Singing bowl
Singing bowls are literally “singing” metal bowl.
The sound and vibration from the metal bowls give us undescribable relaxed and healed feeling.
The deep sound and small vibration merge into the body and help us to be harmonized in every corner of the body.
There have been a lot of researches and practices about physical and emotional effects of sound. This healing method has been used at medical sites in some places.
You can read some episodes here for example:
”The Healing Power of Sound" by Dr. Mitchell Gaynor”
History
The history of singing bowls is full of mystery.
As the bowls are called “Tibetan singing bowls”, they were/are apparently used in Tibet but it's not clear how originally they were produced or who used these bowls for healing.
It is said that the bowls existed already before Buddha's time, that is, since more than 2500 years. But at the Buddha's time bowls were mainly used by monks for begging or simply for eating rather than for healing.
As Buddhism spread to the countries around India, bowls were brought to Tibet, Korea and all the way to Japan. In Japan you can find the big size of the bowls at temples (called Keisu/Kinsu) or small size at family alter at home (called Orin). And they are used for rituals.
How the bowls for begging have changed to ritual implements and further to healing tools? It is said that only high Lamas in Buddhist temples in Tibet were allowed to use them for secret rituals and other monks knew nothing about the bowls. That's why not so many things are known. But we never know about all the facts.
A lot of documents were lost by the Chinese invasion in 1950's. People who fled from Tibet at that time brought the bowls out of the country as their possession in hope of exchanging them for necessities in case they have difficulity to make a living.
That's how singing bowls spread in western countries, too.
In Tibet they have an old shamanistic-animistic religion Bön which has existed far longer time than Buddhism. Over time Bön has been influenced by Buddhism but still remains as one religion in Tibet. According to Jansen* it's “shamanic branch of Buddhism”.
On the other side of the Himalayan mountains, the bowls have also been used by shamans in Nepal. These activities by shamans at the both side of the mountains could be the origin of the singingbowls as a healing tool.
As mentioned it is not so clear about the history of singing bowls as a healing tool. There are not many people left who can tell the stories before 1950's in Tibet, either.
Material of singing bowls
They are made by metal. Generally one bowl is made from 5 to 12 different kinds of metal.
In my bowls 7 kinds metals are used and each metal corresponds to different planet:
Gold – Sun
Silver – Moon
Mercury – Mercury
Copper – Venus
Iron - Mars
Tin – Jupiter
Lead - Saturn
The amount of mercury is a little and it's used to eliminate impurities of the metals.
In addition, the bowls I use are so-called fullmoon bowls which are produced only on fullmoon nights. The craftsmen purify themselves and make rituals before they start working with these bowls. The bowls have power from the fullmoon.
Healing
Through getting sound and vibration from the bowls which are placed around you or on your body, your energy is harmonized. The sound from the bowls doesn't give one concrete note as C, D, E, etc but several overtones. Vibration radiated from the bowls go into your body and give massage on cellular level.
70 to 80% of human body is water. As a stone in water makes rings of ripples, the vibration from the bowls effects the water inside of your body and spread in whole body. Also, the sound and vibration lead you to the state in which you are in deep meditation and where theta wave occurs in the brain (slower than alfa wave which occurs in relaxed state).
You will feel totally relaxed both physically and mentally after the session.
There is also a spiritual aspect. It is said that bowls connect the receiver to the universe. According to a Tibetan buddhist monk, the sound is giving teaching of Buddha about broadness and emptiness.
How it feels depends on the receiver. In the same way as Reiki, healing power works on the place where it's needed. The practitioner decides intuitively where to place the bowls or the strength and length of the sound by observing carefully changes of the sound and the receiver's state.
The receiver will be in a state between sleep and awake and it's not unusual that you will fall asleep. You might see some visions or have interesting dreams. It may make you laugh or cry. There is some cases where the cronical joint pain is gone after one session.
The vibration inside of your body remains even after sessions. Sometimes you still feel it after many hours. Some experience “something has started“ in the body.
I learned singing bowl healing by Mr. Shree Krishna Shahi in Kathmandu, Nepal. We call him Shree-dai (brother Shree) with respect and affection. He grew up looking his grandfather who was shaman. He has been working for more than 30 years as a healer (though he is not happy to be called so), teacher and musician both in Nepal and other countries.
reference
Jansen, Eva Rudy (2002). Singing bowls A practical Handbook of Instruction and Use. Dehli: New Age Books.
Shrestha, Suren (2009). How to heal with singing bowls: traditional Tibetan healing methods. Boulder: Sentient publications
Subedi, Salil(2016). Singing Bowl A Nepal instrument for Tuning the Mind Healing the Body, Kathmandu: The Himalayan Singing Bowl Centre
https://www.bodhisattva.com/tibetan-singing-bowl-history/
https://www.massagearoundtheworld.com/blog/origin-singing-bowl/
Reiki healing
Reiki healing method is hands-on healing with help by energy of the universe.
The word reiki consists of two parts “rei” and “ki”
“Rei” means miraculous, mystic, sacred and
“Ki” is energy.
Miraculous energy, that is reiki.
Reiki is an inexhaustible energy from the universe and it is everywhere. It is an essential energy for all beings.
