Gong Therapy & Vibrational Sound Healing
What Is Gong Therapy?
Gong therapy is an ancient healing practice that involves the use of gongs to create a deeply therapeutic experience. This profound form of sound therapy has been used for centuries to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and restore balance to the body, mind, and spirit. During a gong therapy session, the powerful vibrations and harmonious tones of the gong penetrate every cell of the body, facilitating a state of deep relaxation and meditation. The gentle yet powerfully nourishing sound forms can help release energetic blockages, alleviate physical and emotional pain, and promote a sense of well-being. Gong therapy is increasingly recognized as an effective holistic approach to wellness, and its benefits have been experienced by countless individuals seeking harmony and inner peace. Whether you are looking to alleviate stress, enhance meditation, or simply relax and unwind, gong therapy offers a unique and transformative experience that can uplift and harmonize your entire being.
Where to Find My Live Events
(Mostly located in the greater Portland, OR area)Meetup
Both the "Portland Sound Baths" Meetup Group and "Happier Portland" Meetup Group list all of my upcoming events.
Facebook is another place you can find and share my live events, as well as photos and videos of me playing my gongs.
See photos and videos of me playing my gongs, as well as announcements for live events.
Are you not in the Portland area, or otherwise unable to attend local events? Check out my SoundCloud account, where I hope to get more tracks posted soon. :)
Book a Private Gong Session
Book a private session for yourself, gift one to a friend, or bring a friend to share the experience with at my home studio in NE Portland, OR!
For a limited time, 1-hour sessions are only $50 for a single person, $75 for a pair.
Enjoy complimentary tea, chocolate, oracle cards, and meditative light options during your session.
In a private session, you can move, make sound with me, do yoga, make requests, and adapt the session to what you're wanting to focus on or experience.
Would you like to book me to play gongs at your event? I'd love to! My hourly rate is $150/hour ($100 minimum), plus a trip charge of $2/mile from NE PDX. Contact me using the contact form below to discuss more details!
My Gong Story
After getting stranded in India for 15 months during COVID lockdowns, I returned to the US with severe symptoms of Complex PTSD. Mostly, they were presenting as painful chronic muscle tension, mostly around the center of my spine.
It affected me the most while I was asleep and unable to use any self-regulating tools. I woke up most mornings feeling like I had fallen out of a tree onto my back, and had impaled myself on the way down. I later learned that it was caused by my back muscles seizing up so much that my ribs would pop out of joint along my spine and stab me in the lungs.
I woke up like that for nearly a year and half, usually after short and broken stints of sleep. Needless to say, the lack of good sleep and chronic pain and tension impacted my life in a radically negative way.
I sought out many different kinds of therapy to reduce the pain and tension, but nothing seemed to make a significant difference. One day, in March 2022, I attended a gong bath in Portland led by the wonderful Laura Li Fong Yee of Crown and Heart Healing. To my great surprise, I felt my muscle tension melt away during the session! I spoke to her immediately afterwards and asked her how I might get more gong in my life.
She recommended Gong Camp in Upstate NY with Gong Master Don Connreaux. I was excited, and looked into it, but it was a bit too expensive and difficult to manage. I decided to see if there was anything similar available any closer by.
One fine day, I stumbled upon Yogi Mehtab...
Gong Training
Gong Master Yogi Mehtab Benton has several online courses available, and I began with his free Intro to Gong online workshop. I enjoyed it so much, I reached out to him to see about attending an in-person beginner's course in Texas.
When he found out I was in Portland, he suggested that I attend the Advanced Gong Training that was coming up in Seattle. I said that I wished I could, but I had actually never struck a gong before!
He encouraged me to take his online Gong Practitioner course, and then come to the Advanced Training, so I did!
The Advanced Gong Training with Yogi Mehtab, Roger Tjoelker, Wayne Marto, and Laura Benton was one of the best 4-day workshops I've ever attended on any subject. I got to play over 30 different gongs with at least as many mallets at Roger's amazing Blosm Studio in Seattle, which really helped me narrow down what I wanted from my own gongs.
I learned, there, that the largest gong emporium in the US was Gongs Unlimited in Lincoln, Nebraska; so, a month or so later, I made the journey out there to pick out my gongs.
My Gongs
After playing gongs at the warehouse for over 8 hours, I finally selected two to bring home with me, and I named them Marvel and Revel -- two recurring themes that I appreciate having as reminders: to stay in a place of curiosity and wonder, while in the dark; and to appreciate and celebrate, while in the light.
Marvel
Marvel is a 32-inch bronze Chinese Chau gong, traditionally hand-made. It has the deeper, darker, cooler, yang sounds of the two.
Revel
Revel is a 24-inch fully-polished Paiste Brilliant Symphonic gong, made of silver, nickel, and bronze. It is German, precision machine-made, and hand-beaten. It has the more uplifting, warmer, yin sounds of the two, although it still has a surprisingly deep boom for such a small gong. I was delighted to discover that it's small enough to fit in an overhead bin on a plane, so I can and do travel with it!