No...wait... that's not nice. It's actually called a gong bath. I went to one last night at the local yoga studio.
It was fascinating. The deal is that somebody figured out the frequency with which each of the planets vibrates and then somebody else, presumably, tuned gongs to match those frequencies. That part is cool. The sounds and the intensity and the musical experience were really, really interesting. It sounded like I imagine outer space travel would sound. (Hush... I know there can be no sound where there's no air. Work with me here.) It's even true that there were physical sensations to correspond to the sounds. Warmth, cold, some intensity in the chest/heart area. I can work with that. A bath is a really good metaphor, actually. It did feel as though the sound were washing over me.
Moreover, I noticed variations in intensity and power of the experience as I changed position. Savasana for an hour is a hard thing for me. I'm the most sway-backed person on the planet, I sometimes think, and my back starts to hurt. So I rolled over onto my tummy. Prostrations work as a meditative posture, I figure. And in this position I was more protected from the sound's intensity; there were no more intense feelings in my chest/heart. All interesting factoids.
But it gets weird when you start to talk about vibrational healing. The deal with this gong is that it's tuned to Pluto -alas, no longer even a planet, but still vibrating, apparently. And mythologically speaking, Pluto is all about dying to one thing and being reborn to another. And Pluto is a tough character. He doesn't particularly care if you're ready to deal with the stuff that needs to be moved on from (from which you need to move on... a thousand apologies for the preposition there).
So, I figured... who among us needs to die to one thing and be reborn to another more than me? Who among us has greater abilities to deny that need and repress the information that something is dying? Ummm... that would be me. So a hard-assed little mythological sprite who will churn up the repressed stuff could be just the ticket. Gong away, Pluto.
Alas... nothing. Maybe I'm immune to healing. Maybe I'm immune to new-age-y healing metaphors. Maybe I'm just not ready and haven't healed yet. Or maybe I'm just tougher than Pluto and someone should tune a gong to ME. Wound up as tightly as I am, playing that gong could be quite the experience ;)
3 comments:
You make-a me laugh.
Now what is it that you expected to happen with the vibrational healing? I've had/have many "healings" by a person who uses her voice sounds as you did the gong. Now THAT is weird (at first). So being one of the most healed people on the plant;), I can tell you that the healings are to get the flow going, get things unstuck, from all the chakras. What comes up emotionally or intellectually is up for grabs. It helps to have an intent before you start but I can tell you from experience that what you want to happen probably won't, especially if it's specific. That's not how it works. It's like peeling the layers off an onion and no sooner do you feel "hey, I'm past that" (i.e. healed) than another layer surfaces. Not being stuck in one place is the point of healings. Being able to flow with life is the point.
Ya didn't fail Healing 101, I promise.
The planetary thing reminds me. Have you seen Thomas Moore's latest book, Dark Night of the Soul? Might have (a) some applicability to your life right now and (b) some helpful insights. I'd be happy to lend you my copy.
lexy's right--you're not immune, at all. It's not a one-time fix, is the thing.
Yours in sway-backedness, your friend Jen, who NEVER does savasana without a blanket roll under her knees.
Hugs.
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