Sound/Gong Baths

Monique has been using sound and vibration in her Massage & Bodywork sessions for over twenty years. In the last few years she has delved deeper into their healing and transformative qualities. Monique is a Certified Sound Healer and offers Sound and Gong Baths to groups, couples and individuals.

What will happen in a Sound/Gong Bath?

First you will seat yourself in a comfortable rocking chair or lie on a massage table. Blankets, heating pads, eye masks and pillows are all available so you can be comfortable during your experience.

You may be guided to settle in to yourself and the experience by taking some slow deep breaths.

What Is a Sound Bath?

A sound bath is a full-body meditative experience where attendees are “bathed” in sound waves. These waves are produced by the intentional use of sound and vibrational instruments such as gongs, Himalayan singing bowls, crystal bowls, percussion, chimes, rattles, rain sticks and discs and even the human voice itself.

While guided meditation uses speaking to guide a person through a meditative state, sound baths use music and instruments to provide the guidance. Not only are Sound Baths a great de-stressor, but they are perfect for those who have difficulty with meditation and can also be a great introduction for novice meditators! The effects of a Sound Bath anre instant, while with other types of meditation, one might have to practice consistently for a few weeks or months to feel the same kind of effect.

The sound doesn’t have a catchy melody or rhythm like you’d experience at a rock concert or symphony but, instead, is a carefully selected wash of instrument and voice often with notable resonance and overtones.

“The intention is really to change and help balance the energy of the participants. During a sound bath, you don’t want to hook into a melody. You don’t want to repeat things because you don’t want the brain to recognize a repeated beat. Instead, you want participants to release, and you want the brain to let go,” explains Tamalyn Miller, the lead sound practitioner at Natuopathia Chelsea in NYC.

A Sound Bath allows brain waves to slow down, shifting from an active state to a relaxed or dreamlike state. The sounds introduced during a Sound Bath are an invitation into a deeper state of consciousness, an opportunity to unplug from external stimuli, to invite deep rest, letting go and journeying.

What is a Gong Bath?

A Gong Bath is similar in all ways to a Sound Bath but uses primarily gongs rather than a combination of instruments. A variety of mallets, friction mallets and flumies are used to create deep resonance, overtones, and wonderful dolphin, whale and other-worldly sounds. Monique has a 34” and 40” gong, each with their own voice, personalities and magic..

Q & A

  • Absolutely! I have most of what you need to make you comfortable but you’re welcome to bring whatever you like.

  • Each child is different. Some can lie still comfortably for an hour while others may become fidgety and disturb the experience for others. You know your child best.

  • Keep in mind that sleep can be mistaken for other deep states of consciousness. Check in with yourself to see how you feel and what you experienced. However, falling asleep may be exactly what you need! Snoring can be disruptive for others so you will be gently nudged awake if this happens.

  • Private Sound/Gong Bath

    This is a private experience for you, a couple and/or your guests by reservation only. If you’d like a particular focus or theme I’m happy to work with that.

    Group Sound/Gong Bath

    In a group Sound Bath, you reserve tickets for the Sound Bath and will share the space with others. The Sound/Gong Bath itself is the same format and length.

  • The sound is very relaxing, and not loud enough to be damaging in any way. There are lots of pillows and blankets that will help make you comfortable, but feel free to bring what you need as well. If you have any reservations, I recommend you trust your guidance and ask your doctor.

  • Research has shown them to reduce stress and anxiety, lower tension, fatigue, heart rate, depression, pain and anger, increase positive mood and overall sense of well-being.

    Nikola Tesla

    “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”

    Dr. Jeffrey D. Thompson, D.C., B.F.A., C.N.S.T. Diplomate, Director of the Center for Neuroacoustic Research at The California Institute for Human Science

    “Since the human body is over seventy percent water and since sound travels five times more efficiently through water than through air, sound frequency stimulation directly into the body is a highly efficient means for total body stimulation, especially at the cellular level. Direct stimulation of living cellular tissue using sound frequency vibration has shown marked cellular metabolism and therefore a possible mobilization of a cellular healing response”

    Mitchell Gaynor, M.D., former Director of Medical Oncology and Integrative Medicine at Cornell Cancer Prevention Center in New York and author of The Healing Power of Sound.

    “Music can have a powerful salutary effect on our cardio- vascular, immune, and nervous systems, not to mention our emotional and spiritual selves.”

    “Sounds permeate our systems, resonating with our essence, so that inner chaos, conflict, and dissonance seem almost immediately to be transformed into harmony.”

    “I believe unequivocally – and I’ve seen for myself the proof – that the use of sound is among the most powerful modalities ever embraced by twentieth-century practitioners.”

    “Through the process of entrainment, sound can transform negative, repressed emotions into a state of psychological equanimity that has direct and immediate effects on our physiology. Sonic entrainment can also restore harmony between our innermost selves – our essence and the universe, thus re-awakening our spiritual consciousness.”

    “When properly mobilized, sound can specifically entrain the human organism toward the greater harmony and homeostasis that it requires to remain vibrant and to regenerate after injury or illness. The properties of sound medicine -entrainment, harmony and homeostasis- represent the rational AND spiritual foundation for a new movement in the healing arts and sciences.”

    “Sound and music can help you develop your own intuitions which, in turn, can help you with your own healing. The human capacity for intuition and its effects on the body, on relationships, and on one’s environment is not grounded on the occult or esoterica, but rather in hard scientific investigation by some of the great minds of physics and philosophy.”

    “If we accept that sound is vibration and we know that vibration touches every part of our physical being, then we understand that sound is heard not only through our ears but through every cell in our bodies. One reason sound heals on a physical level is because it so deeply touches and transforms us on the emotional and spiritual planes. Sound can redress imbalances on every level of physiological functioning and can play a positive role in the treatment of virtually any medical disorder.”

    Andrew Weil, M.D., author, lecturer and founder of the Program in Integrative Medicine in Tucson, Arizona

    “The new science of psychacoustics — the study of the effect of music and sound on the human nervous system — shows that [frequency] can relieve pain, help stroke patients, and benefit other conditions.”

    Deepak Chopra, M.D., author, lecturer, founder of the Chopra Foundation

    “The body is held together by sound, and the presence of disease indicates that some sounds are out of tune… primordial sound is the mysterious link that holds the universe together in a web that is the quantum field.”

  • If you are booking a private or couples session, you may do that from my regular booking system. These may be booked any time there is an opening.

    Group sessions are available every Sunday at noon and are an hour and 15 minutes in length. Sound Baths alternate with Gong Baths. To book in, click here or on the Events Page in the top menu.