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DRUM UP A GOOD MOOD

Learn to beat caregiver stress by moving to the beat of your own drum.

BY:MARY ELIZABETH TERZELLA

Getting in touch with your inner Ricky Ricardo or Ringo Starr may help protect against burnout and boost your spirits, suggest recent studies. If you beat bongos, bang a drum or tap a tambourine with other people, that is.

 

After completing six hour-long weekly communal drumming sessions, nonmusical participants in one study showed a 46 percent improvement in mood, says neurologist and study leader Barry Bittman, MD, director of the Mind-Body Wellness Center in Meadville, Pennsylvania. People experienced a significant decrease in tension, anxiety and depression—and their spirits continued to improve even six weeks after the sessions ended. In another study, after just one session, lab tests revealed that drummers had increased the activity of cells within the bloodstream that naturally attack viruses and cancer, a sign of greater immunity.

 

“Drumming reduced emotional and physiological aspects of stress,” says Dr. Bittman. To reap similar benefits, you’d need to attend a drumming circle with a trained facilitator, since the sessions included ice-breaking exercises with “shaker eggs,” representing feelings via drumbeats and discussing them with the group, and drumming together to various tempos and guided imagery.

 

But drumming at home with friends and family to favorite tunes is likely to help tame tension and give you a sense of inner peace if you let yourself have fun making music and play without worrying about your performance, explains Dr. Bittman. “We are rhythmical organisms—from our heartbeats to our breathing—and when we create rhythms, it resonates with our bodies.”

 

It may be the camaraderie of the group and the energizing power of creative expression and music that is responsible for the stress- and burnout-reducing benefits of communal drumming, he speculates.

 

For people who want to learn how to use drumming to ease anxiety and tap their creativity, music therapist Christine Stevens has developed The Healing Drum Kit, a learn-at-home program that includes a hand drum and CDs for drum-circle jams ($49.95; available online).

 

Comments

Feeling Great When You Take a Creative Breaks Workshop Tour

On January 5th, 2010 creativebreaksw... says:

A caregiver for her father with aphasia, Pandorie has discovered that jazz, viewing sports such as golf and baseball are both great for alertness and enjoyment. Jazz is musical, peaceful, and rhythmic. Golf and baseball help with eye exercises, attention span, and movement.

Talking on a cell phone to family members shows happy emotions and creative conversation. Being included in decisions such as room design projects, placement of personal items, looking at photos with or without music gives uninterrupted attention to details.

For uninterrupted rhythms, drumming or tapping to the songs will exercise Dad's feet and legs. Music and concerts are valuable if you have made arrangements for wheelchair accessible seating in a comfortable setting. Using musical instruments or creating instruments from old medicine bottles is fun to do. You can make shakers and look around for items you already have in our house, kitchen utensils like a turkey baster will exercise the hands and fingers. Store bought instruments, if available and in your musical budget, are 'good if you can't make the instrument. Use exploration of instruments as a tool for your parent or child to create their own rhythms.

In our house, we have music breaks for the nurses or physical therapists who usually don't use music as a resource. Rain sticks and most instruments can be created from cereal boxes, grits cylinders, and take out containers.

When taking breaks with younger children, I use recycled cleaned out yogurt containers and a stop watch. We play and create "Olympic" games and create titles for the games we make. We test them out and evaluate on their ability to entertain.
Four year olds are experts at this. Bowling and container skyscrapers are fun for any season in the hallway or small room.

Shakers and tambourines, drumming creatively with the hand he can use is also fun to do. It brings on conversation that is joyful plus a smile and his own greeting for thank you, the smiles keep coming.

Music Therapy works. I am a certified teacher with many experiences and contacts in the music industry but this is my discovery with my father who has had the ischemic stroke with Aphasia. I try to make his stay 24/7 with our family a happy one and at 86 years young, he will still notice that he's alive even on the music awards when music is alive and even appreciates his independent tapping to whatever he hears, foot and hand. He can't finger pop as we're working on this.

If you would like to find out about programs, see the Creative Breaks Workshop and Creative Breaks Entertainment Workshop website. Membership is free. It's a fun website for those who can't get out to see the usual performances. The performance links are designed for shut-ins, and also for those who can get out to see the amazing things that are here. It is a sharing website and resource for teachers, parents, music educators, and arts enthusiasts.

Take a look and you will also see a link for Care Today, one of my favorite creative breaks resources for caregivers such as myself.

Please join my mailing list for additional music resources and creative breaks ideas. http://www.creativebreaksworkshop.com

Pandorie is the writer, website designer, and caregiver for her father. Two websites and a business came out of the creation for Creative Breaks Workshop while taking care of my father.

