Sound /Gong.

There are very few things in my life that I have known immediately. Life rarely comes to me in thunderbolts, but in inclinations, dreams and curiosities. But the first time I experienced a gong immersion, I knew immediately they would become part of my life.

Everything in the universe vibrates, from planets to cells. Gong, I felt, was in a vibrational frequency range akin to rock and the soundscape of deep time. Deep tones, deep resonance. Rock and gong share a relationship, linked through their grounded, rare-earth, metal materiality. They transport us to older realms and cosmological, oceanic soundscapes.

In 2024, after a period of waiting and listening, I began my apprenticeship as a sound practitioner through the College of Sound Healing UK (a member of the Complementary Medical Association) through which I am now a registered member.

With an unusually clear vision for the work, I opened my sound practice in the second half of 2025 as a complement to my psychotherapeutic practice and movement classes. I offer sound therapy for life and end-of-life, as part of a holistic approach to health, as well as for transitional moments when only ritual is sufficient.

What does gong sound like?

Gongs are ancient instruments that have been used across Asia for centuries for ceremonies, announcements and rituals, though their therapeutic use is relatively modern as they were bought to the west in the 1970s. Deep ancestry, modern usage.

Many people have a sense of what they will sound like and think a gong is something you strike hard like a drum (as seen at the beginning of the old Rank movie introduction). This is not the case. A skilled practitioner will play with nuance and variety, developing the sound of the gong gently in waves and crescendos, taking you on a journey, using a variety of mallets.

Listeners are often surprised to discover that it’s hard to discern single sounds as the waves build and merge together. This is one of the delights of the gong - you will want to watch and observe the magic, but your body will say relax, let it go.

The best thing to do is to try it.

Sound and silence as strata. Loosening time and space. Opening portals for deep resonance, rest and transition.

I work primarily with metal.

As a sound practitioner and percussionist, I believe that less is more, taking influence from ambient environmental and modern instrumental music, which I enjoy and also use in my movement work.

I also supplement my gongs and singing bowls, with a small selection of grounding instruments and drum. Some of these are handmade using stones I have gathered sustainably from places of special significance.

Silence is every bit as important as sound. Let us, at times, be still as rock.

The gongs I have chosen to work with resonate with me as their player, and I hope they will resonate with you too.

Let me introduce you:

Oriole

My first gong Oriole is a 36” symphonic, silver-nickel gong and offers a range of harmonics explorable above her deep fundamental base note. My first love. Her name came to me in a dream. A golden bird. A golden halo. Oriole resides closest to the ground when I play and shimmers in the evening light. She is the foundation of my collection.

Mercury

My second gong is Mercury a 28” bronze sun gong tuned to the orbital frequency (70.64Hz, C#1) of the smallest planet in our solar system and the one closest to the sun. Quicksilver messenger, Mercury is associated with communication, the verbal realm and our respiratory system. All aspects that are important to me as a therapist, writer and asthmatic body. Mercury is quick and bright, with a clear, direct energy. An exciting, responsive gong. Easy to crash, hard to forget.

Sidereal Moon

My third gong is part of the Paiste planetary range and at 24” (113.71Hz, A#2) brings a brightness to the collection. This gong is tuned to the orbital frequency of the moon as it rotates around earth (27.3 days) relative to the fixed position of the stars (rather than the sun). It took a while for her to come to me, but as I have Moon in Cancer astrologically, she sounds emotions, emotions, emotions all the way. She joins us for release and intuitive guidance pairing nicely with the decisiveness of Mercury and the unifying presence of Oriole.

Jupiter

My fourth gong was much longed for, and finally became available at the end of 2025. Jupiter is a 28” Paiste gong and I work with it for clients wanting to invite expansion into their lives. Playing to an F note, Jupiter is edgy and bountiful - there is no other sound quite like a Jupiter and this silver-nickel gong is for now the final member of the set - making an alchemical four.

My Singing Bowls

My Sela bowl comes with me everywhere, being a more portable metal body than gongs. It is only 15cm, but has been all over Europe and the UK. I found her in Estonia. Though there are other bowls, she is my first and will always have a special place. I use her to welcome people into the gong space.

I also have ten Tibetan singing bowls of various sizes and tones, and a set of three small Nagi bowls, which translates to windless calm or a tranquil sea in Japanese. Their sound is high, clear and shimmering and invite peacefulness.

