At 12 years old he was already lifting weights.
Because?
When I was little I was obsessed with superheroes, I used to imitate Hulk, Spiderman and Superman from a very early age, and I was bullied at school and so was my neighbor.
Was there a reason?
I went everywhere with my older brother, always with boys older than me, and therefore I was easy and skinny prey.
Abuse.
I started lifting weights to protect myself from that bad treatment. One day my mom made snacks and took me to see a Rocky marathon: I watched Rocky 1, 2, and 3 in one sitting.
Wow.
Yes, Rocky brainwashed me. After six hours of Rocky I decided he wanted to be a boxer or a bodybuilder.
Why did you choose what you chose?
Because they didn’t let me be a boxer, but they did let me accompany my father to the gym and lift weights. I took it seriously: I went six days a week. My parents thought it was a time and that I would pass.
But it didn’t go away.
My first competition was when I was 15 years old. I became the biggest teenage bodybuilder in England. At 16 I was Mister England. Muscular, they respected me much more.
Her golden curls are legend.
I miss that hair, but when I was a bodybuilder I didn’t think about girls, I was very focused on my work, I didn’t go out or drink.
Soon he was the star of a television show.
In a magazine they had the cover headline “Is James Crossley the new Tarzan?”, and they called me for Gladiators, which in the United Kingdom was a star program. When the show ended eight years later, I was crowned the ultimate gladiator.
At 19 years old he was already a handsome winner.
It was something I had to adapt to. I couldn’t go by bus or train, and wherever I went there were tons of people waiting for me. It was something very strange, you end up surrounding yourself with a bubble of people.
What did he do next?
I was very lucky. After Gladiator I didn’t know what to do and I studied acting training, and after three years of doing traveling theater I entered the Royal Shakespeare Company in London. Seven great years of touring, but I got tired of all the roaming.
Why did you choose then?
For the world’s strongest man competitions. I dedicated myself to it for eight years and I have a couple of world records, but lifting weights is very hard on the body and I had several injuries. I went on a yoga retreat in Bali to recover.
His life changed completely.
I did gong bath therapy sessions and was completely recovered and fascinated. When I returned to London I wanted to continue that practice and I couldn’t find anything, so I created it. I went to university, studied music therapy for two years and, at the same time, I trained in gong.
And he wrote a book about gong.
Yes, and I set up Sound Healing Teacher Training, a school to certify gong practitioners.
Yes, the gong bath did him good.
It’s very therapeutic. Through sound and vibration, brain waves move to the relaxed state (alpha), the dream state (theta) and even the restorative state (delta).
AND?
As the mind and body relax, heart rate and blood pressure decrease and breathing becomes deeper. It is in this state that deep healing can occur.
What changes did you notice in yourself?
I have always slept very poorly and those gong baths allowed me to sleep straight through the two weeks I was practicing it. I managed to relax my body and my mind.
What is the mystery?
Everything has its own vibration, and when we have emotional stress or tension built up in the tissues of our body, perhaps for years, those tissues vibrate differently than the rest of the body.
And does the sound of the gong harmonize it?
Yes, the gong emits very powerful vibrations that make the body get in rhythm with them, it is like tuning the body. It also slows down brain waves, it is like a very deep meditation that is achieved with years of practice.
But in instant version?
The sound brings you into that parasympathetic state of rest very quickly. We have childhood traumas and stress accumulated in the body and sound manages to get it out.
Curious.
We have monkey minds that move from one topic to another quickly and uncontrollably. The vibrations take you to a state that is very susceptible to healing, rejuvenating processes occur. It’s very interesting.
