Why Every Stressed Person Should Try a Gong Bath

Why every stressed person should try a Gong Bath

When you are feeling stressed-out the best way to unwind and relax is a Gong Bath to let go of the tension from the body and mind. Gong meditation is a unique type of sound practice that creates vibrations to bring healing and therapeutic benefits to the body and the mind. Sound therapy has been used for a long time to bring healing to the body as disease comes into the body when we are vibrating at a non-optimal frequency. Gong sound therapy has been practised for thousands of years and belongs to one of the oldest Southeast Asian musical instruments. The origins may be traced back to the second millennium B.C. In Chinese history, gongs are mentioned around 500 A.D.

Gong bathing can help reduce stress and liberate emotional blockages. Scientific research suggests sound therapy prompts damage human DNA strands to repair themselves. Music therapy is the most mainstream form of sound therapy and been shown to relieve a number of health problems. It is now frequently offered in clinical settings like hospitals and clinics. The sound of the gong reaches the body on a cellular level encouraging integrated healing of the body, mind, and spirit. When the gong is played properly it produces a whole spectrum of harmonics that are based on pressure waves of sound, which vibrate the energy meridians in the body. The sounds of the gong can recalibrate the physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies, and raises the frequency of your electrical magnetic field (the aura) that surrounds your body.

A gong meditation is practised laying on your back and all you need to do is rest in a comfortable position with your eyes closed. The gong usually starts softly and progressively the volume increases. The gong sound is changed frequently to avoid producing a fixed monotonous rhythm. The first brainwave state to be reached is alpha. Alpha brainwaves are associated with creativity and feelings of relaxation. This state is followed by an influx of theta waves. Theta waves are associated with deep meditation, hypnosis, and REM sleep. The sounds from the gong can be very loud. The best way to embrace the gong is to surrender, relax, and let go. The gong is your guide and you will ride the waves of the sound current to a deep relaxing state.

Erin O’Hara, Founder of Golden Yogi

If you are interested in finding out more about Gong Baths, we have some exciting workshops coming up - including Gong Bath Training with Methab Benton.

GONG BATH & YOGA NIDRA WITH MEHTAB BENTON

Master Gong Practictioner Training

The Power Of Mantra

The Power of Mantra

Mantras are sound projections that alter the thought patterns of the mind and the chemistry of the brain. The word mantra means “man” = mind, and “trang” = wave or projection. The power of the sound has a definite predictable effect on the chakras and the human psyche.

One of the most powerful tools we have for meditation is the power of using mantra whether it’s internal (silent) mantra in the mind or chanting aloud to create the sound vibration. Mantras are used to elevate and modify consciousness through the meaning and rhythmical repetition. The rhythm of the mantra allows the mind to come into the neutral meditative mind to change the thought patterns and break repetitive or negative thought cycles.

The use of mantra is known as Naad Yoga. It is based on the experience of how sound vibrations affect the body, mind, and spirit. Mantra works through the movement of the tongue on the meridian points. There are 84 meridian points located on the hard palate of the roof of the mouth - 32 pairs (64 points) on the hard palate surface directly behind and along the inside of the teeth and 20 points located in the curve on the central part of the palate. As we move the tongue to chant mantra we create a code that helps to change the thoughts and the mind. It is no different than a phone number - if you want to ring a friend you dial their number but if you ring any random number you will not be able to get hold of your friend. Mantra works in a similar way. The mantra that you chant works like a code on the upper palate of the mouth to stimulate the meridians to affect the energy flow in a particular way through the body and mind.

There is no system of nerve connections between sections of the brain but instead there is a neurotransmission of fluid. Different chemical liquids are excreted into different parts of the brain and messages are transmitted to different parts of the brain through fluids.

We can project the authentic self through the use of our word. Chanting mantras either silently or aloud is a conscious method of controlling and directing the mind. We create every word we speak and even every word we think. When we chant a mantra we choose to evoke the positive power in the particular syllables, rhythm, and frequent of that particular mantra. Simply by chanting mantra we are sending vibrations into motion that shall have the effect. For mantra, it does not matter whether we understand the meaning of the sound or not, as the mantra is the frequency of the sound vibration. By vibrating a particular combination of sounds you tune into various levels of intelligence or consciousness. We have the power to choose what we project and what we think. Through the use of mantra, the words, and the rhythm have an effect on our consciousness. 

“A person can tune his or her own consciousness into the awareness of that totality with the use of a mantra. By vibrating in rhythm with the breath to a particular sound that is proportional to the creative sound, or sound current, one can expand one’s sensitivity to the entire spectrum of vibration. It is similar to striking a note on a stringed instrument. In other words, as you vibrate, the universe vibrates with you.” ~ Yogi Bhajan