Is a live gong bath better?
It is believed that our bodies contain certain energy frequencies, codes or vibrations, where specific tones can be used to re-attune these energies when they go off-key.
Sound has been used for thousands and millions of years across the world in ancient traditions, with heavily deep-rooted cultures of Tibetan, Egyptians, Indian cultures.
The ancient Egyptians chanted sacred vowel sounds
The Tibetan Buddhist monks used singing bowls to centre themselves
American Indian cultures chanted and used the drum to beat out the bad spirits of disease
The aboriginals of Australia used the bellowing hollowed-out trunk of trees, dug out naturally by termites, when this didgeridoo was played it would pass vibrations across the body.
The modern-day we are now known of Binaural beats and other sound healing tools but the search and studies by psychoacoustics, with the scientific study of the perception of sound, and how sound can be used as an alternative to medicine in the modern world.
The basis of all sound is held within the centre of our brain, where neurons fire between one pathway to another, where our thoughts, emotions and behaviours communicate with the pathways, our brains electromagnetic pulses, working in unison with each other, forming clusters of masses of bio-neuro-activity forming brainwave patterns at different wavelengths in different areas of our brain. Focused brainwave areas in specific regions of our brain are to do with, memory, fear (the fight or flight complex), survival, emotion, behaviour, intellect and so on. These brainwaves are divided into different bandwidths, different frequencies which are thought to be the spectrum of human consciousness.
Epsilon, Alpha, Beta, Theta, Delta, Gamma, Hyper-gamma, Lambda.
Delta - 0.5 - 4hz - Links with dreams, dreaming, sleep, relaxation
Theta - 4 - 7hz - Links with meditation, creativity, sleep & REM
Alpha - 7 - 13hz - Links to Relaxation and states of hypnosis
Beta - 13 - 30hz - Links to normal waking consciousness
Gamma - 30 - 50hz - Links to higher functioning & states of arousal of waking.
Using binaural beats such as Hemi-Sync or BrainSync, patterned brainwave audio frequencies disguised behind layers of beautiful music, are able to allow the brain to be changed to a specific frequency. Using stereo headphones, the two different frequencies heard by the brain through the ear, notices the difference of the two tones and creates an alternative whole brainwave frequency.
Each area of the brain generates different specific frequencies, its like the brain is a piece of very intelligent hardware, that when certain brainwaves are present (heard), that is when a focused state of consciousness is in. So targeting the brain with a certain tone(hz) to 'be' in a certain frequency can change your consciousness at will, or en-train it to the desired state.
It is something as simple as music, which can change our whole brain chemistry, our feelings, our behaviours. it’s not just how the sound feels to us, it’s the frequencies present with init. For example, listening to alpha waves between 8 to 14hz can produce more serotonin, we all love serotonin because it’s that good feel chemical within our brain that helps us with our moods, and uplifts our spirits.
Binaural beats & sound healing frequencies can have many potential benefits to the brain and body, such as:
- Reduced stress and anxiety
- Increased focus, concentration and motivation
- Better confidence
- Enhanced memory
- Deep meditation
- Better psychomotor performance and mood
Regarding how audio formats are used, if you plan to download a binaural beat or brainwave audio from offline like YouTube, be careful, audio frequencies are usually compressed. MP3 means moving picture 3, it is compressed media, and usually, audio tones are not the same when they are downloaded. The sound will be there, but the quality of the frequencies is always different. If you are downloading always make sure the quality is WAV, FLAC or audio lossless. You can usually tell by the file format, as the file size is majorly bigger.
Binaural beats usually take a higher effect on the brain, after 15-20 minutes of continual use. It takes this much time to entrain your brainwaves to the desired state. But you also have to be allowing yourself for it to work. As much as you want the audio or the frequencies to work, you can always override the effects by changing your mind, you are the one that is in charge of your awareness when you allow the 'space' to be available to relax, it will happen.
A study was done using two different methods to see if the sound of gongs, bowls and therapeutic percussion were more successful during a live concert or the recording of the concert itself.
Using an Electroencephalogram (EEG) was able to measure the brain activity of individuals brainwaves and show significant real-time data.
Data analysed by a test known as a Chi Squire was gauged to be highly significant in research where the live performance had a much more emotionally moving experience with a greater impact than those who were just listening to the pre-recording of the live performance. This may be because the presence of the instruments could be 'felt' throughout the room, where the presence of the sound was in the body.
Although both studies with the live blood recording benefited from the effect and gained many results, both groups felt that they lost sense of time and space, but the physical group in person of the live recording had a much deeper experience.
During a 2015 study, I did a live blood analysis of before a gong bath & light machine, and after, the presence of the gong was able to vibrationally impact the body and the blood, by vibrating the body deeply using a low theta/delta, slow vibration to vibrate away any toxins within the body. Changing sticky dehydrated blood, (blood stuck together in clusters & groups) to free flow hydrated healthy blood. I believe that if this was not played live, and you heard just a recording, you wouldn’t experience such a change within the blood. Therefore live gong baths in person, have a greater impact than those listened to on my YouTube channel.
