the classroom, but energy ‘clouds’ linking the atoms together.

The modern method is to take drugs to change the chemical interactions to try and make the body work ‘as it should’, or cut out the affected parts in surgery. Alternate Therapies recognise that the body energy has been affected and use a variety of ways to shift the energy back to its optimum vibrational state.

In sound healing, we are looking to ‘re-tune’ the body energies back to their optimum frequencies and so bring the body back into balance. This can be achieved in a number of ways – use of the voice, use of tuning forks and use of the gong are probably the top three ways of achieving this.

VOICES & FORKS - POWERFUL TOOLS

Use of the voice is the most ancient, and according to many, the most efficient way of healing the body using sound. Practitioners in this way of healing can ‘tone’ notes (hence frequencies) to a patient, often also using their hands to detect blockages within the body’s energy field. They use a narrow range of frequencies roughly aligned with the Chakra energy frequencies to achieve the necessary results. Uniquely, we can all ‘sing’ the notes needed to heal ourselves, regardless of the fact that some of us ‘can’t sing’ but it needs good training and practice to tone the subtle frequencies and tone changes necessary to achieve identifiable results.

The use of tuning forks makes use of the body’s energy meridians, much in the same way as acupuncture. However, instead of using needles, the sound healer uses tuning forks at the various ‘nodes’ within the meridian system. The vibrations from the forks travel along the meridians to the affected organs etc. and deliver energy to the affected areas and begin to re-tune the cells etc. back to their optimum vibration frequency.

HOW IT ACTUALLY WORKS…

The use of a gong, however, does not involve any physical application of hands or tuning forks to the client’s body or require an extensive knowledge of the correct tones and frequencies to be applied to the client in order to achieve a desired outcome. Instead, the gong (and I’m talking here of the tam-tam) produces a very wide range of tones and frequencies, which can bathe (hence gong bath) the body with these tones etc. Through the process known as ‘entrainment’ the body is clever enough to ‘select’ just those tones and frequencies to re-tune the cells etc. back to their optimum frequency thereby moving them back to the most efficient and easiest way of working. The process involves no physical contact by the therapist with the client and the client(s) can decide how close of far from the gong they wish to be. This ‘freedom’ for the client automatically puts them a bit more at ease that ultimately helps the healing process.

Perhaps the best analogy I can use is that of a concert grand piano being played by a piano maestro. If the piano is in perfect tuning and the maestro on top form, we have a wonderful combination of talent and tunings, which is a delight to listen to. However, if just one note on the piano goes out of tune, we notice it. Even if all the other notes are ‘in tune’ we still notice this odd note. Have you noticed that whenever you ask someone ‘how are you doing/feeling’, they rarely say ‘I feel wonderful’ or ‘I’m fine’ but tend to say ‘well, I’ve got this ache’ or ‘I’m not bad’, ‘I’m a bit tired’ etc. We focus on the bad things and not on the good things.

The pianist now has two options – to continue playing the bad note (which sounds horrible) or compensate by improvising, substituting another note in the chord or overplaying the notes around the duff note. In other words, the tune changes – it’s not the same tune anymore, but a bit different. These compensating notes may also become out of tune due to excess stretching of the piano string and taken to extremes, we have a piano that sounds like Les Dawson is playing it! In other words, we have a different tune being played on the piano to the one we are used to. So what do we do? Call in the piano tuner! In this case our piano tuner is a gong and the body just selects those tones and frequencies it requires to re-tune itself.

THE UNIQUE POWER OF THE GONG

The role of the gong in sound therapy is to promote health, relaxation and well being through the application of sound waves, frequencies and tones to the body to ‘re-tune’ the various vibrational frequencies of various cells, organs etc. back to their ‘optimum vibration’ following stress, illness or dis-ease. Its ability to produce a wide range of tones and frequencies compared to other sound healing instruments which can be limited in their range means that the body can be washed by sound and the body allowed to select those frequencies needed for healing by the process of entrainment.

The gong is played by a sound therapist (gong practitioner) with the gong normally suspended from a frame. A variety of beaters or mallets can be used to provide a range of sounds and tones but the fundamental way of playing is to develop a ‘drone’ sound on the gong by repeated strokes at various points on the gong. Once the drone is established the volume can be raised or lowered as felt by the gong player. Raising the volume produces a wider range of frequencies and tones but the volume should never be raised to a level that is discomforting to both player and clients. Any sense of ‘white noise’ should be avoided, as the experience must not be unpleasant to the client. The length of the playing session is entirely down to the gong player and their own intuition but 30 minutes to one hour is ample time.

By whom – the gong practitioner

For whom – clients suffering from stress, illness or di-ease or those just wanting a period of relaxation and unwinding.

Where – anywhere! Inside or out, though some form of ‘sacred space’ or clearing of old energies in rooms is usually beneficial.

When – anytime, though the gong practitioner should be relaxed and refreshed to allow them to focus on the healing the client needs, and the client should allow enough time for the session plus any pre and post sharing of their experience with the practitioner and time to recover from the session in a calm and unhurried way.