While the focus of my work is in private therapy practice, I am very pleased to offer gong meditations at public and private events. This is based on my passion for the use of gongs in personal development, as well as my love for bringing people together.
Gong meditations, gong baths, sound immersions... the popularity of the use of gongs has surged in recent years. Gongs are a tool, the use of which varies widely. I came to gongs in 2017 as a psychotherapist, and having spent many years performing, writing, recording, and teaching as a professional musician. This is my take on gongs...Reaching you on the deepest level
A gong sound immersion is a mind and body experience. You can think of it as an induced meditation, but it offers so much more…
A masterfully crafted gong can be an incredibly powerful tool: a uniquely resonant instrument that produces long rolling waves of vibrations with layer upon layer of rich harmonic undertones and overtones. This provides a rich sonic experience free from uniform rhythm or melody. The sound isn’t only received by your ears, but the frequencies resonate through your whole being. In this way, the music of the gong induces meditation: the perfect environment for healing on a mental, emotional, physical, and energetic level.
Attending a “gong bath” or sound immersion can be a deeply relaxing, restorative, and healing experience. They can also invite deep self-connection and introspection.
In private practice, I use sound to facilitate access to the subconscious for rich personal exploration. Ideal for individuals or couples who wish to bring about deep transformation in a safe and gentle way.
“As a former professional musician and music educator, I have a great appreciation for sound. Music is the creation and organisation of vibrations. It is my belief that music is the innate language of the universe. It is our experience of life way before any other sense develops. So music reaches us on the deepest possible level. It’s my great honour to be able to offer my lifetime passion to you.”
Gong Meditation
Joining a ReShape gong bath will make available to you a deeply relaxed, meditative state. Many people find it difficult to meditate, but in the course of this gong bath, the process of the evening and the sound of the gong will take you there.
Your brainwaves will drop into Theta frequency (4-7.5Hz) – this is the realm of your subconscious mind. These waves are present during deep meditation and light sleep, including the REM dream state. They offer a sense of deep spiritual connection and oneness with the Universe.
You may then drop deeper into Delta frequency (0.5-4Hz) – the realm of your unconscious mind. These are the slowest brain waves and are present in deep, dreamless sleep and in very deep meditation where awareness is completely detached. Delta is associated with deep healing and regeneration.
So without any effort on your behalf (other than presence and willingness) and before you know it, you will have spent an extended period in deep meditation. There are countless benefits to be sought from having spent time in this state – to summarise in short, a better functioning body and mind.
Sound/Vibrational Therapy
There is nothing solid in the universe, just tiny pockets of vibrating energy – atoms. Vibration is the substance of creation. When all of the molocules that comprise our body vibrate freely at their optimum frequencies, our body is in harmony and energy flows. We flow. When vibrational energy is disrupted – due to stress, illness, inflammation, electro-magnetic radiation or other factors – energy blockages arise and things become much harder for us physically and mentally. Entrainment is the process by which a frequency will cause another to gradually to fall into synchrony with it. By setting the right conditions and working with vibrations – the sound of the gong – we can bring your body back into resonance and harmony. Anyone interested in “energy” will appreciate the gong as a powerful instrument of multidimensional change.
Sound Journeying
Having your attention drawn to sound for an extended period of time declutters the mind, clears emotional blockages, and helps alleviate physical aches and pains. But there is more to the sound journey than that. We have a deeply intimate experience with sound – it is the first sense we experience, long before the others, in our mother’s womb. The comforting low beating of the heart, and the soothing vibrations from murmering voices. So the third way in which our gong baths create connection, grounding, and movement in you is through the rich and focused sound experience itself.
How Does Gong Meditation Work?
Gong Meditation
Joining a Joe Summerfield gong meditation will make available to you a deeply relaxed, meditative state. Of course, access develops with practice, but gong meditations are suitable and effective even for those who find meditation difficult.
Your brainwaves will drop into Theta frequency (4-7.5Hz) – this is the realm of your subconscious mind. These waves are present during deep meditation and light sleep, including the REM dream state. They offer a sense of deep spiritual connection and oneness.
You may then drop deeper into Delta frequency (0.5-4Hz) – the realm of your unconscious mind. These are the slowest brain waves and are present in deep, dreamless sleep and in deep meditation where awareness is completely detached. Delta is associated with deep healing and regeneration.
So without any effort on your behalf (other than presence and willingness) and before you know it, you will have spent an extended period enjoying deep meditation. There are countless benefits to be sought from having spent time in this state – including the reduction of stress, anxiety or depression; access to better focus, concentration, and creativity; improved self-esteem and self-awareness; and management of chronic pain. To summarise in short, a better functioning body and mind.
Sound/Vibrational Therapy
There is nothing solid in the universe, just tiny pockets of vibrating energy – atoms.
Vibration is the substance of creation. When all of the molocules that comprise our body vibrate freely at their optimum frequencies, our body is in harmony and energy flows. We flow. When vibrational energy is disrupted – due to stress, trauma, illness, inflammation, electro-magnetic radiation or other factors – energy blockages arise and things become much harder for us physically and mentally.
Entrainment is the process by which a frequency will cause another to gradually to fall into synchrony with it. By setting the right conditions and working with vibrations – the sound of the gong – we can soothe and bring your body back into resonance and harmony. Anyone interested in “energy” will appreciate the gong as a powerful instrument of multidimensional change.
Sound Journeying
Having your attention drawn to sound - particularly a sound singular in nature but free from uniformity - for an extended period of time declutters the mind, clears emotional blockages, and helps alleviate physical aches and pains. But there is more to the sound journey than that.
We have a deeply intimate experience with sound – it is the first sense we experience, long before the others develop, in our mother’s womb. The comforting low beating of the heart, and the soothing vibrations from murmering voices.
So the third way in which our gong meditations create connection, grounding, and movement in you is through the rich and focused sound experience itself.
“Sound Healing”
Variation in the practices of people offering “sound therapies” is as vast as the variation in personality and qualification in any population of people.
Many practitioners using gongs refer to “Sound Healing”. A necessary distinction is that only we have the ability to heal ourselves. There is no magical process by which another individual confers healing to your body or mind.
What I do is create conditions that support you as your mind and body perform the natural function of finding homeostasis.I do this with sound, talking therapies, and if it is within the scope of our work together, movement therapy.
Through the processes outlined above, I offer you the opportunity to create conditions in your mind, body, and spirit for deep relaxation, reconnection, exploration, healing, and transformation.
