An Aberystwyth sound engineer is aiming to bring the healing powers of a ‘gong bath’ to the town.

Alexander Fioravante held his first ‘experimental’ interactive gong bath session on Sunday, 8 October, with the aim of exposing more people to the ‘healing’ experience.

Alexander sees the interactive session acting as a gong bath open day, introducing people to the practice.

“I don’t think anyone else has ever done this before. What I do is I play for about 10 to 15 minutes depending on how the audience feels. After that, I would allow people to have a go on the gongs themselves.

“It’s a bit like an open day for gong bath meditation, it allows people to experience being in a gong bath without having to go into a full session. You can dip your toe in and have the experience without having to sit silently in a room as you would in a proper gong bath session.”

Alexander has decades of experience working with sounds, music and frequencies. He has spent over 23 years working as a professional sound engineer which has seen him work with a range of music groups and artists, as well as produce records which have been played on both UK and US radio stations.

His interest in healing frequencies developed seven years ago, when he attended a healing session using a tuning fork. He said the experience made a “profound” difference to one of his knees, which he injured in the past whilst snowboarding.

The experience pushed him to explore the benefits of healing frequencies and buy his very own gong during lockdown in 2021. In the years since, he has offered free gong bath meditation sessions in Aberystwyth’s Buarth Hall.

Gong bath meditation is a ‘healing’ practice using gongs, singing bowls, chimes, drums, and rattles to ‘bathe’ people in a variety of sounds and frequencies, which are said to heal the body.

Alexander believes the practice expands people’s awareness of themselves and exposes them to the more subtle feelings in the body. Through that, the practice allows people to build a better relationship with themselves.

“Not everything that weighs on us is something that we are consciously aware of. Gong baths can bring these feelings to our conscious awareness, allowing us to experience them and look at them from a new perspective. Through that, we can build a better relationship with ourselves.”

Locals who have taken part in Alexander’s gong baths say the experiences have helped them overcome concentration problems, sleep deprivation, depression and addiction.

Alexander said: “I think there is a demand for gong meditation in all parts of the world, not just in Aberystwyth. People benefit from the relaxed state that gong baths put them in.

“People have very busy lives, and rarely take time for themselves or stop and just do nothing. So in today’s world especially, gong baths are important because they allow us to relax, pause and balance ourselves.”

If you would like to learn more about gong bath meditation, or take part in future interactive sessions, go to Alexander’s website.