The Magic of a Gong Bath
September 16th 2023.
The day my teacher came all the way out to our Yoga studio to play Gong with me for a live audience.
It was exactly 1 year to-the-day since the arrival of my 38” Hand Forged Gong.
My Gong teacher, James Crossley (aka ‘Hunter’ from the TV series Gladiators, and yes, at 50+ he loves the attention ;), came to my studio to perform a live Gong Bath with me for our Yoga tribe.
We’d advertised a 3.5 hour Deep Gong Bath starting with...
We planned an opening Yin Yoga sequence accompanied by live Hand pan music to soften the physical body
followed by...
2-hour Gong bath accompanied by a live Didgeridoo played by a percussionist from Brazil called Tibirica to open the deep channels of the physical and spiritual body.
I was to lead the Yin Yoga practice whilst the Hand Pans were played and then do a 2- hour duet with my teacher on the Gongs! OMG! If you’d have told me that 18 months ago I’d have freaked out!
But life has a funny way of presenting us with new and amazing opportunities to grow in ways we never saw coming.
18 months prior I’d had an impromptu conversation with s student (Selina you know who you are!) in the corridors after a class at AbaYoga Studios, out of nowhere she suggested I expand my repertoire to include playing Gong Baths. At first, I said “no way, that’s not my bag – specialists do that”. She pushed back a little harder and said I should try it because the students at AbaYoga love me and would support me.
I had doubts (normally enough to stop me) but the seed had been planted and the universe was watching.
Over the next few months I found myself subtly researching Gong Sound Teacher Training courses. I quickly found out who the obvious players were and when their next geographically accessible courses were available. Centring my attention on one based in the depths of Surrey I chatted to my wife about it and, surprisingly, she was very supportive.
So... before I knew it, I’d booked the 1st module and not long after that, the day arrived for me to drive 2 hours south of where we live to join a CMA (Complimentary Medical Association) accredited teacher Angela Mason, a highly respected Gong Practitioner Teacher and student of the leading UK authority on sound Healing Shelia Whittaker (yes – I’d never heard of them either).
I arrived in a church hall in the middle of nowhere, more than a little apprehensive, to join 6 others for the 1st of 2 days on module 1 of 6 modules. The other students were nice, a little shy and mostly from what my parents would call “the hippy fraternity’. I did my best to enjoy the 2 days and learn all I could.
Angela took us through the early motions of how to play a Gong slowly and lovingly with lots of time and space to relax, pause and consider. She included how to choose a mallet, which Gong we should consider purchasing and so on.
As the two days progressed I found myself questioning if I wanted to invest in the next 5 modules to get the certification. If I was honest, this was not my tribe.
I felt conflicted. Whilst I loved the energy of what we were learning playing Angela’s wonderful collection of 11 expensive and shiny Gongs, I felt out of place with the people around me.
The option to pay for the next modules remained open to me. The course would take 12 months and had and air of slowness to it.
Soon, I received a random catch-up call from, Ariana, a trainee buddy from a 100 hour Yin Yoga training course we’d both done at a Shala just outside Goa in India. We exchanged the regular niceties and talked about plans & future training courses we were considering. When I mentioned Gong Practitioner Training she gasped and said her partner – a long time percussion musician and ex TV celebrity had just launched his first CMA Accredited Gong Teacher Training course.
She gave me her partners number. James and I spoke on the phone and this guy really spoke my language. He was an ex-bodybuilder with loads of energy and a brand new Gong Teacher Training course that he would be teaching from a super well equipped Hot Yoga Studio in Clapham Junction (a lot like my home Yoga studio in Sydney – Powerliving).
It was as-if the universe had opened my mind with one random conversation, demonstrated the possibilities through an existing pathway to keep me interested just long enough to be there for the launch of a new pathway that was made for me.
I signed up. Live, in-person, in Clapham Junction (Sadhana Studios) just an 20 minute train ride from my local station. Fabo!
The new cohort were all (‘slightly’ younger than me) high achieving Yoga Teachers on the active circuit in London. Heaven. These guys spoke my language, had my pace and knew how to challenge me with good spirit. I loved it.
The course days at the Clapham studio raced by (just like time can do when you’re marinating in a Gong Bath). The case studies were fun (all done with the loving support of our students in AbaYoga studio – credit to them, you know who you are xx).
The course taught me plenty about myself – not least that whilst I can get along with aging hippies nicely, they don’t always inspire me. Also, that doing anything someone else’s way, not in harmony with my own, is a waste of my time.
As soon as I could I started offering Live Gong Baths at AbaYoga Studios which was bitter-sweet. Sweet because it was in my studio, on my home ground, in my comfort zone and bitter because I was having to do something scary, new and un-tested on said familiar ground.
The feedback wave from the audience was electric.
One Gong bath became two... became a Gong & Cacao Ceremony, became a Gong & Aerial meditation, became a Gong and Yin bath and so on until before long I was reaching new depths of service from within myself to offer the AbaYoga tribe.
The energy in the Gong fascinates and distracts me more and more. When I surrender to the vibrations of the many recordings I have now made I find myself slipping deeper into realms of my unctuousness I’ve not yet been aware of.
The benefits for me (so far) include: better sleep, better concentration, better creativity, better rhythm, better problem solving, better hearing (sometimes I feel like a bat!)
The benefits reported by students include better sleep, dream-free sleep, out-of-body sensations of levitation, noticing sound represented as colour (I think that’s called Chromesthesia), feelings of blissful well-being, visons of powerful animals including elephants and eagles, disassociation from a sense of real-time and deep relaxation.
Some students have reported unwelcome reactions including fear, trauma sensitivity and dizziness. I suppose this is Yin AND Yang in all things.
Having found myself performing with my teacher, inside my own studio, in front of paying clients (bless each one of them), supported by a Brazilian Didgeridoo percussionist I feel like a marriage has formed. A purpose found. One of destiny’s door unlocked.
Not only that, when James took rest during the performance he told me he had to stop himself falling into a hypnogogic state because he enjoyed my fuck-up free playing so much!
HOW MAD IS THAT! (some mad hi! - my twist on Samadhi… the 8th limb of yoga where all is said to become one)
My Gong playing journey so far teaches me that it really is never too late to learn a new skill, to take a new direction, to find new passions and to deliver more value in service of those around me.
I love this journey.
And I’m excited to experience what comes next.
Be free.
Be you.
(everybody else is taken, Oscar Wilde said that ;)
