Photographing local businesses - Babacool - Welwyn, Potters Bar, St Albans

Life is busy. When I’m not working on my business - planning, photographing and editing - I have my family and home to look after. It’s true what they say, being a stay-at-home parent is a full-time job. It’s impossible to keep going day after day giving all of yourself without filling your own cup (you know the expression about running on empty). For me the one thing that keeps me going is my yoga. The class I attend is a tough class physically, but mentally it centres me and gives me a few hours a week where all I have to focus on is my breathing.

So, when I was invited to take part in Tai Chi Qigong and a gong bath, it seemed like it might be another really good way to fill my own cup a little.

Babacool is run by husband and wife team Suzanne and Alex. Suzanne describes herself as a yoga teacher and sound therapist based in Welwyn”.

Had made Gong - Beautiful shimmering colours

As well as running classes and gong baths, she also teaches yoga privately. “My areas of expertise include trauma and mental health issues, chronic conditions, recovery from major illness & injury, and personal transformation” Suzanne said. “I am absolutely passionate about what I do and about empowering lives with the tools I have learned”.

Suzanne first tried yoga in her 20s when a friend dragged her along to a class. She was instantly hooked on the combination of breath, posture and meditation. “My love affair with yoga has only deepened over the years since then. I used to work as a fraud investigator for a bank and then later as a private investigator. My work life was often stressful and occasionally frightening. Having a daily yoga practice managed to keep me sane and helped me to manage stress effectively”.

I feel like I can really relate to this, and I suspect there are a lot of other people who either do, or would, benefit from having a daily focus like this outside of their busy lives.

Thai Chi Quigong and Gong player monochrome photo with gongs

Alex was in the military for over 20 years and then worked in the private close-protection industry protecting individuals up to Heads of State. He knows all about stress! He has found through his own practice of Tai Chi Qigong that the combination of mindfulness, gentle movement and breath has helped him greatly to overcome periods of stress in his life. He’s passionate about passing on the benefits of Qigong and teaches weekly classes in the local area.

The classes they run are “all about relaxing, slowing & softening – letting go of tension in the body, gaining greater awareness of your mind & emotions, understanding & releasing childhood patterns and also relaxing your approach to life. Letting go of the past, and lessening anxiety about the future, allowing you to live happily & peacefully in the present”.

That certainly sounds like something most people would benefit from to me.

What about the session?

When I arrived, the lights were dim, and yoga mats were set up throughout the room. I’d been told to bring my own mat, duvet, pillow and face mask, so I squeezed in the only remaining spot and set myself up. Alex started by teaching us how to stand and breathe for Qigong Tai Chi, then how to lean into each move, and with incredibly visual descriptions how to place our hands and arms.

Alex led us to visualise the ocean, forests, lakes and even that we were flying - when your mind is full from the daily grind, nothing helps to clear it like focussing on something else. He explained how the breathing and twisting motions were working on oxygenation our body and massaging our liver or helping with digestion. I spent about 50% of the session with my eyes closed, lost in the movement.

At the end of the Qigong Tai Chi we were invited to lie down under our blankets and make ourselves comfortable. Suzanne talked us through relaxing our bodies, from the top of our heads to the tips of our toes, and then they gently started playing the gongs.

Gong bath Instructors Suzanne and Alex from Babacool

A Gong Bath is a lot like a deep, relaxing massage using sound. It’s called a Gong Bath because you’ll be bathed in sound from the Gongs. You simply lie down, get comfortable and let the sound waves wash over you.

To start with the vibration frequency of the soundwaves made me feel a little uneasy. If you haven’t experienced the power of gong healing, it’s like subtle vibrations running through your body. It balances the nervous system so you can feel both deeply relaxed and energised afterwards. It’s a way to get the benefits of meditation without having to sit and focus for hours. Apparently the gong enables the brain to become efficient in producing Theta and Delta waves, which are produced by the brain during deep sleep and trance-like states. As a result, occasionally an unpleasant memory or feeling can be released, but this is momentary and is part of the whole healing experience.

When they moved on to deeper lower frequency sounds, my body became far more relaxed. Some people can experience a sense of timelessness, images or visions and may feel like they’ve been transported out of their body into the surrounding space.

Unfortunately (for me) it was a little too relaxing for some, and after 20 or 30 minutes the effects of the gong diminished as my senses became overwhelmed by surround sound snoring. I don’t suppose there is any way around this dilemma? I was happy for them, but kind of wanted to shout out loud for them to stop (I put up with enough snoring from my husband at home – in fact he joked that I could play a tape of gong music and I could have the same experience every night).

Ultimately, I really enjoyed the whole experience. I feel like my body, mind and spirit benefitted, and I definitely had a good night sleep.

Lady playing Gong's for gong bath Monochrome

“We are Gong-crazy” Suzanne said “our house is full of them. We’ve been to Germany to make our own, Alex has studied the science of them extensively, and we have trained with some of the world’s gong masters”.

“We have been running gong baths for a number of years in Welwyn Garden City, Potters Bar, St Albans, London and Leicester – in that time we’ve had people with insomnia report that they’ve slept better after a gong bath than they have in years, people with chronic pain and chronic conditions report a marked improvement, people suffering from stress report that they experience a sense of calm that lasts for days. The science of sound healing is in its infancy, but initial reports about its benefits are extremely promising – all this, and all you have to do is lie down. If you haven’t tried it yet, what are you waiting for?” Contact Babacool

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