Mum gives sound baths to people in her living room dubbed ‘the gong ship’ but fears other players will steal her secrets

A mother-of-six who converted her living room into a “gong ship” where she performs sound baths with peculiar instruments including a 44-inch Chinese wind gong, crystal singing bowls and a giant sea shell, is concerned people are out to steal her ideas for money.

Shaila Jafrin, 45, carries out sound baths, a meditative experience where people lie down and listen to therapeutic sounds, in the front room of her terraced house in Islington, north London, and says some of her so-called “passengers” are so emotional that they start crying before having stepped through the door.

Each session lasts between two and three hours during which time Shaila “shares her gift” by striking her 10 gongs with a mallet and playing a variety of other strange instruments, from a conch shell to an ocean drum.

Shaila, who says that she only holds sessions when she feels like it and does not care about making money, is concerned that other gong players are looking to rip off her ideas for profit.

To stop them, she now vets people before inviting them to join her “gong family” and has stopped posting details of her sessions on social media after she claimed other sound players began copying her work.

Shaila told PA Real Life: “My home is also my gong ship where I deliver my sound baths.

“I feel like it’s more of a ship and we’re going on a journey to better know ourselves.

“I mainly work with the gongs which I play at different intervals during the session.

“I can’t explain how I learnt it, but when I start playing it’s like something I already know and it just comes to me.”

Shaila, who is originally from Bangladesh, discovered gong therapy in 2015 after meeting a sound therapist called Ladrhyn Bexx.

“He opened the door and I saw this gong which I recognised from a past life or something – I don’t know,” she said.

Shaila now offers group sessions for £25 per person or private sessions for £45 at her home under the name Shai Light & Sound Therapy, but only on an ad hoc basis.

These contributions go towards paying for the equipment and instruments that she uses during the sessions.

“It’s not a business, it’s not my job, it’s something that I do intuitively and I feel it’s a gift and I share it with everybody as and when I can, because I’ve obviously got my six children and two grandchildren to look after,” she said.

“All of my private sessions happen during the day time and I have my group sessions at night time, depending on whether it’s a new moon or full moon, or whether it’s a session designed for men, women, partners, children.”

Attendees, who Shaila calls passengers, are invited to board the gong ship and fall asleep on a blow-up mattress surrounded by crystal singing bowls in her living room and covered in blankets to keep warm.

The session starts with Shaila blowing a conch, a type of sea shell which makes a sound like a medieval battle horn and is designed to clear the mind.

“Would you believe it, I actually got this [conch shell] from a charity shop in London,” she said.

“I bought it for seven pounds something, but they are normally very expensive instruments.

“This large one would normally cost more than £100, so I got lucky.”

She then proceeds to play gongs, chimes, drums and quartz crystal bowls which each hold a specific frequency or note.

Some people believe the sound vibrations created by these instruments have a positive effect on a person’s mind and body.

Shaila says she can tell what part of a person’s body needs attention depending on the sound of her singing bowls and offers to share these insights at the end of the session.

“Some people start crying from the moment they walk in because they can feel the energy of the house and the crystals,” she said.

“It’s always emotional because when people come to me it’s not like a massage, every session is unique.

“I’ve even had couples come together to work out their relationship, I’ve had mothers come with their children, I’ve had lovers, friends, brothers, sisters.”

The session finishes with passengers being gently woken up to chimes and an ocean drum which mimics the sound of waves washing over the sand.

Shaila’s home made sound baths have become so popular that she is concerned people are copying her ideas and using them for profit.

“It’s something I am very passionate about and so I do get triggered sometimes because I have realised that many other sound players are actually copying my work,” she said.

“It really does offend me because inspiration is one thing but copying is completely different.”

She also claims other gong therapists have started offering night time sessions since following her on social media and seeing how popular they were.

“That’s why I don’t allow other sound therapists to come, because they literally come to see what I’m doing, and then go back and do it themselves,” she said.

Shaila now meets people before each session to find out who they are and what are their intentions.

“People see this as a money-making scheme and when they see that my sessions sell out within a few hours they only think about the money,” she said.

Shaila’s most prized instrument is a 44-inch Chinese wind gong suspended on a frame in her front window which brand new, costs around £2,000, she says.

“I bought this at a time when people weren’t really playing gongs but now that sound healing has become a big thing, the price has gone up,” she said.

“Each one of my instruments has a story to tell just like all the people who come to me for a session.

“I don’t believe that I’m a sound healer, everybody heals themselves.

“But I believe that I can hold a space and comfort you enough for you to have the strength to deal with yourself, and that is when the healing begins.”

For more information about Shai Light & Sound Therapy visit: www.instagram.com/shai_lights.