Following Your Own Tuning
I've had tinnitus for as long as I can remember, most likely from playing in very loud rock bands before ear protection was even thought of. So a lot of the time, like right now, I hear a fairly loud ringing in my ears. But is this really tinnitus, or is it just the sound of myself?
The internal sounds we hear may be that of our own energy resonating. Everyone has a resonant frequency. Everyone also has resonant harmonics that they are attracted to. These are important in working with the Gongs. In fact, to me, these are more important than trying make the Western note scale fit the Chakras and other sound therapy modalities.
For example: imagine you buy a Bowl or Gong tuned to the note G, which has been assigned to the Throat Chakra. Now what if when you play that Bowl/Gong for yourself, or someone else, and the vibrations fail to affect your Throat Chakra? What if it affects your Heart Chakra instead? Does that mean the Bowl/Gong is wrong? Or that you/someone else is wrong?
What is important to me is the sound (we can also call this frequency, but not to mean holding to a specific note, like A or A#) of the instrument and whether it resonates with me. To me, buying a Bowl/Gong tuned to G so I have an instrument for the Throat Chakra is short sighted and completely misses the point.
A good example are the Singing Bowls I use. I don't know what exact tuning any of them are. You may look at my last blog, where I said that I got a tuner app and went through all my instruments, and say, "Aren't you contradicting yourself?" Well, what the tuner did for me was to confirm what I already knew intuitively. So I looked at the tunings and then promptly forgot what they are. Since I am not working in a band or orchestra context where I need to be in tune with other instruments, what's most important to me is that the instruments work together as a set, and that they all resonate with me.
So in looking at my Singing Bowls, I pick one up, strike it, and pay attention to where it affects me! I have a bowl that every time I strike it, I feel it in my throat. So to me, this is a Throat Chakra bowl. I don't feel it anywhere else as strongly as my throat. Is it tuned to G? I don't know and I don't care. Another bowl I have, I always feel strongly in my Brow/Third Eye Chakra. So that's how I think of it, irregardless of what the frequency/pitch/tuning is.
Here's a bit of a story:
For me to have predetermined what Bowl to use would've been working from my own EGO ("I know what's best."). Instead, I see myself more as a channel, or facilitator of the vibrations I work with. Thus it's important to me to find the right vibrations for each particular situation.
Now back to the original point: I know there are many people out there who work from a scientific method. They use Things like Planet Gongs/Tuning Forks and believe strongly in the science of what they do, holding firm to what each note/frequency affects. This is fine and I have nothing against it. But it does not work for me. I can't help that I am a highly intuitive person who sees the world the way I do. I prefer to use my intuition to tune into things and peer between the cracks in the Universe. I also feel that everything is fluid, thus I don't ever work from a script or pre-set list of ideas. I may bring an instrument with me and not use it at all because I'm not feeling it. Conversely, I might might end up playing a lot on one particular instrument because it feels like the right one for that moment/session.
We are each different and must utilize what method works for us. Scientific and intuitive are both means to the same end. And the public at large will have their own needs. Some will be drawn to the scientific method, others will be drawn to the intuitive. There is room for everyone in this Universe.
How do you see your own method?
~ MB
The internal sounds we hear may be that of our own energy resonating. Everyone has a resonant frequency. Everyone also has resonant harmonics that they are attracted to. These are important in working with the Gongs. In fact, to me, these are more important than trying make the Western note scale fit the Chakras and other sound therapy modalities.
For example: imagine you buy a Bowl or Gong tuned to the note G, which has been assigned to the Throat Chakra. Now what if when you play that Bowl/Gong for yourself, or someone else, and the vibrations fail to affect your Throat Chakra? What if it affects your Heart Chakra instead? Does that mean the Bowl/Gong is wrong? Or that you/someone else is wrong?
I personally don't pay attention to what the tuning of the instrument is.
What is important to me is the sound (we can also call this frequency, but not to mean holding to a specific note, like A or A#) of the instrument and whether it resonates with me. To me, buying a Bowl/Gong tuned to G so I have an instrument for the Throat Chakra is short sighted and completely misses the point.
A good example are the Singing Bowls I use. I don't know what exact tuning any of them are. You may look at my last blog, where I said that I got a tuner app and went through all my instruments, and say, "Aren't you contradicting yourself?" Well, what the tuner did for me was to confirm what I already knew intuitively. So I looked at the tunings and then promptly forgot what they are. Since I am not working in a band or orchestra context where I need to be in tune with other instruments, what's most important to me is that the instruments work together as a set, and that they all resonate with me.
So in looking at my Singing Bowls, I pick one up, strike it, and pay attention to where it affects me! I have a bowl that every time I strike it, I feel it in my throat. So to me, this is a Throat Chakra bowl. I don't feel it anywhere else as strongly as my throat. Is it tuned to G? I don't know and I don't care. Another bowl I have, I always feel strongly in my Brow/Third Eye Chakra. So that's how I think of it, irregardless of what the frequency/pitch/tuning is.
Here's a bit of a story:
My wife had knee surgery a few years ago and was laid up for about 8 weeks. I suggested we work with the Bowls to assist in her healing, but I didn't go looking for a knee bowl. What I did was try various Bowls placed gently on her knee and struck them to see what affect she felt. We went along until she exclaimed, "Wow, I really feel that!" Thus we found a Bowl that resonated with her knee and then worked with that one.
For me to have predetermined what Bowl to use would've been working from my own EGO ("I know what's best."). Instead, I see myself more as a channel, or facilitator of the vibrations I work with. Thus it's important to me to find the right vibrations for each particular situation.
Now back to the original point: I know there are many people out there who work from a scientific method. They use Things like Planet Gongs/Tuning Forks and believe strongly in the science of what they do, holding firm to what each note/frequency affects. This is fine and I have nothing against it. But it does not work for me. I can't help that I am a highly intuitive person who sees the world the way I do. I prefer to use my intuition to tune into things and peer between the cracks in the Universe. I also feel that everything is fluid, thus I don't ever work from a script or pre-set list of ideas. I may bring an instrument with me and not use it at all because I'm not feeling it. Conversely, I might might end up playing a lot on one particular instrument because it feels like the right one for that moment/session.
We are each different and must utilize what method works for us. Scientific and intuitive are both means to the same end. And the public at large will have their own needs. Some will be drawn to the scientific method, others will be drawn to the intuitive. There is room for everyone in this Universe.
How do you see your own method?
~ MB
Chop Wood | Carry Water | Play Gongs
Interesting. Years ago before I was "formerly trained" (took workshops and classes) in working with singing bowls I would use my pendulum to dowse (I am a dower also) for the bowl the that a person needed for that particular part of the body. This method allowed me a means of picking the most effective bowl without injecting bias or EGO. 99% of the time this method was accurate for that session. That 1% where I was "wrong" was when I needed more that one bowl to work that area. then it was a matter of which bowl did I need to use 1st. So I then refined my questioning when asking the body, not the person which bowl is best suited of this particular session, do I need more than 1 bowl, if so how many, which ones, and in what order. The hardest part was to explain it to an onlooker what & how I did this. Sometimes I would say their body told me (which is what it does) or the bowls told me (which was also correct).
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