Gong with Cecily Hunt
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Flossmoor yoga teacher brings gong therapy to area

Cecily Hunt made one pass on a Neptune gong and she was hooked. The Flossmoor yoga and meditation instructor was introduced to gong therapy less than a year ago and was eager to bring the art to the area.

Cecily Hunt made one pass on a Neptune gong and she was hooked. The Flossmoor yoga and meditation instructor was introduced to gong therapy less than a year ago and was eager to bring the art to the area.
 

  Cecily Hunt demonstrates
  how to use a therapeutic 
  gong.
 (Provided photo)
 

Since 2005, she has been teaching yoga and meditation at the Cancer Support Center in Homewood. Earlier this year she began offering gong meditation/sound therapy to the patients there. 

“I approached them when I started playing the gong to see if they were interested in sound therapy,” said Hunt. “It was a passion for me very quickly and I learned very quickly. It is somewhat intuitive and somewhat musical. It was a logical place since cancer support centers often include this.”
 

Hunt offered her first session in Homewood in February and then again in May and in July. The next date it will be offered there is Aug. 29 from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. The session will be free but pre-registration is required. It is open to cancer patients and their caregivers. Participants should bring a blanket or yoga mat and pillow and wear loose clothing. Sessions have filled to capacity, so early registration is recommended.
 
“The gong bath has been extremely well received by our participants,” said Kathleen Daly, clinical program director. “We have had a waiting list since we started providing the program. Participants have left the gong bath feeling at peace and have said they were able to let go of anger and experience serenity from the practice.”
 
Arlene Brostrom, a cancer survivor who has practiced yoga with Hunt for several years, said sound therapy is difficult to explain to anyone who has not experienced it.
 
“I definitely feel peaceful after I leave there,” said Brostrom, of Homewood. “It really makes you go within yourself when you do the gong bath. You start to get in touch with your inner person.”
 
Brostrom said she finds the effects of the gong bath “magical.”
 
“It puts me in such a relaxed state and I have a lot of peace and the creativity starts flowing,” she said. “It’s amazing what it does for you for days and even weeks afterwards.”
 
Sound therapy through gong meditation has definite healing qualities to help regulate atoms vibrating in the physical body, its practitioners say. Illness and stress can affect those vibrations and in sound meditation, you bathe your body in healing vibrations of ancient instruments, raising your consciousness to create a sense of peace, harmony and balance and overall improvement in well-being.
 
 “It’s a kind of healing modality,” said Hunt. “Those who are attracted to it are very often curious, but also looking to connect with their bodies and connect with their minds and with a deeper sense of who they really are.”
 
“It can take you to places you might not otherwise be able to go to,” she explained. “It’s very meditative and people can have profound reactions. It can help with physical things and release tightness in shoulders or pain in hips. It can release psychological trauma. 

“Sometimes it’s reconnecting to people who were important to them who have passed on. It can allow you to explore places you have not been before. It’s a large instrument that creates a strong vibration and harmonic overtones that influence the vibration of cells in your body as well as organ systems in the body. It calms the mind, which has a calming effect on the body.”
 

Hunt described the sound baths as being “passive, receptive therapy, where all you need to do is lie on the floor or in a comfortable chair to receive healing vibrations that wash over your skin and through your body.” 
 
In the sessions, which run usually for 90 minutes, Hunt said there’s a definite flow and there is information at the beginning to let participants know what to expect. It starts with centering and settling in, followed by a gentle introduction to vibrations that builds and it ends quietly while participants re-integrate, closing with discussion.
 
“Lots of results can happen in a sound bath,” said Hunt. “This is scientific, not just new age.”
 
Hunt and Karen Tlusty-Rissman, who was her gong therapy teacher, have collaborated for additional sessions that are open to the public. They will offer “Songs of the Planets” meditation at Union Street Gallery in Chicago Heights on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. Pre-registration is not required and the cost is $20 at the door.
 
The two play gongs representative of the planets. The Neptune gong played by Hunt is complemented by the Venus gong played by Tlusty-Rissman.

The Wellness Center in Hinsdale also has services available for cancer patients and Hunt will be offering sound baths there on Sept. 5 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Again, pre-registration is required.

Song of Neptune will be at Flossmoor Community Church on Sunday, Sept. 10, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Participants should bring a sleeping bag, yoga mat, blanket, pillow, eye pillow or whatever will create comfort as they rest on the floor; comfy chairs are also available for seated participation. Cost is $20. Info is available at www.songoftheplanets.com

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