Standing
on the shore of the ocean so many possibilities come to mind: swimming, fishing,
shell collecting, boating. But there is a body even more vast and accessible
than the sea: an ocean of air. The healing properties of sound were the focus
of Sound Immersion, an interactive event
at the Tibetan Center in Kingston on Saturday, January 20.
Facilitated
by Paul Campbell, participants experienced how sound produces physical, spiritual,
mental and emotional healing effects. With a gong as his primary instrument
Paul performed with tuning forks, chimes, a shaman drum, Tibetan and crystal
singing bowls, and other devices. The two big gongs are from China and one is
over 100 years old. “The large one is from Wuhan,
China, it’s well-seasoned and we are best friends, we collaborate,” said Paul. “The
other is a Wind gong that has a more compact sustain and swifter sizzling
crash. To add other sound variations we have a selection of mallets each
inviting a different sound.” Also used was a Rav Vast, a metal hand drum
from Russia which evolved from the Hang Drum that generates a sound that
was popular in sci-fi movie soundtracks. “I seek unusual
clear sounds and go through entire selections to find the unique instrument in
each one out of the lot,” said Paul, whose career is a fusion of Percussion, CranialSacral Balancing, Polarity Therapy, Tibetan Buddhism and Product Design.
At
the beginning of the session Paul told participants they’ll likely experience
sounds they’ve never heard before and instructed them to avoid trying to
identify or make an association with them. The sound immersion isn’t a musical
experience. There is no fixed rhythm for the brain to search for and follow,
forcing it to relax. Instead of seeking entertainment, we instead allow for “entrainment,”
or the changing of brainwave frequencies. The session took place in the Tibetan
Center’s colorful art-filled community space and Paul pointed out a wall
hanging depicting a central Om, the symbol for the familiar sound forged by the
gong. Small “fractals” markings that are always moving in a spiral surround the
symbol and emanate outwards.
Periods of intentional silence were included and participants were encouraged
to embrace those the same as the more prominent sounds. Paul sounded bells to
signal the start and end of the 1-1/2 hour period, similar to how a sound can
be used to define a meditation session. The experience included a 10-minute silent break in the middle.
“The unique beautiful benefits of Sound are that everyone’s
experience, during and after the session, feels totally unique to them. So
real, so deep, so profound they cannot imagine anyone else’s experiences
matching theirs,” said Paul. “Quieting the left brain is essential for an
amazing sound trip. It can be challenging to let our left brains go. Its
history fights the effort, they struggle, think harder, keep fixing until there
is nothing for them to do like with immersion of sound that is not music or
rhythm or has no beats to count and then Leftie says OK nothing here for me
I'll veg out and Righty says Ahh now I am free to fly.....back to my youth,
memories, good stuff.”
The
fractals depicted in the room’s wall hanging radiate outwards in all directions
without end, representing how the sound we experienced isn’t intended to end upon
leaving the room at the end of the session, but it instead ripples out into the
rest of life.
Tibetan
Center: www.tibetancenter.org
More on sound gong
baths: www.sound-gong-bath.co.uk/gong-bath-nut-shell
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