Deep Resonance Sessions

My central, signature gong immersions (baths) for groups of < 15 people. Together we become rocks on the river bed of sound. We may start with some gentle intuitive movement allowing us to open and then settle, and then we let the gongs do their work and open the ground within you. Powerful, but gentle. We never know where gongs will transport us, but the invitation is always to open the channel for something mysterious to be felt and known. Inspired by rock, always.

These are offered locally indoors in Derbyshire, and elsewhere around the UK on request. I can offer these inside and outside at suitable venues. As an outdoor therapist I particularly love offering gongs outside where the sound of nature may harmonise with the gongs. Better still, in a rocky environment: a rocky field, a coastline, an escarpment, a cave.

One-to-One Immersion

Individual and pair/couple immersions for folk who want and need dedicated time to bring their own intentions to a gong immersion, and discuss their own sound needs along the way. These are each 60-90 mins long, and I will discuss with you what you need before the session begins. Alternatively, you can arrange a one-to-one with no verbal explanation, and I will play for you anyway working with the energy as it unfolds and envelops us in the space.

These are offered in Derbyshire, though I am opening to working in your home if you have the space. This is an additional cost.

End-of-Life Support

Sound is the last sense to leave us when we die. What we hear at the end of our life, matters. If you or someone you love is coming to the end of their life, or actively dying (including a companion animal), and you wish to have the gentle supportive sound of Tibetan singing bowls and gong to help create a peaceful environment at the end, then please get in touch. I will work with you to discuss your needs or those of your loved one.

If you support end of life, palliative care or are a provider (e.g. hospice) and would be interested in sound therapy as a compliment to your existing provision, or to support the wellbeing of your staff please get in touch. I offer free and donation-basis sessions for community end of life care teams.

If you are a retreat centre, venue or any other ethical, care or community-oriented organisation looking to offer a gong immersion to your clients please do get in touch. I travel with my gongs and can arrange a bespoke session for you and your team.

Sound as a liberatory practice, supporting radical rest and vitality through pause

FAQs and myth-busting

  • A gong immersion is my preferred way of explaining what it’s like to be surrounded by the sound of gongs. It is the same as a gong bath. Both terms tell you something about the feeling of being bathed in sound as a sort of fluid. It doesn’t involve a water tank or flotation device.

    A ‘sound bath’ is the generic term, but I specialise in gongs, which is a deeper training modality. Gongs are the focus of my work and so I specify my sound baths as gong baths.

    I do not work with crystal bowls.

  • Many, if not most, people find gongs relaxing and calming, especially when they are played considerately. Less is more. That said, how we receive sound is always changing. One session might be relaxing, another might be unsettling. One person will love it, someone lying next to them will have a totally different experience.

    Sound tends to get into our knotty bits, meeting us where we need it, and it’s not uncommon to feel tearful or emotional after an immersion. Or to be unsettled by certain sounds. I had a death vision in a session once! It is not uncommon to experience an altered state as our brain waves slow (as in sleep) towards the hypnogogic.

    But if we can stay open to the process and not reject the difficult parts then we may find the deeper benefit of sound work that sits below ‘simple relaxation’. Just as therapy isn’t about making you feel great every session, it is in service to a deeper process of personal growth.

  • This is very personal to each person. A gong immersion will usually have an immediate affect and you may notice you sleep a lot better after an immersion, go to the toilet more, as well as dream (notes your dreams!)

    But many people will feel the affect in the days and weeks after as well. You may recognise ongoing feelings of relaxation or stress reduction. A general sense of peace and harmony. A reduction in negative feelings about a situation that usually annoys you. These affects are generally increased with regular immersions as part of your energetic and body-based practice. I work with sound as a daily meditation to quiet my mind.

    In the same way as you might visit an acupuncturist, you can use sound as part of your life whenever you need it.

  • I make no claims to sound ‘healing’ despite the college of my accreditation. This is the same as with my psychotherapy practice. Instead, I invite you into the process and together we will see what arises. I hope that it is healing for you. You may find sound healing, you may find it a valuable part of an ecology of practices towards healing, you may just find it enjoyable (which itself can be healing!) It is not my place to label your experience.

  • Yes, I do. Sound is a beautiful way to ease the end of life passage in those who are actively dying or approaching death. At what can be a scary and unknown time for the person dying and their family, sound therapy can being some gentle calm, facilitating ease.

    Please get in touch with any enquiries to do with palliative support.

