GOING GOING GONG

Gong Baths - The New Friday Night Tonic

It's a Friday and the exodus to the pub is happening. You on the other hand are making your way to a Gong Bath. Yes. An actual Gong Bath. On a Friday.

So what exactly is a Gong Bath? I'll be honest, I wasn't entirely sure either. Turns out there are no baths, but a candle lit room with a selection of instruments, multiple Gongs, himalayan singing bowls, bells, wind chimes, and rainsticks. We haven't even started yet and I feel relaxed.

You are immediately put at ease, swapping the usual wine for a lemon and ginger and undoing rituals of make up and hair for gym gear and water.

You are (almost) put to bed. You lie on mats, there's a pillow for your head and feet, lavender filled eye masks, and a blanket to cover you. And then all is quiet. I can't even hear the London sirens. It's strange for a Friday, but I like it.

The Gong Bath was created by an American man, Don Conreaux in the 1960's and it's said that listening to a Gong and its effects is like having a 'sound massage' because of the strong waves the Gong produces.

So for the next hour orchestrated sounds from an array of worldly instruments are played - and played beautifully. At one point there's a Gong that produces waves of air that sift over the room. There's instruments that sound like thunder, rain and the sea as the sound rolls across the room. The clever bit is how the sound moves, often distant, then close and distant again.

When the hour finishes I genuinely feel like I've awoken from a deep sleep, although I never slept once. My back and neck feel like I've had a deep massage, yet no one came close...it's apparent the sound waves are doing something right. As far as doing the class on a Friday night, I couldn't think of anything better, you start the weekend as you mean to go on, it's refreshing to be sober at 9.30pm and the idea of a hangover-free Saturday is something I could get used to.

To get involved and book a place check out:

http://www.meetup.com/London-Gong-Baths-Sound-Massages/
http://www.meetup.com/Brighton-Sound-Massages/