In six months time, if I get through 20 case studies, complete 5 weekends worth of one to one tuition, I will have traveled a full musical circle journey and become a credited gong bath, gong spa, sound journey, practitioner whatever you want to call me. Why a full circle!? It’s a full circle journey because the first twenty five years of becoming a musician was practicing as a drum kit player and with that a cymbals player. After all, all gongs are, in a way, are big cymbals. They vibrate, oscillate and behave in similar ways.
This has all come about after many discussions around the dinner table about sound with my mindfulness guru and partner in #mindfuldrum , Natalie Hewett aka Boffin girl – and about how we can incorporate sounds in our workshops. I put up resistance to start with but all the while acknowledging the strength of the idea.
My gong journey started yesterday with Martyn Cawthorne, gong practitioner and owner at www.northernschoolofsoundsmiths.co.uk The School of SoundSmiths is recognized as approved training providers with the IPHM Accreditation Board (International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine). I knew as soon as I started to play the gongs my path was set. All the years splashing around the drum kit and cymbals came flooding back and I was in my element. Admittedly the gong is a different beast altogether but the vibrations work the same as cymbals so I felt I was back in familiar territory.
If you would like to be one of my case studies (I need 20) please get in touch.
Off to https://ecymbals.co.uk Liverpool I go to purchase my first gongs, I came back with a Paiste Mercury 32″ and later in the week I purchased a 24″ Dream Feng gong.
Let the journey begin.