Gongs & the Autonomic Nervous System
I started playing the gong in 2012 as part of my Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training. Yogi Bhajan was a firm advocate of using gongs during asana to speed up spiritual development, so it’s second nature for a Kundalini Yoga teacher to use gong during a class not just during savasana or a gong bath. Yogi Bhajan knew, as I now do too, that gongs have that special sauce that helps a modern yoga practitioner beat the ills of modern living – things like information overload, a short attention span, or endemic stress - that we bring with us to the mat.
Gongs work on the autonomic nervous system, primarily via dermatomes, and brainwaves and fluid in the body. As yogis we seek to activate the sushumna nadi and stop veering between the ida nadi (lethargy) and the pingala nadi (agitation), in other words, gaining mastery over the autonomic nervous system with breath, movement, visualisation, and right living so we can access meditative states. Gongs provide a powerful tool for achieving this with little effort.
When Yogi Bhajan smashed the gong repeatedly in his classes he was bringing students that had “tuned in & dropped out” too much during the Sixties back online; drawing them back from dissociative states into feeling states, balancing ida and pingala, and healing the autonomic nervous system. Equally when a gong practitioner plays the gong hypnotically and gently, they stimulate the vagus nerve and power up the parasympathetic nervous system, offsetting stress and agitation, and enhancing calm focus.
Gongs & Meditation
Gongs stimulate alpha and theta brain waves associated with meditative states and inward-focused states of consciousness, in other words pratyahara. I was lucky enough to take part in an experiment with the University of Hertfordshire a few years ago where we showed, with the use of brain wave mapping equipment, that the gongs bring groups into brain wave entrainment within minutes, effectively shutting down beta and gamma waves which can be associated with hyperarousal and chronic stress.
Gongs are a meditation teacher par excellence, opening the door into pratyahara, dhyana and dharana effortlessly and without words, providing prana via vibrations that bring harmonious patterns to the fluids in the body right down to the cellular level, balance to the nervous system & brain, healing to the fascia, and ultimately energy to the subtle body.
Gongs in a Yoga Class
Gongs can be incorporated into any yoga class but work best with Kundalini, Hatha and restorative practices like Yin. Typically, I use the gongs throughout a class, not with every asana, but enough that I am directing my students to pratyahara and meditative states from the start, not just towards the end of a class.
I use gongs with poses that can be held for a while or repetitive simple exercises that don’t require too much teacher intervention. I can then set my students off with the exercise and focus on playing the gong to achieve a particular outcome. I might play the gong to energise, to balance or to calm. I might use it to balance the two hemispheres of the brain, or to ground students, or to activate the chakra system. I use gongs to lessen the attachment to “I” and connect students to the rest of the class, the environment, Prana and Consciousness.
Gongs can be used to energise particular chakras and parts of the body, to stimulate creativity or compassion, to settle digestive issues, boost immunity, promote self-expression. They lend themselves to themed classes and workshops. They remind me continually as a teacher that I am facilitating a space for my students to connect to their soul, their purpose, their essence. That my job is merely to direct students inward, undoing the barriers that have been constricted around their true Self, and allowing them freedom. In a way, the gong is also my teacher, reminding me constantly that my role is facilitator not guru or wordsmith. I am the pathway to silence and internal spaces, to neutrality and self-discovery, to samadhi.
Gongs for Personal Use
Gongs are expensive but if you are lucky enough to have the resources, they are a great addition to your personal meditation practice. I use gongs before I meditate, letting them guide me into states of consciousness both lightly energised and focused, so that when I sit back and put the mallet down, I drop into stillness more easily.
Gongs have expedited my spiritual development and, I hope, my ability to be a good yoga teacher. I am a huge fan of them and am passionate about sharing their potential with anyone who wants to learn more. If you are a lover of yoga, you will certainly love them for taking you deeper into spiritual spaces that may otherwise take years to reach. And if you’re someone seeking harmony and good health, you could do far worse than search out your local gongster.
Suzanne Davies is a Kundalini Yoga Teacher Trainer who also works with gongs. She offers gong training for gong baths, therapy and gong yoga.
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