SOUND
MEDITATION
KUNDALINI
SOUND
SOUND
WHAT IS SOUND HEALING?
A sound experience will alleviate stress, relax muscles, and rejuvenate energy while clearing your mind of unnecessary clutter.
The ancients knew that sound whether it was sitting next to a stream, listening to the birds, or even the sound of one’s own breath, voice, and heart could evoke our natural balanced state.
Pythagoras in 500BC wrote, “Each celestial body, in fact, each and every atom, produces a particular sound on account of its movement, its rhythm or vibration. All these sounds and vibrations form a universal harmony in which each element while having its own function and character, contributes to the whole.” This is called your resonant frequency.
Many frequencies are too low to be heard by the human ear however we do have the technology to record them. The frequencies for every healthy tissue, organ and bone in the human body have already been documented. When we are healthy our bodies are like a well oiled machine, literally humming and ‘in tune’. When it is not, we may use sound to restore balance through entrainment. In fact the definition of the word ‘heal’ means ‘to make sound’. So let us revert to the knowledge of the ancients to restore and maintain optimum wellbeing of mind, body and spirit.
SOUND HEALING Q&A
Q: When is Sound Healing beneficial?
A: When you feel stuck. If you want to move forward, or shift old patterns that keep repeating in your life, if you wish to shift pain, shift your perception of feeling lost or disconnected, or if you simply need rest.
Q: Why is sound healing beneficial?
A: Gongs induce a spontaneous state of relaxation called theta. In theta, or lucid dream state our brainwave frequencies range from 4 to 7 Hz. These frequencies allow our body to completely relax, letting our physical being, spirituality, and emotional and mental selves repair.
Q: How is sound healing different from music?
A: Quantum physics teaches that all matter consists of vibration, and anything that vibrates produces a frequency or tone. Music is the organisation of specific frequencies arranged in a particular order to create rhythm and harmony. Sound is vibration, including and going beyond what can be heard by the ear. Sound healing focuses on vibration rather melody. Sound can be heard, seen and perceived.
Q: How can sound heal?
A: Existing research confirms sound healing synchronises brain waves to achieve profound states of relaxation, helping to restore the normal vibratory frequencies of the cells in our bodies.
Q: What is the connection between sound healing and meditation?
A: Meditation is the art of bringing awareness and consciousness into our daily lives. Through meditation, we become an observer of ourselves and of our centre, a place without judgment or negativity. Through sound healing, we artificially put our body in into a Theta state, our brainwaves between 4 and 7 Hz – something that normally occurs in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep or deep, prolonged meditation – allowing access to our subconscious and super-conscious. This is the state in which energy shifts and insights and healing are possible.
Q: How many sessions do I need to come to in order to see results?
A: Energetic shifts can happen immediately during a session or may take several days to develop. Multiple and continuous sessions can be beneficial for creating and maintaining radical energetic shifts and the effects accumulate over time.
GONG BATH
The sound of a meditation gong induces a state of spontaneous meditation and relaxation, which facilitates the movement of chi or prana (positive life force) throughout the body. On a physical level, the vibrations eliminate tension, stimulate the circulation and glandular systems, and regenerate the parasympathetic nervous system. Listeners experience a sense of connectedness and peace. They are lulled from a Beta, or awake state, into a Theta, or lucid dream state; a state that allows our bodies to heal and rejuvenate. The sound waves gently clear blockages to restore inner harmony.
Other benefits include calming the mind and stopping internal dialogue; rebalancing the physical, emotional and spiritual bodies; and awakening higher states of consciousness that are conducive to healing and transformation. A gong bath lets your entire body relax, renew and rejuvenate. In turn, this leaves you feeling content, clear headed, energetic and optimistic.
Red Doors Studio offers a number of different sound experiences on a regular basis and bespoke events are available on request:
Regularly scheduled new moon and full moon gong baths
Private gong meditation
Group gong meditation (private or regularly scheduled event)
Regularly scheduled gong training and sound workshops
Private dinner or special events at the studio including meditation and gong relaxation
Sound events on request that may include mantra meditation and gongs either in the studio or at outside venues
Click here to download our Gong Bath brochure.
