1. Drumming is for everyone Drumming does not require advanced physical abilities or specialized talents. It does not require participants to read music or understand music theory. Drumming, even a simple pattern, offers benefits to a huge range of people. Drumming is a universal language. It transcends gender, race, age, and nationality. In fact, nearly every culture on earth has some form of drumming tradition. Furthermore, group drumming and drum therapy is currently being used for people with brain injuries or impairment, physical injuries, arthritis, addictions, and more. Studies are finding numerous health benefits from drumming for people with these conditions.
2. Drumming reduces stress and boosts the immune system Studies have shown that drumming lowers both blood pressure and stress hormones. The active component of drumming helps reduce stress in a number of ways. It’s fun, it’s physical, and it’s a great diversion from other stress-filled activities. If you need to vent, what better way than to hit something?
Drumming is also meditative, inducing relaxed mental states that reduce anxiety and tension. Drumming combined with deep breathing and visualization techniques offers even more stress reduction benefits. “We know that stress takes a toll on the immune system,” says Ann Webster, PhD. “When you’re under stress, blood levels of stress hormones go up and your body is no longer able to make killer cells and other cells of the immune system in the amounts it normally would, and that can lead to disease progression. Reducing stress is very restorative. It gets the system back in balance.”
A recent medical research study indicates that drumming does boost the immune system. According to cancer expert Barry Bittman, MD, the study demonstrates that group drumming actually increases cancer killing cells, which help the body fight cancer and other viruses. 3. Drumming produces deeper self-awareness by inducing synchronous brain activity (Hemispheric Coordination) and promoting alpha waves Studies of the human mind have found that the two sides of a human brain often work at different levels and at different rates. Drumming activates both sides of the brain and can help the mind achieve hemispheric coordination, a situation where both halves of the brain are active and brain waves are synchronized. This coordination can lead to integrative modes of consciousness, which may include greater insight or creativity. Drumming also can increase alpha waves in the brain. The increased alpha activity can help drummers and others to calm their minds or even achieve a meditative state. Group drumming and its effect on alpha waves are now being used to help people with addictive personalities and people who are ‘hypervigilant’. 4. Drumming helps to releases negative feelings and emotional trauma Drum therapy has successfully been used with patients and others suffering from emotional traumas including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Drumming can help people express and address emotional issues. The physical stimulation of drumming also removes blockages and produces emotional release. Sound vibrations resonate through every cell in the body, stimulating the release of negative cellular memories. “Drumming emphasizes self-expression, teaches how to rebuild emotional health, and addresses issues of violence and conflict through expression and integration of emotions,” says Music Educator Ed Mikenas. 5. Drumming helps us to connect with self and others Group drumming creates a sense of community and a powerful shared experience. It has been used as a successful team building experience to teach groups to work together, to listen to each other, and to achieve common goals. Group drumming discourages isolation, and self-centeredness and promotes communication and involvement with the group. On a personal level, a drum circle also provides an opportunity to connect with one’s own spirit at a deeper level. People who are sick, addicted, or afflicted with other conditions are out of sync with themselves. By putting these people in sync with themselves and with healthy individuals it is possible for them to feel and enjoy a healthier state of being.
6. Drumming helps us connect to the natural rhythms all around us Rhythm is all around us though we are often unaware of it. The sun, moon, and the seasons follow regular rhythms. Our bodies have natural rhythms, which are a part of us every day. Natural rhythms rule us, even on a cellular level. Recent scientific ‘string’ theories even suggest that on a subatomic level, the smallest particle of the universe, that which makes up all things, is nothing more than tiny vibrating ‘strings’ and that their vibration, or rhythm, is what makes things what they are. Under this theory, everything is rhythm, literally. Drumming connects us to rhythm, puts us in touch with natural cycles, and makes us aware of rhythm all around us. 7. Drumming provides a path by which we may access a higher power Drumming produces a sense of spirituality, connectedness and community, integrating body, mind and spirit. By allowing participants to achieve a more relaxed, meditative mental state, drumming allows people to enter states of higher consciousness. Drumming can coordinate the brain’s two hemispheres and synchronize the lower and frontal areas of the brain, which can lead to feelings of greater understanding and insight, which is often the basis for a person’s connection to a higher power. 8. Drumming grounds us in the present moment Drumming is interactive. It’s about timing and coordination, both of which force participants to be in the present moment. This helps a person to be grounded in the present moment: When a person is firmly grounded in the present, stressful situations in the past are forgotten and worries of the future are minimized. 9. Drumming helps us to reach a state of self-realization Drumming is a great form of self-expression. A drummer beats the drum and immediately receives feedback from the drum. This immediate feedback loop helps drummers achieve self-expression and self-realization. Drumming provides a method by which people can hear and be heard, a non-verbal language by which they can express themselves. The drummer is at once a useful part of the group and a unique individual. 10. Drumming is fun Drumming releases endorphins in the human brain that cause feelings of happiness and euphoria. It’s a great reason to gather with other people, to share in a common experience, and to do something enjoyable. A participant in a drum circle is part of a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts, and drumming is accessible to an extremely wide range of people. Drumming is fun and that’s the bottom line.