Telephone: 0117 952 5273 or email: drum@humdrumstrum.co.uk

Spirit of the Drum: using drums for relaxation and meditation

HumDrumStrum now offers workshops and courses aimed primarily at allowing you to use an African-style hand drum as an aid to relaxation and meditation. We cover basic hand drum techniques, understanding rhythm, playing multi-part rhythms in a group, improvisation, finding rhythms to play on your own and meditative drumming.

The workshops specifically provide you with the knowledge and confidence to play your drum both on your own for relaxation and meditation and with a group at a drum circle event (where the focus is on 'music-in-the-moment' rather than playing culturally specific rhythms).

We live in a vibrational universe where playing a drum can really help us to relax, de-stress and connect with ourselves and those around us.

Health benefits of drumming: the healing power of the drum

As well as the numerous benefits of drumming that are associated with empowerment, communication, confidence, community and team building, the drum has an amazing ability to facilitate healing and therefore there are also many health benefits associated with playing a drum and participating in a rhythm-based event.

Rhythm-based events:

• enhance psychological and spiritual well-being
• enhance physical well-being
• enhance social relationships
• enhance sensory awareness and physical dexterity
• improve self-esteem, self-confidence and personal development
  

The evidence:

There is an ever-increasing body of anecdotal and scientific evidence which points to the drum's ability to promote well-being. For example, medical research in America demonstrated statistically significant positive immune system changes that correlated with one-hour group drumming sessions. Research has also shown that participating in drumming sessions may help people defend themselves from the stress and burnout that can cause them to leave their jobs.

Modern research can also show us exactly how our brain waves are affected by rhythm and drumming. The research has shown that the drumbeat alters brainwave patterns, increasing Alpha (a light meditative brainwave), and dramatically reducing stress. Through the rhythmic repetition of sounds, the body, brain and the nervous system are energised and transformed. When a group of people play a rhythm for an extended period of time, their brain waves become entrained to the rhythm and they have a shared brain wave state. The longer the drumming goes on, the more powerful the entrainment becomes.

Drumming is being used all over the world to help people with Alzheimer's disease; cancer; multiple sclerosis; paralysis; Parkinson's disease; many differing types of addiction; psychiatric rehabilitation and stress management.

So, is it just about healing?

We can all derive health benefits from drumming. It gets the heart beating faster thereby providing beneficial aerobic exercise. We relax, we stop worrying about tomorrow, or yesterday - we are in the here and now. We have some fun and smile and laugh. We can connect with a deeper part of ourselves which can help block out self-criticism, fear or doubt.

Conclusions:

• Response to rhythm is basic to human functioning, making rhythm-based events appealing to people of all ages and backgrounds.
• Everyone can enjoy rhythm-based events regardless of ethnic and cultural background, musical preference or age, making these activities fun and positive for a wide variety of people.
• Participation in group drumming activities has physical benefits including sustained physical activity, relaxation, and use of fine motor skills.
• A strong sense of group identity and a feeling of belonging is created because participants are actively making music together and because the sustained repetition of the steady beat acts to bring people together physically, emotionally, and mentally (rhythmic entrainment).
• Rhythm-based events can be undertaken with no previous musical background or training making these experiences accessible to everyone.

References:

For more information please click here to go to the excellent "Health Rhythms" section of the Remo drum company website which has numerous articles and research on the healing power of the drum.

I would especially like to thank Robert Lawrence Friedman for his truly inspiring book "The Healing Power of the Drum". This book presents in considerably more detail, much of the information above and I would recommend the book to anyone who wishes to discover the true extent to which the drum can help us all.

Check out the following link from the BBC, where a new study suggests that drumming sessions at work can help reduce stress and lower staff turnover:

Drumming up a happier workplace

Other interesting articles (please click on the title):

Therapeutic effects of drumming

The voice of the drum

Please contact us for further information

Telephone: 0117 952 5273 or email: drum@humdrumstrum.co.uk