8 july 2018 |
Alice Tobin’s collection of gongs
includes an enormous Nepalese
gong (far right) made from
200-year-old singing bowls. At
her Kealakekua Bay three-story
home, Alice’s gong bath sessions
impart rejuvenating vibrations
that promote calm and healing.
FEATuRE
Kona resident offers rejuvenating sound therapy
through ancient art of playing gongs
hen internationally
renowned energy
practitioner Alice Tobin
purchased her three-story
house at Kealakekua Bay
last year, she knew it would be the ideal place
to practice a type of sound therapy known as
“gong bath.”
Resonating deep, rich tones, Alice’s collection
of enormous brass and bronze gongs takes up
almost the entirety of her second fl oor studio
where she hosts weekly gong bath sessions.
Neighbors tell her they enjoy the soothing,
temple-like sounds that fi lter through her
windows with views of the Captain Cook
Monument in the distance.
“A gong bath is actually gong meditation,” said
Alice, a native of Hong Kong who moved here
from Hilton Head, South Carolina. “We call it a
bath because it cleanses and releases physical
and emotional stagnant energy. It just feels
good. At the end of the hour, you are so relaxed
it takes a while to even move your fi ngertips.”
Inscribed in Sanskrit, her largest gong is an
incredible 40 inches in diameter. From Nepal, it
was made from antique singing bowls hundreds
of years old that were melted down and melded
together. Her Chinese wind gong is shaped with
a fl atter concave that produces its own distinct
tone, while her traditional Chau gong has a