What is a gong bath and how does it feel?

NEW JERSEY (FOX5NY.COM) - Have you heard of a gong bath? You don't get wet. Instead, you're bathed in sound vibration from gong music.

Marco Dolce is a gong master and a sound healer. In other words, he likes to say he is the "designated driver while everyone else's mind is traversing the universe."

And many people are going on that trip these days. Celebrities in tune with gong baths include Robert Downey Jr., Charlize Theron, and Laurence Fishburne, to name a few. Those who take part, swear by it.

Lauren Marcinkowski told Fox 5 that the gong bath puts her body in a state of relaxation so her spirit can receive a kid of healing.

Sarah Borda said sometimes the bath puts her in a dream state and sometimes it lets her think and sort out her life.

Edward Yuhas called it a "spiritual reset."

Dolce said that the gong bath engages the mind and helps to put one into a state of meditation by "quieting the internal dialogue, which is the first aim of meditation."

"Once the mind quiets, the body relaxes and all sorts of autonomous functions, like heartbeat and respiration and blood pressure will go down," Dolce said.

So in order to get the most out of your gong bath experience, get comfortable, lie on your back, close your eyes, listen, and allow the vibration of the gong do the work.

"Kind of surrender yourself to the experience," Dolce said. "You need to be open minded and come with open ears and be ready to disengage from the world—turn your cellphone off for an hour."

And in that hour, your personal journey occurs.

"A common experience is to feel very relaxed, very blissed out, and a connection with a greater reality or a greater mind, a connection with the divine," Dolce said.

While the meditation lasts for an hour, the effects last much longer.

Borda said that in the days after a gong bath, she often has vivid dreams and feels more settled.

Yuhas said he felt a renewal and more positive about things.

"I tell people when the gong bath is done, they can just float on out," Dolce said.

And as they do, Dolce reminds everyone to drink plenty of water. He claimed that research shows a gong bath has a way of activating a detox of the body.