My Story

I founded “Zen with Ben” as the culmination of my percussion and meditation training. I’m deeply passionate about the use of sound and vibration as a form of holistic, alternative healing for stress-related conditions. I facilitate sound healing using antique Himalayan singing bowls, gongs, drums, chimes, and ting-sha (Tibetan cymbals) to relieve stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, pain, anger, and trauma.

My Background in Music

I began my musical training with piano lessons at age 5, which lasted until I started percussion lessons at age 10. Following high school, I attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff on full tuition waivers to study music, with an emphasis on percussion performance. Following graduation, I was accepted into the private studio of Bill Wanser (retired principal percussionist of the Phoenix Symphony) whose teachings had a profound impact on my career, including skills and techniques I use in my sound healing practice. Studying with Bill led to an 11-year stretch and close to 450 appearances with the Phoenix Symphony. With Phoenix as my home base, I slowly branched out and soon found myself on the stages of the LA Phil, San Diego Symphony, Hawai’i Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Arizona Opera, and many more! Along the way, I was auditioning for full-time symphony positions and I started exploring meditation and hypnotic techniques for working with performance anxiety as a result of the audition process.

My Journey into Holistic Wellness

I received my first meditation teacher certificate in 2014, with an emphasis on Vipassana (aka Insight Meditation). In 2017, I started a program at Northern Arizona University's Health Promotion Office (Flagstaff, AZ) teaching meditation to students with substance abuse disorders. In 2018, I went to work for a formal corporate-style meditation studio in Phoenix, where I first explored sound as a form of meditation. Coming from a classically-trained musical background, this practice helped me to reconnect with my passion for music, boost my meditation practice, and find a more profound sense of peace by tuning into my own "frequency" in the silence after each “sound bath.” I'm constantly in awe of how quickly and deeply people connect with the present moment through music. 

In 2019, I completed my 90-hr Advanced Vipassana meditation teacher training. In 2020, I passed my Atma Buti® Sound & Vibrational School practicum, certifying me in its prestigious lineage of Himalayan folk medicine and healing techniques. In 2023, I received my Master Gong Practitioner certification through Yogi Mehtab and the International Gong Yoga Association.

The Intersection of Western and Eastern Percussion Lineages

In 2019, I began a collaboration with Dragonfly Percussion in the design of their new Resonance Line gong mallets for sound practitioners and opened doors at my private practice in Tempe, AZ. In October 2020, I passed the required practicum toward certification as an Atma Buti® Sound Healing Practitioner—the only state-accredited sound healing program in the country, consisting of 36 hours of class time plus 180 hours of case studies. Additionally, I completed the remaining two advanced levels of training under Master Teacher Suren Shrestha in 2021. I also began facilitating the occasional 12-hr gong workshop at the Atma Buti School, initially as an invitation to fill in for Gong Master Yogi Mehtab during COVID.

In March 2022, my Signature Series of singing bowl implements by Dragonfly Percussion became available to the public. We curated 15 mallets with the intention of elevating and expanding the sonic possibilities for both metal and crystal singing bowls. This was the first sonic overhaul of wands and inviters for these instruments in the last few centuries and I’m extremely proud of the resulting creations. They’re artisanal, intentional, and simply put…dreamy.

Sioux Ancestry and the Medicine Wheel

Additionally, I have begun to explore my Lakota heritage, focusing on their wisdom in shamanic healing and drumming. I’m a direct descendant of Chief Solomon Iron Nation (Lower Brule Sioux tribe, 1815-1894). The deeper I delve into the significance of his role in Lakota history, the more astounded I become. Iron Nation was a vital peace-keeper and education proponent throughout the 19th-century American Indian Wars; and, a signatory of the Fort Laramie treaty. In 2014, the National Park Service approved listing his gravesite along the Missouri River Bluffs on the National Register of Historic Places. The inscription reads: “We, the Lower Brule Indians / Put up this stone in memory of our / Dear Head Chief / Solomon Iron Nation / Who Died November 14, 1894 / Aged 79 years / Children, Love One Another.”

I’m excited to unify centuries of wisdom, sacred sound, mindfulness, and healing traditions from shamans around the world and share them with you in an effort to “Love one another!”

My Bio

Benjamin Irons (CHt, CMI) is a professional percussionist, sound healing practitioner, author, meditation instructor, and Artist-Collaborator for Dragonfly Percussion.

Irons founded Zen with Ben to bring holistic wellness and relaxation to his community through sound healing, in conjunction with meditation and hypnotic techniques. He holds a B.M. in Instrumental Performance from Northern Arizona University, as well as certifications in an array of wellness modalities. Irons is an Advanced Meditation Instructor, Hypnotherapist, Master Gong Practitioner, and Atma Buti® Sound Healing Practitioner.

Outside of his wellness practice, Irons has worked as a freelance orchestral percussionist and timpanist since 2008. He has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and China; most notably, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Hawai’i Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Arizona Musicfest, and Arizona Opera orchestras. Irons has shared the stage with several prominent artists including Andrea Bocelli, Chris Brubeck, Bela Fleck, Renee Fleming, Lang Lang, Storm Large, Keb’ Mo’, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jake Shimabukuro, Chris Thile, Toni Tennille, Thorgy Thor, and The Who (2019 Tour).

Irons is a proud member of the International Association of Meditation Instructors, the American Federation of Musicians (Denver Local 20-623), and the Author’s Guild. He is an endorsed artist of Dragonfly Percussion and Sabian Cymbals. The “Benjamin Irons Signature Series” of singing bowl wands and inviters by Dragonfly Percussion was released in March 2022.

His pronouns are he/him/his.