MEDITATION
MEDITATION
Meditation is an age-old range of practices that promote relaxation, build internal energy or life force, that develop compassion, love, patience, generosity and forgiveness. It can be used to clear the mind and ease health concerns such as high blood pressure, depression and anxiety.
Meditation can be practiced sitting down, or by walking. Prayers beads and other ritual objects are often used to remind the practitioner to be in the present and to appreciate the “now.” Mantras and chanting can help focus the meditation on an intention and purpose. Red Doors offers a number of meditation practices.
Here is a primer offering an overview of meditation - what it is, how to do it, for long, the benefits etc.
LABYRINTH
Labyrinths are single, circuitous paths that serve as a metaphor for our lives. Their tight concentric patterns force us to slow down and become aware of what we are doing and thinking, and to look at our state of being. They are ancient in origin dating back nearly 6000 years and found originally in four continents. The most popular pattern today is either the classical 7-circuit, as above or the 11 circuit Chartres pattern found in a cathedral of that name in France and built in 1201.
Red Doors Studio is home to a 10-circuit, permanent labyrinth with a diameter of 27 feet. Modelled after the Bayeux labyrinth, which dates back to the 12th century, the Red Doors labyrinth is available for group walks and facilitations. We build custom canvas portable labyrinths, rent fabric labyrinths and sell plastic finger labyrinths.
Martha is the Asia Regional Representative of the Labyrinth Society and Veriditas Certified Labyrinth Facilitator and Builder. Her permanent public work can be seen at St John’s Cathedral garden and Star Ferry HK side.
For more information on labyrinths, click here.
KUNDALINI
KUNDALINI
Having studied a number of modalities over the years, I have found that the practice of Kundalini yoga offers the fastest and most effective means for achieving balance, strength and wellbeing. Red Doors Studio specialises in offering Kundalini classes, meditations and breath workshops. We are also host to the annual Hong Kong Kundalini Yoga Festival and endeavour to educate, inform and elevate. We do this through collaborative workshops, visiting instructors and regular classes.
The studio is also available to rent to the growing community.
KUNDALINI YOGA
“In Kundalini Yoga, the most important thing is your experience. It goes right to your heart” – Yogi Bhajan
Kundalini yoga is also called the yoga of awareness. The focus of this practice is to unite the mental and physical energies of the body through conscious breathing, mudra, eye focus, mantra, body locks and postures to balance the glandular system, strengthen the nervous system, expand lung capacity and purify the blood. Kundalini yoga uplifts, empowers, and increases flexibility and stamina. This safe, therapeutic practice is accessible to all levels of experience and fitness, and all body types. Key differences between Kundalini and other forms of yoga include:
emphasis on being present at all times
every movement has a focus, breath and movement
teacher uses voice, not touch, for corrections
wearing of cotton and natural fibres not lycra
use of meditation gong for lengthy deep relaxation
use of mantra and music throughout
KUNDALINI YOGA THERAPY
Kundalini yoga therapy is a healing modality that uses the principles of Kundalini yoga to create a powerful healing regime, treating specific conditions and individual symptoms, considering them from a physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual perspective. Workshops and classes focusing on vitality, cancer, and PTSD are available.
For further information on Kundalini Yoga and yoga therapy refer to:
Kundalini Research Institute: www.kundaliniresearchinstitute.org
International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association: www.ikyta.org
Guru Ram Das Center: www.grdcenter.org
International Association of Yoga Therapists: http://www.iayt.org
BREATH WALK
Breathwalk is the science of combining specific patterns of breathing synchronized with walking enhanced with the art of directed, meditative attention. Breathwalk exercises are aimed at producing specific effects to revitalize body, mind, and spirit.
The effects of breathwalking exercises include:
Increased energy levels
Mood control
Refined mental clarity
Feelings of connectedness
"The problem is not linking the mind and body—they are linked. The problem is using the body in a conscious way," Gurucharan Singh Khalsa explained at a Breathwalk trainer seminar in Portland, Oregon.
Breathwalking draws on breathing techniques from yoga and adds exercises and walking cadences to create the desired effect. The effects are backed by research that showed the techniques actually produce the desired effects more than when a person is just plain walking. (Wendy Bumgardner)