I was fortunate enough to get to go to a singing bowl and gong sound bath with some of my fellow entrepreneurs. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was getting into. I just knew there was no water and you stayed completely clothed – preferably in something comfortable. It was one of the coolest experiences. Different. Unique.
What I learned before the bath:
A Gong Bath™ (or meditation as some might call it) is an ancient form of sound therapy to bring about release, healing, deep relaxation and transformation. I’d venture to say that people call it a bath, because you’re “bathed” with sound waves.
The purpose of a body massage is to work out the kinks, soreness and tightening in our muscles. The purpose of a sound massage is to work out the emotional issues. Our body is made of about 60% water, so the sound waves of the gong and singing bowls vibrate and travel through the water in our bodies. This relaxes the muscles, awakens the organs and penetrates the bones. Since the sound waves vibrate at different frequencies it enters our body’s cells – penetrating our nervous system. It allows your brain to release the chatter and deep dive into a meditative state. And it can get loud, but it’s not at a frequency that will harm you in any way.
What I experienced:
First of all, our Gong and Singing Bowl Bath wasn’t just in a yoga or meditation studio. It was in a salt cave! The atmosphere was super awesome and has its own benefits. Salt caves naturally draw toxins out of the body, and some think it can reduce inflammation and help you breathe too.
Before we laid back and relaxed nestled under a blanket, we wrote down our intention for the experience. What we wanted to get rid of, bring in, affirmation, etc. and our “guide” explained the process - basically the “what I learned before the bath” stuff.
She began by asking us to lay back, close our eyes and then she started playing something (I have no idea what because there were a ton of things and my eyes were close – duh) lightly, while guiding us into a meditative state.
The rest of my description is going to be vague because I honestly don’t remember a ton of my thoughts, but more of the way the whole experience made me feel.
I did not experience my brain chatter going away. It actually came in kind of overwhelmingly, which annoyed me. I thought I was doing something wrong and/or that I just wasn’t present in the moment.
I had the weirdest daydreams. I mean they were a little dark, very vivid, yet the kind that don’t make a lick of sense. I don’t even remember what in the world I was dreaming about. The only thing that comes to mind is a dark “person” like blob stepping out of a bigger black blob and was in full color and very crisp, especially compared to the abstract blob it was coming from.
The sound was intense. It did get very loud but knowing that it wouldn’t hurt me I tried to let it absorb and not fight it. At the end, when our guide brought us out of the meditation through her speaking, I could literally feel her words inside my body. That was very weird. She said the sound and vibrations open us up, almost like being filleted.
What I learned afterwards:
The bowls and gong are played with frequent changes, so that there’s not monotony in the rhythm. With the varying frequencies in the “music” our brainwaves shift through different stages, much like sleeping. Alpha – daydreams and vivid imagination. Theta – REM sleep or deep meditation, similar to hypnosis. Our body knows and feeds into the vibrations that we specifically need, the ones that will help whatever trauma inside us needs healing.
The thing is, even when we’re not intentional about tuning into frequencies and meditation our bodies experience vibrations and rhythms all the time in our day-to-day. We often aren’t even tuned into or notice any changes, but it makes sense. Plus think about the statement “you bring about what you think about.” Realizing all the energy and vibrations around us feed into our thoughts and emotions…gosh, I really need to be more diligent with where I let my mind wander.
My takeaway:
I felt relaxed, renewed and in awe.
My daydreaming makes complete sense now and I’m okay with it. I feel like the brain chatter I experienced at the beginning was part of my “detox” and my daydream was my imagination walking through some weird interpretation of what I’d written down on the piece of paper prior to the bath. I meant to ask our guide if she wears ear protection or how she keeps from zoning out herself. I would totally do this again. It would be cool to make it an annual ritual for the new year. Now that I know what to expect, I will come prepared with more intention in what I want to get out of the bath as well as what I write down.
Oh, and two of us had Pho prior to the bath – I wouldn’t recommend a soup-based dinner right before you enjoy a sound bath. I could feel weird things happening in my tummy. I’m sure it was speeding up the digestive process, but it was weird nonetheless.
Props:
Our adventure was at the 5 Star Salt Caves on Pearl Street in Denver, CO.
Our guide was Ann Martin of www.MileHighHealingVibe.com
If you’re in Colorado and want to go and experience this for yourself with someone else and don’t have anyone to go with you, give me a shout – I’ll go again!
xoDanette