Health

Written by Dorothy Tong, Founder Heart of Gong
 
I remember about ten years ago, one of my yoga teachers held a full moon gong meditation.  It was the first time I came into contact with gongs, and I raised my hand to participate without knowing anything. That night, the moon was bright and clear, and the sound of gongs vibrated my body and mind, which made me feel deeply relaxed and impressed. However, gongs were not popular in Hong Kong back then, and as far as I know, there were only a few instructors who regularly held gong bath. Later, during my yoga teacher training, after doing a series of postures that were indistinguishable from sweat and tears, during the deep relaxation, the trainer played the gong. Since then, my world has changed, and I fell in love with gongs.
 
As mentioned in the previous article, the gong is one of the commonly used sound therapy instruments. It mainly uses the principle of sound resonance to lead the listener into a state of meditation and relax the whole body, and accelerate the flow of Qi in the body.
 
Gongs have a long history and have presence in countries with different cultural backgrounds.  Gongs appeared as early as the Bronze Age around 3500 BC, and were mainly distributed in Mesopotamia, Myanmar, China, Java and Annam. Since the time of Buddha in 600BC, all sacred Chinese gongs have been inscribed with ‘Tai Loi’ meaning ‘blessings arrived’.    According to legend, ancient sacred gongs contained pieces of meteorites fell from the heaven, which could "drive away darkness and bring light".
 
In ancient times, gongs were used for meditation, healing, inspiration, and other rituals. In 1790, gongs were used in the performance of the European orchestras for the first time, and it has been used ever since. High-quality gongs are hand-forged using traditional methods and professionally tuned to achieve a state of sustained resonance.
 
Gongs are made of different metals, and its composition is usually copper as the main substance. Take my gongs, for example. Hand-forged in traditional methods by German gong craftsmen, they sound pleasing and look beautiful. I have always regarded them as works of art. Also because I personally love art, every time I play the gongs, it not only brings high-quality relaxation to the participants, but also has an artistic exchange with the gongs and craftsmen.
 
There are a lot of videos about gongs or sound therapy circulating on the Internet, of course it will help everyone understand how it works. However, I have always believed that the best way to experience art is to experience it in person. The same is true for gongs. Through the screen, the resonance brought by the sound of gongs that can penetrate the body and mind has never been directly felt.
 
In Hong Kong today, there are actually quite many instructors who provide gong bath, aiming to bring relaxation to your body and mind. I believe that each of them is looking forward to meeting the special you!