| What is a Drum Circle? “The Drum Circle is a huge rhythmic jam session. The ultimate goal is not precise rhythmic articulation or perfection of patterned structure, but the ability to entrain and reach the state of a group mind. It is built on cooperation in the groove, but with little reference to any classic styles. So this is a work in constant progress, a phenomenon of the new rhythm culture emerging here in the West.” In the words of Arthur Hull: “The Community Drum Circle is a fun entry-level learning experience that is accessible to anyone who wants to participate. Drum Circle participants express themselves collectively by using a chorus of tuned drums, percussion, and vocals to create a musical song together while having a great time.” HealthRHYTHMS The HealthRHYTHMS program, developed by the REMO Drum Company, is centered around the group composite drumming activities or drum circles that have been an integral part of the community life of many cultures throughout the world. The therapeutic benefits of participating in drum circles is being studied by many health professionals and they are now starting to understand and document the healthy outcomes that are evident with their patients who are drum circle participants. These are what the Remo Drum Company call the seven evidence based elements of HealthRHYTHMS Group Empowerment Drumming. Inner Voice Drum Circles being offered at the Callahan School of Music is based upon the principles taught by Arthur Hull and Christine Stevens. Christine is the Coordinator of the HealthRHYTHMS program for the Remo Drum Company and Arthur Hull is the founder of Village Drum Circles. 7 Evidence-Based Elements
of HealthRHYTHMS Group Empowerment Drumming
Stress-Reduction
HealthRHYTHMS (Group Composite Drumming) strengthened the immune system by increasing Natural Killer (NK) cell activity. (Bittman, Alternative Therapies, 2001) This protocol also reversed multiple components of the human stress response on the genomic level, not just reducing but reversing 19 genetic switches that turn on the stress response believed responsible in the development of common diseases. (Bittman, Medical Science Monitor, 2005)
Exercise
Drumming is an accessible exercise which burns calories and improves mood and may reduce the risk of disease. A Norwegian study of 25,000 women age 20-54 that performed leisure time exercises at least 4 hours/week experienced a 37% reduction in the risk of breast cancer. (Thune, Brenn, Lund, Gaard, 1997)
Self-Expression
HealthRHYTHMS Empowers people to move beyond their perceived boundaries.
Camaraderie/Support
A 1992 Duke University Study linked lengthened lifespan with having a close confidant. HealthRHYTHMS protocol builds camaraderie and support by creating a safe space where people feel comfortable sharing and offering support.
Nurturing
HealthRHYTHMS protocol creates a level playing field where support of growth and development is encouraged. As equal partners in this process participants often discover inner strength and encouragement by those sharing the experience.
Spirituality
HealthRHYTHMS is a group hand-drumming protocol. According to Jan Gregory, Adjunct Professor of Liturgy, Worship and Spirituality at Hartford Seminary, “Hand drumming is an ancient art that has been used in many cultures. The music of drums creates a conduit to the Divine. This is an opportunity to experience worship with our bodies as well as our minds”.
Music-Making
Systematic inquiry into the relationship between music and brain function is one of the most rapidly developing fields of human research. “Music making offers extensive exercise for brain cells and their synapses (connections). It would be difficult to find another activity that engages so many of the brain’s systems.”(Weinberger, N., 1998)
| | Stress Relief through Self Expression Drumming Stress Relief and Self Expression Drumming isn't about drumming or how well you play the drum, it uses the drum as a tool for group communication and personal expression. STRESS: IMPACT RESEARCH SUMMARY From Remo Drum Company Research Team
Why should you take action to reduce stress in your life when everyone lives with stress?
"Stress is really a component of every disease," says James Rosenbaum, MD. Take a look at the adverse health effects of chronic stress:
Cardiovascular illnesses. Chronic stress has been shown to increase the heart rate and blood pressure, making the heart work harder to produce the blood flow needed for bodily functions. Long-term elevations in blood pressure, also seen with essential hypertension (high blood pressure not related to stress), are harmful and can lead to myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure, abnormal heart rhythms, and stroke. (Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007)
Obesity. "We have known for over a decade that there is a connection between chronic stress and obesity," Herbert Herzog, PhD, of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia, says in a news release. "We also know that NPY(a molecule the body releases when stressed ) plays a major role in other chronic stress-induced conditions, such as susceptibility to infection. Now we have identified the exact pathway, or chain of molecular events, that links chronic stress with obesity." (WebMD Medical News, 2007) Excess abdominal fat and obesity are risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, and this type of fat secretes copious proinflammatory chemicals, worsening inflammation.(Arthritis Today, 2005)
Diabetes. Obesity is a leading cause of diabetes, but the chemical imbalances caused by stress, regardless of obesity, can also trigger type 2 diabetes development. Researchers at the University of Washington, Seattle, found that increased levels of fear, lack of control and depression raise levels of glucose and insulin, each of which are danger signs for diabetes.
Drug Abuse. Many clinicians and addiction medicine specialists suggest that stress is the number one cause of relapse to drug abuse, including smoking. Now, research is elucidating a scientific basis for these clinical observations. In both people and animals, stress leads to an increase in the brain levels of a peptide known as corticotropin releasing factor (CRF). The increased CRF levels in turn triggers a cascade of biological responses. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2005)
Cognitive Impairment. Chronic stress can impair memory and may impair cognitive function. (McEwan B., Sapolsky R., 1995) Pioneering research of Bruce McEwen, PhD, head of the Neuroendocrinology laboratory at the world-renowned Rockefeller University in New York proposed that repeated stress can lead to the body’s inability to turn off its major biological stress pathway; a factor that can directly lead to significant memory loss.(New England Journal of Medicine, 1998).
Chronic Pain. Stress alters neurotransmitters that regulate mood and emotion, leaving a person more susceptible to depression and anxiety. Depression can also worsen inflammatory conditions. For example, a study out of Stanford University Medical Center, Calif., discovered that people who are depressed experience two times more chronic pain than those who are not depressed.
Premature aging. Connections among stress, premature aging and decreased lifespan were recently identified in a University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) review of women, aged 20 to 50, who were caregivers to children living with a chronic illness, such as autism. Compared to women of the same age who were caring for healthy children, chronic stress levels speeded up the deterioration of vision and hearing, increased aging of the skin, mental decline and failing organs in the women caring for sick children. (Stein, R., 2004)
Depression. Recent estimates suggest that loss of a loved-one, and the physical/emotional changes associated with aging result in depression, a condition that is severely underestimated and present in about 65% of the elderly in our society. (Bittman, B., 2008) Researchers at the University of Washington and Group Health Center for Health Studies shows that depressed older adults use more health care services and have 43-56 percent higher health care costs than their peers who do not suffer from depression.(Sowers, P., 2003)
Published, peer-reviewed research has demonstrated that Group Self Expression Drumming significantly reduces stress, reduces burnout rates, improves mood states and increases natural killer cell activity. | |