Hi, this month I am publishing the first part of an essay I wrote for my Gong Practitioner Training course. This week we look at an introduction to sound healing with gongs and how they can help us de-stress, improve our creativity and cognition, and support our personal growth.
Introduction
Throughout the ages, human beings have recognised the profound influence of sound and vibration on their physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Plato and Aristotle believed songs could purify the soul and promote mental health; even Pythagoras, often considered the Godfather of Modern Sound Medicine, taught his students to use sound and music to soothe the spirit, release worry, fear, and anger, and enhance joy and happiness.[i] Today, neuroscience is starting to reveal the mechanisms by which music triggers healing in the brain; already, it has been shown to help a range of issues from chronic pain, autism, and depression to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.[ii]
Among the various instruments used in sound healing, gongs have emerged as powerful tools for healing and personal growth. Gongs’ expansive range of frequencies interacts with the body's energetic system, clearing blockages, promoting energetic flow, and restoring balance.
Gongs have a rich history dating back thousands of years in various cultures across the globe, including Asia, Africa, and Europe. These cultures recognised the therapeutic potential of sound vibrations and incorporated them into their healing rituals and spiritual practices.
Following the dawn of the New Age in the 70’s, Westerners have been rediscovering the power of sound healing as it’s seen as an alternative healing modality aligned with holistic principles.
Sound Healing with Gongs
Sound healing is the therapeutic application of sound frequencies to the body/mind of a person to bring them into a state of harmony and health.[iii] The fundamental principle underlying the theory of sound healing is that all matter vibrates at a specific frequency through which it can influence and be influenced by all other matter. [iv]
A well-played gong produces infinite layers of overtones and harmonics, creating dissonant harmony. This denseness of sound waves coming from a gong well played, building up the sound in this way, is the key to the power of the gong as a healing instrument. These radiating gong sounds penetrate the human body powerfully, causing all cells to reverberate. Thus, the sound of the gong affects every part of our being[v]. Indeed, its sound's ability to travel and enter places other modalities cannot reach makes it powerful.
During a sound healing session with gongs, we are brought back into balance by the process of entrainment; our cells and organs, and indeed all parts of us, entrain to the gong sound by the principle of forced resonance. This is when the more powerful tone (from the gong) imposes itself on, the less powerful tone (a part of the human body/mind), and they resonate together at the same pitch.[vi]
A core benefit of sound healing is activating the parasympathetic nervous system, critical to regaining and regulating health through its calming influence on stressed minds and bodies. Given that The American Institute of Stress concluded that most health problems are caused by stress.[vi] Preventative and curative sound healing could cure and prevent many diseases plaguing modern society. Skeptics cite a lack of scientific evidence as a reason to view this approach cautiously. However, anecdotal accounts, including my experience of receiving and giving dozens of gong baths, suggest otherwise!
In sound healing, frequencies are used like breath in meditation: to influence our brainwaves to slow to a restorative state, which activates the body’s self-healing system. The soothing frequencies emitted in a sound-healing session provide a stable pattern for our brainwaves to mimic, flattening stressful fluctuations. Essentially, the brain falls in sync with the sound frequency. Thus, our brains can be ‘entrained,’ using rhythm and frequency to move from their typical beta-dominant state (concentration, focus, or stress) to a restful alpha-dominant state.
In some sessions, the brain drops deeper into a dream-like theta-dominant state, where we experience memories, insights, intuition, heightened consciousness, and repressed thoughts. Or deeper still, the lowest and slowest delta-dominant state, akin to deep sleep, with the conscious and subconscious off-line, and we get a deep rest.
Sound can be used to stimulate and soothe, helping us with our creative, personal, and spiritual potential.
Creativity
Modern-day education prioritises developing the left brain, with many people reaching adulthood cut from their innate creativity, potential, and, some say, purpose. This has a significant impact on the health of both the individual and, of course, society.
The brain’s right hemisphere is responsible for creative thinking and imagination, which are fundamental as “human life is inherently creative.”[ix]. For humans to live fulfilling lives and achieve their potential, both the brain’s left- and right-hand sides must be developed and operating in unison.
Sound healing, especially in a theta state, can activate the brain’s right hemisphere, which can help unlock new ideas and perspectives. A high-quality gong has amazing synaesthetic powers – the ability to mix the senses and indeed to take us beyond the five senses of the physical. Gongs can mix the senses so the listener is taken from physical reality into the world of feelings, dreams, and visions. Inherent creativity can be unlocked this way if it has been stifled by formal education or conditioning. After a session, a listener may experience an abundance of creative ideas.[x]Synaesthesia is believed to be essential for healing, rejuvenation, and transformation, affecting both the gong players and the listener.
Sound healing can promote a state of flow, a psychological state of being fully immersed in an activity and feeling energized and focused. Flow is essential for creativity and productivity because it allows us to work quickly and efficiently.
As a child, I grew up believing that I was not ‘creative’, and since I have engaged with the gong, my sense of connection to my creative side and ability to access flow states has increased significantly.
Personal Growth
Regular gong work can help us overcome emotional and mental blocks and make better decisions by firing up our subconscious material. Integrating this material into the conscious mind is essential for mental well-being and gives us greater access to our natural talents and gifts.
Sound healing can enhance cognitive function, including memory and attention, by applying specific sound frequencies like alpha and theta waves.
It is impossible to say to what extent the gong has been a part of my personal growth as I am engaged in various modalities supporting this process. What is clear is that the profound connection I have with this practice is a significant piece in the overall puzzle, which of course, I am still trying to work out.
Next time we will look at how they support our spiritual evolution and how gongs and sound healing could help us individually and collectively as more of us look to holistic approaches for our well-being.
[i] https://debphelps.com/2022/06/integral-sound-healing-session-vs-group-sound-bath/ [ii]Good vibrations — the healing power of sound baths | Financial Times (ft.com)
[iii] https://www.collegeofsoundhealing.co.uk/what_is.php [iv] https://www.delamora.life/blog/science-research-on-sound-for-healing?format=amp [v] https://www.delamora.life/blog/science-research-on-sound-for-healing?format=amp [vii] Shelia Whittaker - Sound Healing With Gongs [viii] Ikigai – the Japanese secret to a long and happy life.
[ix] Sir Ken Robinson – Do Schools kill creativity? Ted Talk 2007 [x] Shelia Whittaker – Sound Healing with Gongs
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