Improv AtWork and AtLife

The Power of Entrainment

I was having coffee with some friends this morning (actually, I was having a V-8. I don't drink coffee. I've never acquired a taste for it and frankly, the idea of drinking coffee gives me the distinct feeling of being imprisoned, which no doubt goes back to my childhood when I was forced to dine out with my parents. In and of itself, dining out wasn't a bad excursion...except that it included my father, who was - and I'm not exaggerating - the slowest eater that has ever sprung forth from a mother's loins. And he insisted on ending each meal with the perfect cup of coffee which he lingered over forever...this after I'd already spent an eternity at the table watching his practiced utensils keep the various foods on his plate from touching one another, a habit I've picked up myself, although it's a preferred way of eating and not mandatory). But I digress...again.

Anyway, while we were having our respective beverages, one of my friends asked me what I found so compelling about drumming. I could answer her in one word - which for me is unusual - entrainment.

The word "entrainment" is linked to Dutch scientist Christian Huygens, who used the term in the mid 17th century to describe the tendency of two oscillating bodies to vibrate in synchrony. In humans, our biological rhythms are often entrained by external cues - women know what I'm writing about. Remember in college when everyone in your sorority or on your dorm floor or in your apartment got their periods at the same time? That's entrainment...although I remember hearing it referred to as something much less melodic. In short, it's all about rhythm - biological and musical.

When a group of people drum together, they reach entrainment - they follow each other's rhythms. It's something you feel, you know when you're there. Drummers call it "the pocket". I call it heaven. Rhythm is a language that can unite diverse people. Rhythm can succeed where words fail. Drumming creates one powerful voice out of many. It's....magical. And that's why I love it.

Rhythm is the Mother Tongue

"Rhythm is the Mother Tongue." I wish I'd said that first, but I didn't. Gabrielle Roth did. Or maybe she didn't, but when I came across the quote it was attributed to her and since I don't have any info that would dispute that, I say you go, Gaby. I loved the quote but didn't have any idea who Gabrielle Roth is. So I googled her. She's the originator of something called the 5Rhythms Meditation Movement practice. I won't go into detail about what that is here, but check out her website. If nothing else grabs you about the meditation thing, the music is hypnotic. And rhythmical...and full of drums. Which brings us back to drumming which is where I left everyone.

I'm back from Utah having now been trained as a HealthRHYTHMS drum facilitator. People who know me would say that although I'm open to new experiences, I'm not the type to jump on the bus of just any old thing simply because it's new or cutting edge or might make the rest of my family question my sanity...again. And I'm more often than not circumspect in my reaction to something, perhaps fearing my capability of going off the deep end. I was expecting to find group empowerment drumming mildly amusing and somewhat helpful in giving me an outlet for my own musical cravings. I was not expecting it to be almost life changing...and it was. Life changing in the sense of igniting a passion for new direction in my work. Life changing in the sense of finding a key to a level playing field. Life changing in the sense of opening up a closed place in my heart. Okay, that sounds a little too touchy feely even for me but suffice it to say that I've got new energy around what I think is important in life - creating communities of practice (CoP). In CoP's, people come together to share their concern and/or passion for what they do - and they learn to do it better by sharing knowledge, resources, experience, tools and stories. Maybe we can create a human CoP, where we learn to live together in more productive ways simply as people. Just a thought.