You might have experienced that you feel better when walking in the forest. Or feel relaxed just by receiving warm sunlight on your body. This nature energy which leads us to be in harmonized and relaxed state, is also a part of the energy of the universe.
We all have reiki within our body as self-healing energy. When you have stomachpain, maybe you automatically put your hands on the stomach. When a child falls and hits somewhere badly, you blow on the wound or stroke the child gently with your hands to make him/her feel better. In that way you are using your own healing energy to heal yourself and others.
Reiki healing helps to awake your own healing energy and make your mind and body in harmony. Reiki energy works even for animals and plants.
Reiki works for individual's best!
How does a session go?
It's hands-on healing, basically. Practitioner puts his/her hands on different parts of receiver's body.
We use also hands-off method when for example scanning the body.
How the receiver feels is very different from person to person. Some get warm and others cool, or sometimes you get stinging sensation. It's not unusual that you feel a little dizzy after treatment depending on what your body needs.
Your emotion can be stimulated as well. You might feel happy, sad, angry etc during the sessions.
But reiki works for individual's best. Reiki energy heals the place, no matter if it's physically or mentally,
which your body needs.
In other words, we practitioners cannot control the energy. For example, I cannot control how much energy I can send to you. Even if I wish to send more or less energy, I cannot adjust. Because reiki energy -energy from the universe knows how much the receiver needs. So what I as practitioner do is to leave everything in reiki's hands and send the energy as it is without mixing my own energy.
History of Reiki
Reiki is a healing system which is realized in 1922 by a Japanese Mr. Mikao Usui (1865 -1926).
The method of hands-on healing has existed longer time in other parts of the world such as Tibet. But it was Mr. Usui who established Reiki healing art as one system.
After having completed various studies such as history, medicine, religious studies, psychology and so on, both inside and outside of Japan, Mr. Usui went to Mt. Kurama in Kyoto to seek for Satori = enlightenment. While he was fasting and meditating in the mountain, he suddenly got inspired by Reiki on the 21st day and attained spiritual enlightenment. At the same time he received a healing ability.
With a wish to share this ability with as many people as possible, he has founded “Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai” in 1922 in Tokyo.
Among the immediate students of Usui sensei there was Mr. Chujiro Hayashi (1879-1940) who used to be a captain of the Imperial Navy. Mr. Hayashi opened his clinic “Hayashi Reiki Kenkyukai” in 1931 and succeeded the healing art and made effort to spread the method.
Ms. Hawayo Takata (1900-1980) was one of the students of Hayashi sensei and became Reiki shihan (teacher).
She was second generation of Japanese-American born in Hawai. She met Reiki healing art of Hayashi sensei when she visited Japan to treat her illness in gallbladder. She recovered completely from the illness without having operation.
Ms. Takata learned Reiki by Hayashi sensei and after returning to Hawai, she opened her own clinic.
Many shihans were born under her Reiki teachings and ever since Reiki is being widespread in the western world.
In Japan, it was first in the recent times that “western style” Reiki returned and spread.
On the other hand, traditional Reiki has also been practiced and “Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai” founded
by Usui sensei is still active.
My teacher Mr. Hyakuten Inamoto was a student of Ms. Chiyoko Yamaguchi (1921-2003), one of the students of Hayashi sensei. That is, the fourth generation from Usui sensei.
Inamoto sensei has founded “Komyo Reiki Do” which is based on Hayashi style Usui Reiki healing art. He is having classes not only in Japan but also in different countries and teach Japanese style Reiki to all over the world.
Komyo Reiki Do's style is a keep-it-simple Reiki system, that is “non-additive” Reiki.
Homepage →Komyoreikido
Massage therapy
There are many positive effects you can get from massage.
The primal effect is to relax the tension in the muscles.
But you can expect many more such as;
- effects on blood circulation → improving blood circulation, rise in temperature in the muscles,enlarge capillaries
- effect on lymph system → improving lymph circulation
- effects on nervous system → lowering blood pressure, relieving pain through stimulation to pressure and sensory receptor
- effects on hormone secretion → increasing secretion of oxytocin, endorfin (both is so-called happy hormone), decreasing secretion of stress hormone
- effects on body → relieving tension in the muscles, improving flexibility and elasticity, increasing nutrition intake of the muscles, optimal recovery, inactivating trigger points
- relieving joint pain
etc.
On the other hand, when muscle tension is not released, it can cause;
- limited movability
- headache
- stiffness in muscles/joints
- sleep disorder
I use techniques based on Swedish classic massage, PNF(proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation = static streching), PIR (Post Isometric Relaxation) and triggerpoint treatment as necessary.
History
Massage is mentioned for the first time in the history in 3000 B.C. in China. 2000 years later, around 1000 B.C. massage was spread to India.
In Europe it was Hippokrates (460-377B.C.) who decribed effects of massage for the first time. A Greek doctor Galudius Galenus (131-200) also wrote a lot of documents about manual medicine.
Later in 16th century, effects of massage were studied in France and then in 18th to 19th century, Swedish doctor Per-Henrik Ling (1776-1839) who is known as father of gymnastics advocated the effects of gymnastic movements including massage. Ling's idea was spread to other western countries and it is said that Dutch practitioner Johann Georg Mezger (1817-1893) was the person who developed and organized the system which is now called “Swedish massage”.