    I work with individuals privately as well as with hospices.

  • I began sound work as a way of connecting with something more physical and non-verbal. Sound work does not depend on verbalisation. With this in mind, I use my voice for opening and closing sessions and for discussing intentions in one to one work, but it is not a talking therapy. Likewise, you do not have to share anything in words with me. You can simply book, arrive, enjoy and leave. As the practitioner, I try and keep my talking to a minimum and let sound do the talking.

    That said, if you want to talk after the session, we can do that! I am an experienced psychotherapist and approach my work with this sensitivity and empathy.

  • I am not a musician, but I have played my musical instruments my whole life. As a child I played flute, as a young adult, saxophone and then later I drummed and performed in a Brazilian Batala band. For my movement classes, it is one of my great joys to compile world music for our sessions.

    More accurately, I consider myself a sound practitioner and percussionist, as I bring a musical ear and appreciation of sound as a narrative journey to my sessions.

  • I will often integrate a bit of gentle movement and breathwork into the opening of a gong immersion, because I find this helps me (and others) settle and open. I have worked with movement for a long time.

    I will occasionally draw on other correspondences such as what is happening astronomically at the time of our session. I might also work with tarot, archetype cards, rune stones and even poetry to supplement the sound. These are all methods for supporting deep resonance and self-enquiry, not as a method of divination.

    You are welcome to ask for a tarot reading or similar when you book.

  • I usually ask that you bring as much comfort with you as you can! BYO nest!

    The minimum is a yoga-type mat, though you can also bring a chair if it’s comfortable. Then there are pillows, blankets, socks etc. A drink. And an eye pillow if you have one (though I will usually have a spare or two).

    I do not provide yoga mats and blankets, trusting you will likely have your own preferences for materials. Since Covid most people prefer to bring their own.

  • Gong baths are usually offered on the floor because most recipients enjoy the vibrations that come through the floor - it’s like a back massage. However, you are welcome to bring your own chair if you would prefer or you are worried about being on the floor. I recommend the reclining ‘garden chair’ type which allows you to tip backwards and relax more deeply.

    For end of life support you will be wherever you are most comfortable e.g. in bed.

  • For most people, a gong bath will be perfectly safe, though there are some contraindications listed below, for which sound therapy is not advised/proceed with caution:

    Acute mental illness

    Severe osteoporosis

    Immediately after any surgery especially, hip/joint operations or bone-related.

    Epilepsy

    People fitted with pacemakers

    Advanced stages of cancer

    Early pregnancy (first trimester)

    Ménière’s Disease

    Tinnitus (type dependent)

    If you are unsure and wish to discuss a medical condition first, then please do just drop me an email before booking.

    Some people with older style hearing aids may be asked to turn them off before an immersion (especially group) as they can whistle and cause interference.

It is completely normal to have questions about sound therapy: how it works, and how it happens. Here are some additional but important thoughts.

First principles of sound

There is nothing woo about working with sound for ‘healing’, relaxation, stress-reduction etc. As a species we have been working with sound for millenia and most of us will have had some sort of ultrasound or infrasound treatment over the course of our lives. That’s to say nothing of the power of sound as music. Sound is simply, scientifically, a form of energy that travels in waves created by vibrations. These vibrations propagate through a medium (like air, water, or solids) and are detected by our ears, allowing us to perceive sound. Everything in the universe - all matter - is made of vibrational particles. We are all vibrational bodies that respond and resonate, to sound waves. We can work with different vibrational frequencies (measured in Hz) to open routeways to healing and new body-knowings, as well as simply to enjoy ourselves and achieve a state of calm and rest. You can make it as mystical and esoteric as you like depending on your beliefs. My job is to bring you sound.

I have seen and experienced first hand the physical, emotional and psychological benefits of sound work. I am excited by the way sound as energy can work a mysterious magic, underpinned by the science of resonant frequencies of materials and matter, and entrainment. But my sound therapeutic practice is also inherently nested (and insured) within an ethical framework offered by my psychotherapy membership body. As such, I offer it as an exploratory and, at times, revelatory method, but always as a complement to other treatments when it comes to medical conditions.

PLEASE NOTE: There are a few contraindications for sound therapy listed opposite under ‘is it safe for everyone’? Common exclusions include recent surgery, early pregnancy and fitted pacemakers.

If you are interested in sound work, a gong immersion or have any other questions, please complete the form below or email me on ruth@whitepeakwellbeing.com