The Healing Sound of the Universe

By Layhing Siu Munro

“The gong is the first and last instrument for the human mind. There is only one thing that can supersede and command the human mind - the sound of the gong. It is the sound of the universe, the sound that created the universe. It is the basic creative sound. To the mind, the sound of the gong is like the mother and father that gave birth. The mind has no power to resist a gong that is well-played.” Yogi Bhajan

The gong is like no other instrument in the world as it has the capacity to create a transition from being awake to a deep meditative state in seconds. It works as a tailored medicine attending to your energetic needs. Each experience is unique and the experience can change depending on the state of being for each person alone.

The gong is considered a sacred instrument that has been used in rituals in various ancient traditions and practices. Various types of yoga and kundalini yoga in particular, often work with the gong to enhance their practice and our wellbeing at an energetic level. The gong’s vibrations will travel through the body, realigning and harmonising every single atom and unblocking energy locks.

The good thing about doing this therapy or meditation is that no physical and meditative skills or experience are required. People with very busy minds who see meditation as an insurmountable task can experience the bliss, peace and clarity that meditation brings to one’s life simply by laying down and listening to the complex sounds and overtones of the gong.

Sound Heals by Traveling Through Anything

Our bodies are an energetic system where atoms vibrate at a certain frequency. The atoms are forming our physical body as our organs and tissues. Our bodies have over 40 litres of water which is 60% of the adult human body. The vibrational effect of the gong will help

1. The Function of Water in the Human Body

control the level of water in our systems. (PIC.1) The gong’s vibrations also have an effect on the calcium in our bodies, helping us heal our bones. The deep state of relaxation provided by the gong’s vibrations work through our muscle tissues, helping them get rid of toxins and tensions that sometimes create muscular pain. Our blood also has pyramid-like quartz crystals, that once aligned with the gong’s frequencies will start pulsating, emitting luminous radiations which facilitates the flow of blood through our circulatory system.

The gong also helps repair any damage to the neurons’ circuits system, reconnecting neurons more efficiently. The left and right brains will be better synchronised by the gong’s sound, inducing deep relaxation and meditation. (PIC 2)

But how does the gong work like no other instrument? Not even Tibetan bowls are capable of taking you to the levels of consciousness such as the gong does.

Listening to the Gong

The sound of the gong is an internal sound. It is the sound of the cosmos, the stars. It is the sound of the Universe. At some point, when you are receiving gong therapy, your body will stop listening to external sounds and until then you can start listening to your own sound. This is why the experiences when listening to the gong differ from person to person. Each person would certainly listen to a very personal version of it.

A well-played gong can generate a complex mix of binaural sounds. These sounds are now well-documented and understood to be beneficial to the human psyche - and perhaps other living forms on our planet. (PIC 3)

Gongs can be tuned to different sound frequencies. Some are not even perceived by the human ear. There are planetary gongs that are tuned to the frequency of a certain planet’s orbit around the sun. The planets are related to states of being and certain qualities in us working on these themes to enhance, polish and improve our human experience. Other gongs are tuned to the elements and benefit the balance and the organs associated with these elements in our bodies. There are also symphonic gongs that have the widest range of frequencies. The range of sounds depends on the size and material of the symphonic gong.

Finally, the gong can guide us through its complex overtones and frequencies produced to different states of consciousness where we can be healed.

Human states of consciousness are classified by measuring the brain’s frequencies.

