Drum Circles

We are constantly surrounded by rhythms, most of which we ignore.  Put your hand on your chest; yes, right now.  Can you feel your heart beat?  That is the rhythm of your body.  You drum internally 24 hours a day, every day of your life.  When your rhythm stops, you stop.  I send love and thankfulness to my internal drum every day.  There are other ways to drum as well.

I was the drummer in a band in the late 60s . . . no, don't count my age on your fingers.  Two years ago my wife bought a drum kit for me for father's day.  Now I sit alone in the basement and drum along with some of the best bands in history.  Bands that I could only dreamed about playing with in 1968.  But when I drum, I drum alone (I really think that it scares everyone out of the house).

There is something primal about drumming, and it gets better when you don't drum alone.  We all belong to different groups, family groups, work groups, social groups, church groups.  We all live in communities of one kind or another.  Most of these groups are formal; place where we have to be on our best behavior.  I don't mind belonging to some groups, it is probably necessary (although sometimes I think that a cave in the Himalayas would be nice).  However, I want to be part of a TRIBE.  My drum circle gives me a tribe.

Drum circles are probably thousands a years old.  I can envision my ancestors sitting around a fire in the dark drumming on whatever made a cool sound.  Some were drumming, other clapping, tapping their feet, or shaking rattles.  It was tribal music making.  Give this a try.

I can think of a number of reasons to drum, besides being with my tribe:

• Spirituality -- drumming is used in many spriritual traditions as a way to enter into an altered state of consciousness and to thus bridge the gap between ourselves and the Divine.  I have found that earth-bases spiritual traditions are more likely to use drums in this way.
• Community -- get together with your tribe and make a loud, joyous sound.  I still remember one drum circle where the leader (that position rotates in our group) invented a new rhythm and we all slowly joined in.  Seventy minutes later we started to wind the set down.  It ended with high-fives and "Wow man, that was intense."  Try getting that feeling in a faculty meeting.
• Self-expression -- Some evenings I sit alone on the deck and drum my feelings.  Often one or more of my sons will eventually grab a drum and wander out to join me.  Nothing is said, we just drum together as one.
• Attunement with nature -- Most mornings I get up, grab my Native American flute and go outside to greet nature and say hello to the sun (Wellness Flute).  Other days I grab a drum, sit on the earth and drum with nature.  It is a great way to begin the day grounded (I try not to do it too early so I don't offend the neighborhood).
• Healing -- Different rhythms have been used for centuries if not millenia for complementary and integrative medicine.  Think of ancient shamans using drums as a tool.  Today, if you want, you can even be attuned to Reiki Drumming as a healing modality.  Here is one version of it from YouTube.

A good resource for newbies to drum circles is the Healing Drum Kit, (ISBN:  978-1-59179-278-9).  I come with a nice Remo synthetic head drum.  I love the drum that I built from a Grey Wolf kit but in the summer when it gets hot and humid I take the little Remo drum with me.  If you want to build your own drum then check out Grey Wolf's kits at:  http://greywolfdrums.com/

Finally, check this drummer out . . . might make you smile.