Me and Marge before I went completely grey...
The lovely old Hotel and Spa The Spread Eagle, Midhurst
(Photo from the Booking.com website)
http://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/spread-eagle-and-spa.en.html?aid=311076;label=spread-eagle-and-spa-o3ExxsNgJojlr3KZeDZ_*AS10600803900:pl:ta:p1:p2:ac:ap1t1:neg;ws=&gclid=CPvF86iQxLoCFRDItAodMCEAXw
We swam in heated waters, sighed with delight as the weight of the day evaporated in the sauna ..hot bottoms sitting on cool slats of fragrant white spruce. Then when we couldn't take the heat we slipped into the wet steam of the adjacent steam room where the timber was replaced with smooth marble...all rounded of with a most bubblicious soak in a very lively jacuzzi. Big fluffy turquoise towels cuddled us dry after using the luxury products in the shower and then off to a meditation and concert with singing Tibetan bowls.
The man asking them to sing was long time student of the art and buddhist scholar Andrew Lyddon. With grace and gentleness he stroked and rang the bowls, never letting the notes die on the air before starting another singing. The big gong that stood behind him as he worked produced the most extraordinary sounds I think I have ever heard with huge depths and complex yet subtle layers of sound that rumbled and danced filling Cowdray Hall with harmonic intricacies that held and focused ones attention..incredible.
We were told that each singing bowl has its own unique sound that connects to an individual chakra and resonates with that chakra bringing healing and balance. They are used throughout the world to produce music, meditation, healing and well-being. Andrew explained before he started that the silence between the pause in his working the bowls was as important and as rich as the tones they produced..little did he know that the concert was to be held on the same evening as the local church would have its bell ringing session. It was quietly
amusing to hear his incredibly sophisticated and refined music mingling with the deeply familiar domestic tones of the clanging peals that echoed forth from the church bell tower. A rather lovely contrast of sounds but all part of the same patina of life in Midhurst that Halloween evening.
I have left these images small as they are so dreadfully out of focus..not sure what happened there!!
The bowls are played by striking the rim of the bowl with a padded mallet. They can also be played by the friction of rubbing a wood, plastic, or leather wrapped mallet around the rim of the bowl to emphasize the harmonic overtones and a continuous 'singing' sound. Rather similar to the principle of raising a single note from a wine glass but infinitely richer. Lying on the red mat is the smaller of the two gongs used by Andrew.
We were told how any proceeds from the meeting would go towards completing the new Tibetan Temple being created in Barnet
The Tibetan Yung Drung Bon Study Centre, UK
I just found this link on youtube so you might like to have a look at Andrew Lydden running a work shop
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