For starters, it is really difficult to attempt to articulate this experience, if solely for the fact that is will be uniquely different for everyone every time.
When my friend from yoga teacher training asked our study group if any of us had ever gone to a Gong Sound Bath, I think I just went "Huh?" I mean, WTF is a sound bath? She started going to them in Chicago. I'd never even heard of this. "What's it like?" - "It (I'm paraphrasing and tired) gets really loud." And there it is. How in the hell does one articulate the experience.
I'm using my time back in LA wisely - with focus, with purpose, with an open heart. My intention is to utilize the infinite opportunities here for growth, learning, and fun healthy play. I want to try everything on the yogic realms - especially that which scares me (like my first acro class was - which was incredible!). Or that I so easily judge (laughter yoga, for example, and so yes, I am going to one this month!) I called a close friend to see if she wanted to go check out the sound bath with me and a new friend from training. She tells me she is going to get a drink instead.
The workshop is led by Heather Hudson & Jamie Bechtold. I get to the studio early. It's nice and warm to come in here from the intense rain that has been going on outside all day. I get some hot tea. I set up. For this class, we bust out all the toys. 2 bolsters. 3 blankets. 2 blocks. Sandbag. Eye pillow. My friend and I can't stop giggling at first. Is it an awkward recognition of the oddness in our culture to create group coziness? Is is trapped anxiety? Or is it just fun to laugh and giggle, I mean, for goodness sakes, we are covered up with blankets and satiny weights of sand and it's Friday night in LA. We are all totally gonna fall asleep in here. The gongs are set. The lights are dimmed off off and away. Candles flicker. First pose....
For 2 hours, we were led through 5 restorative poses. Props and bolsters were essential to all the holds, which were held for long periods of passive restoration. The gongs and bowls and tuning forks were used throughout the series, ebbing and flowing, increasing and decreasing in tempos, textures, and intensity. There were times that the sounds were so physically intense that it really helped me to focus into a deeper meditative state, for the pure reason that I wanted my mind out of the equation so that I could just EXPERIENCE the sensations and vibrations on a different realm. I came out of the workshop feeling really alive and rested and vibrant. I am interested in checking out different leaders of these workshops, as I hear many are quit different. For example, one I heard about, has the participants basically just lying down for the duration, never moving, never doing any position other than corpse.
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