2. Types of Neurons

• Beta is our awaken state which is about 12-35Hz • Alpha state is a state of relaxation such as sitting peacefully in a garden which is about 8-12Hz • Theta state, a profound state of consciousness reached during meditation or hypnosis at 4-8Hz • Delta is a very profound state when we are sound asleep between 0.5 - 4Hz • Gamma state, 35Hz is the state of concentration when we are studying or reading an interesting article

Most Deep Healing Happens in Theta and Delta States

The sounds of the gong will carry you through these frequencies where your being can be deeply healed. Binaural sounds are produced and heard by generating notes or tones below 8-4Hz. These are impossible to hear by humans but can be produced by two different vibrations that are heard by both ears. This will result in the brain creating the lower vibration. For example, the right ear will listen to 110Hz and the left to 100Hz and the brain will create its vibration by the resulting subtraction of both frequencies heard, therefore 10Hz (PIC.4)

Since I became a gong master, many of my clients have shared their experiences. Some described an out-of-body experience, deep sound sleep, and physical discomfort that was suddenly released from the body leaving a sense of relief. This was perceived as a psychedelic-like experience with surrealist vivid dreams and sensations, the release of bottled up emotions and sudden cleansing tears. Heaviness was lifted and released, including unlocking of the heart, a sense of real peace and elation, life regressions and the release of anxiety. There was even triggering creativeness and a flow of thoughts that can only be accessed by deep meditation and concentration.

Being a gong master I’ve experienced many unexpected situations. Sometimes I feel the gong has pulled me to situations to encounter people who need its magic.

My journey in gong healing began after attending a gong bath. It was a time of great sadness for me. I had lost my eldest

“I am always surprised that even one session can provide radical changes in the listeners.”

sister and then within months, I lost my 13 year old cat. I was crying every night and not sleeping well. I laid in a far corner of the studio with almost one hundred other people. I thought I might not even be able to hear the gong. But soon after the first stroke of the gong, I had a surreal experience of clearly seeing my cat, sitting watching the gong and then trotting through the bodies towards me began to unfold. I was in tears, calling my cat in my mind, trying not to open my eyes fully as I could just see his fluffy body outlined through my eyelids. My cat sat next to me, attentively watching the gong. As tears rolled down my cheeks, suddenly I felt him climbing on my chest as he used to do. I immediately felt calm as I could feel his warmth and purr on my chest. In no time I switched off into unconsciousness. When I opened my eyes, I felt a sense of deep relief and calmness. I walked towards the gong and promised that I was going to train as a gong master. That night was the first night in months without tears and insomnia.

I have found that gong therapy is very effective in easing grief. I’ve treated many people who have been in great despair after the death of a close relative. I am always surprised that even one session can provide radical changes in the listeners.

Kundalini Yoga and Gong Therapy

I trained as a kundalini yoga teacher before training as a gong master. It was yogi Bajhan, the precursor of kundalini yoga in the West who introduced the gong as a unique healing tool for his students.

Kundalini yoga has many kriyas and meditations where the gong plays a central part in the session. Playing the gong and sharing sound healing as a kundalini yoga teacher has provided me with a different dimension.

In kundalini yoga, the gong is divided into different zones representing the human body and its chakras. Kundalini yoga treats the human body as a manifestation of energy. It is at this level where the gong delivers deep healing. The seven chakras have their corresponding sound frequencies laid across the instrument.

The gong is also used to move prana, lifeforce, through the body and can enhance pranayama exercises during kriyas. The nadis, channels within the body carrying prana, are also visualised on the gong’s surface and worked upon.

The gong master must tune in with the gong, reach a meditative space through intuition and deep listening, Suniai, to facilitate a healing experience to the audience. The realisation and experience of the energy systems that bind us, and also connect us to our environments and the universe, helps the kundalini gong masters to fine-tune and be connected to the needs of the audience. 4. Human Brain Waves

Layhing Siu Munro is a Kundalini Yoga teacher and a sound healing therapist. Her passion for Kundalini Yoga led her to become a gong master. She connects with the unique gong’s vibrations and combines other percussion instruments in order to give depth to her sessions. The visualisation of the sound and patients’ energetic systems is an approach she follows during her therapies.

It was through the practice of Kundalini yoga that she found her calling as a healer and therapist.

She gives a holistic approach to the healing practices with the use of sound, meditation and yoga to guide her patients and students in a self-healing journey.