“A village without music is a dead village … ” African proverb
Since the beginning of time, drums have been the pulse of life and the rhythm of history and storytelling. They have been a backdrop to rites of passages, connection between villages, and the path toward healing and restoration.
In modern society, we’ve lost that pulse to job tensions, economic anxieties, global unrest, ecological worries, world health concerns, rising crime statistics and technology that keeps us riveted to laptop computers, blogs, social networking sites, iPhones, satellite TV and 24-hour news channels.
We have the ability to get a message across the world in seconds, but we’ve lost eye-to-eye contact and face-to-face communication — causing some sociologists to believe we’re more isolated than any other generation before us.
As a backlash to the stress and isolation, people of all ages and from all walks of life have begun reclaiming the natural rhythm of their lives and connecting to one another through hand drumming. In what has become nothing short of a global phenomenon, hand drumming has moved from being a symbol of alternative lifestyles to a part of mainstream culture.
In the United States, Europe and Canada, drumming circles and classes are cropping up in metropolitan cities, rural areas, middle-class suburbia, classrooms, corporate boardrooms, hospitals, nursing homes, churches, therapy sessions, health spas and children’s daycare centers.
These drumming centers, like Awelo Drumming, are committed to helping individuals create a holistic experience that enhances their own well-being and connects them to others in the community.
Hand drumming has become so mainstream that corporate America has even begun embracing it to build teamwork, reduce stress and decrease employee turnover. Toyota Motor Sales USA has gone so far as to create a drumming room within its corporate headquarters in Torrance, Calif. Sitting in a darkened room with a beaded doorway, employees pound out rhythms together, reinforcing the value of teamwork and each individual’s contribution to the whole.
While hand drumming has picked up dramatically in recent years, its therapeutic benefits have been studied for decades.
Back in 1991, Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart addressed a U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging to talk about the importance of rhythm to physical health and to urge federal funding for musical therapy. The body’s natural rhythms can diminish over time, he said, causing illnesses and decay. Drumming can re-establish the rhythm and help to bring the body back into a natural, healthy state.
Hart referenced two books he had written, Drumming at the Edge of Magic and Planet Drum. Both books addressed this question: Why is drumming so powerful and attractive? Part of the reason, Hart asserted, is that, “Everything that exists in time has a rhythm and a pattern.”
As it is, the “power and attraction” of hand drumming has become a major focus of study for physicians, psychologists and sociologists.
Today, there is growing anecdotal and scientific evidence linking hand drumming to physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being — suggesting that this ancient art form has benefits far beyond what anyone may have imagined.
Physical Benefits
According to Hart, “Our bodies are multi-dimensional rhythm machines with everything pulsing in synchrony, from the digesting activity of our intestines to the firing of neurons in the brain. Within the body the main beat is laid down by the cardiovascular system, the heart and the lungs. The heart beats between 60 and 80 times per minute, and the lungs fill and empty at about a quarter of that speed, all of which occurs at an unconscious level …”
“As we age, however, these rhythms can fall out of synch. And then, suddenly, there is no more important or crucial issue than regaining that lost rhythm,” he continued. “What is true for our own bodies is true almost everywhere we look. We are embedded within a rhythmical universe… When the rhythms stop, so do we …”
Hart maintained that the power of music comes from its ability to reconnect us with “deeper rhythms that we are not conscious of.” And the connection we all have with these subliminal rhythms is what gives music the power to heal.
Medical research over the years has proven that rhythm does indeed hold restorative powers. A landmark study led by Dr. Barry Bittman showed that there are significant positive changes that happen to drummers who regularly participate in drumming circles — namely, their immune systems begin producing viral-fighting cells.
Studies also have shown that drumming increases Alpha waves — or “feel good” brainwaves — as well as the production of endorphins and other endogenous opioids, which create a sense of well-being.
As a result, drumming is being used in many hospital and therapeutic settings to help people with:
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Alzheimer’s
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Depression and other mental illnesses
- Chronic pain and muscle stiffness
- Stroke
- Paralysis
- Addictions
- Autism
There also is some evidence to show that drumming may help cancer patients, not only by boosting the drummer’s immune system but also by allowing for self expression. Studies have shown that people who suppress their emotions are more likely to develop cancer than those who have an outlet for expressing them. The bottom line, according to Hart, is this: “As modern technology takes us further and further from our natural rhythms, the use of percussion for healing has greater potential than ever.”
Social and Spiritual Benefits
A 2006 report by sociologists Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin and Matt Brashears found that the number of Americans who feel socially isolated tripled between 1985 and 2005, with many reporting they felt less connected to friends and family. Hand drumming has been shown to re-forge those connections.
At Awelo Drumming, we’ve seen how drumming circles can cut across gender, age, ethnic and class lines and bring people together. The reason is simple: As people create something positive together, they let their defenses down. Stereotypes are broken and barriers removed.
New students often enter one of our classes or workshops as strangers but soon start to form friendships. Even though they come from different backgrounds and have different jobs and stations in life, they form tight bonds — with some even socializing outside the drum circle environment.
The bottom line? Drumming circles help people connect with one another in an easy, relaxed setting with the goal of making beautiful music together. In addition to making social connections, drumming is being used to enhance prayer and meditation practices. Individuals increasingly are using drumming as a way to help them “come back to center.”
Dr. Stephen Koc, a chiropractic physician who runs a chiropractic and wellness center in Salem, Ore., wrote in an article entitled “The Benefits of Drumming” that creating music with drums is “an active form of meditation.” In the drum trance, “State-of-mind questions are answered, problems are solved and clarity is achieved because the thinking (left) brain is put on hold, and we allow our intuitive (right) brain to rule for a little while,” he said.
Additionally, “Drumming is good for your spirit,” Koc maintained. “Expressing yourself in a free-form, non-judgmental, improvisational environment like a drum circle can allow you to tap into a very strong spiritual connection. It’s primitive. It’s basic. It’s part of us.” The social and spiritual benefits of group drumming are personal to each drummer. Some drummers say they feel joy when playing; others, a sense of deep relaxation. But there are some benefits that are universal to drumming and especially to group drumming. They include:
- A strengthening of community bonds
- An opportunity for an interactive, intergenerational activity
- A means of non-verbal expression
- Team-building and cooperation within a group dynamic
- An increase in self esteem
- Music appreciation
- A breaking down of socio-economic and other barriers
At Awelo Drumming
At Awelo Drumming, we teach hand drumming in a safe, creative and nurturing environment. We offer group lessons in Djembe, Ashiko, Dunun and other rhythms as well as customized individual lessons.
We also teach the historical traditions behind the rhythms so students and participants understand where the rhythms originated and why they were used.
“No one knows when our ancestors were first inspired to tap out a beat, but what is known is that each of us innately understands how to drum! You spent about nine months curled up in your mother’s womb listening to her heart beat a steady pulse… lub, dub…lub, dub…lub, dub. This natural rhythm was entrained — literally downloaded — into your nervous system and can be tapped into once again, no matter how musically challenged you think you are. Lots of adults learn through drumming that they have creative abilities that were repressed. Children discover new talents …” — Dr. Stephen Koc in “This is Your Brain on Drums … Any Questions?”