Improv AtWork and AtLife

The Irony of It All

Research into the healing effects of drumming are ongoing. Won't it be ironic if the wisdom of the indigenous world leads to relief from the stress of the 21st Century?

Everything Has a Rhythm

Everything has a rhythm, from the steady beat of rain on a roof to the soft swoosh of the ocean's tides. Our most basic rhythm is the rhythm of life - our heartbeat. Rhythm succeeds where words fail.

The New Burnout

Burnout - not a new concept in business. People like Christine Maslach, Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Berkeley and burnout guru (my term, not hers) have been studying it for years. It used to be that when someone said they were "burned out" they usually meant they were physically tired - too many hours at work with too much to do made them feel worn out. But today, when workers talk about "burn out", it's emotional...about feeling a lack of meaning and purpose in work which leads to job dissatisfaction, stress, lousy moods and - eventually - to workers leaving their jobs. Employee turnover is costly. And while some industries, like the helping professions, feel the impact more deeply than others, there's hardly a workplace anywhere that doesn't face the possible emotional burnout of its workers. So what can a company do?

A lot...and one of the things they may want to consider is drumming. (I said drumming was good for us in my last post. Here's the follow-up - I know, I know, it took me awhile to get there.)

A groundbreaking study published in 2003 demonstrated that a 6 week program of Health Rhythms drumming not only reduced burnout in long-term care workers but also reduced negative moods of workers by 46%. Another study done with first year nursing students found that this same drumming protocol significantly reduced burnout and improved mood states for these nurses. Based on this study's findings, an independent research firm projected that the average nursing school could retain 2 more students a year by using the drumming protocol. Two students a year doesn't sound like much, but losing those 2 students costs the average school about $16,800, which works out to a little over $29 million dollars a year for all U.S. nursing schools. On top of that, another study showed that with certain kinds of drumming, there's an increase in Natural Killer (NK) cell activity, which is one of the mechanisms through which our bodies fight cancer and viral illnesses. These findings reinforce the theory of a mind-body connection that influences the immune system. Okay, my head's about ready to explode with all the stats and stories, but the point is, drumming is good for us - both economically and physically.

I've signed up to become a certified facilitator in Health Rhythms drumming - I'm off to the Salt Lake City area for training later this month. Yeah, I know - I don't exactly think "rhythm" when I think of SLC either. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, pick up a drum and find some folks to play with.

Banging the Drum

I just finished beating my drum...literally. I'm into drumming and drum circles. I'm drawn to percussion, maybe because I don't have any real musical ability and anyone can get sounds from a percussion instrument. Before anybody gets bent, I wrote "sounds". Nothing that would compare to the greats like Buddy Rich, Art Blakely, John Bonham, Buddy Miles or Ginger Baker (to name only a few because how much time do I have really?) but percussion instruments, including drums, are accessible to anybody. Including me who, as I admitted a couple of sentences back, have no musical aptitude...which really stinks and something I plan to remedy the next time around if there is a next time around.

Back to drum circles. Simply put, a drum circle is just a group of people who get together (usually in a circle) to make music with percussion instruments. It can be a few friends in your living room or a bunch of strangers in a park or team members at work. It's spontaneous, improvisational. Rhtyhm is a language we all understand and creating the circle together helps build a sense of community because we create something that belongs to all of us. It's also, it turns out, good for us. More about that next time.