Now I research independently ways to increase joy in caregiving and less stress in the person you care for.

Creator/Professional Development Workshop Faciliator and music website creator, "Pandorie" will share music news, her teaching techniques with her father, and other valuable links and contacts in the music business.

For more information contact creativebreaksworkshop@comcast.net

How I Found Out About Caring Today by Creative Breaks Workshop

On January 5th, 2010 creativebreaksw... says:

While visiting a CVS/pharmacy in Chicago, I saw this free magazine and it was dated September/October 2007. Caring...Practical Advice for the Family Caregiver. On the cover is Lonnie Ali, wife of Muhammad Ali, a great pick by Editor-in-Chief Susan Strecker-Richard's pick of front cover wonderful people to read about. Lonnie Ali, Muhammad Ali's wife shares her story about her husband and his remarkable courage. Susan shared a story about her father and wrote about the connection with Lonnie Ali, wife of Muhammad Ali. I was so inspired after reading the article that I (in 2010) after rereading the Give & Take article on page 7, I decided to join Caring Today. This free gift shows the rich resources that continue to hold the legacy of caring. I decided to share my stories and add resources and links to my website for others who don't have access to the free magazine that I had. In 2010, I am online and a proud member of Caring Today.Under Susan Strecker Richard's article, the theme Things We Like by Victor Imbimbo, President and CEO, more exciting reading and resources were shared such as the Quilts of Heartbreak and Hope www.AlzQuilts.org and Diabetes Caregiver Guide by founder Ami Simms who shares her book profits with research. $20 for the book of which $18 goes to research! This book is about the 52-quilt exhibition that traveled the U.S. through July 2009 and other projects at the Caring Today website. Another link which is for the Diabetes Caregiver Guide is www.caringtoday.com/diabetes-caregiver-guide Even though this magazine was written in 2007, the information is still valuable to caregivers. I keep old magazines and have created a website to share the links and websites that I find resourceful to caregivers, teachers, and the 'accidental reader' which means you find something helpful by accident which should be a perfect way to find useful information. So on purpose you read with amazing wonder and hope you have someone to share it with. It's all great and ideas spark for teachers to create proposals for classrooms across America through quilts and heartwarming stories for Young Authors. I once wrote a proposal and won money for the project for my students. The title was "Quilts for Learning" and was for my fourth grade class at the time. We created an illustrated sports quilt after researching helmets from teams from all over the USA. The work of art was displayed at a reception for the teachers who won the grant. I was also awarded with two additional grants for music in the classroom (Adaptor Grant) and Creative Classroom Projects, "A Touch of Class". The Foundation which I would like to mention for teachers in Chicago is Chicago Foundation for Education http://www.cfegrants.org Collaboration is inviting and you can create through quilts your theme of caregiving. (Creative Breaks Workshop) These caregivers and stories are so meaningful.This is a fascinating way of sharing stories that are close to the heart with humble inspirations. You know, of course, that each viewer will appreciate their own interpretation of their story or experience. You never know when you will be a appointed or volunteer caregiver for a parent, child, family member, or friend. Caregiving is an attitude! It's very challenging but you will learn so much about people, places, and options for doing this noble work.I salute the efforts, energy, strength, spirit, and dignity of caregivers everywhere who walk in different shoes each moment. Some are successful while others are still learning what it's all about. We have many experiences to share. Wherever you are in the world, someone supports you and your loved one.We will all encourage a prosperous and definitive success for this magazine, Caring Today, and for it's editor, proof readers, typists, thinkers, and foot patrol messenger, all the contributors and sponsors from 2007-2010 and beyond. Happy New Year to Caring Today and everyone in this caring world. Enjoy God's way of appreciating each and every thing you do for people you love, respect, or get the chance to know. Be patient, resourceful, encouraged to take a creative special break. Creative Breaks Workshop and Creative Breaks Entertainment Workshop would like to acknowledge and thank you, the caregivers of the mind, and also for having the courage to share your personal stories, heartaches, and triumphs that come from the heart. It's such an honor to be able to read, see, and think, make decisions, have options and opportunities that others do not have. Continue to be in good health, take care of yourself, and be able to enjoy future Caring Today articles that have our brains, body, and minds enriched with Caring Today!About Creative Breaks Workshop FounderFounder/Creator/Writer/Educator Creative Breaks Workshop.com Creative Breaks Entertainment Workshop.com www.creativebreaksworkshop.comFulltime Caregiver for father (in 5th year of caregiving for my Dad who experienced an ischemic stroke with Aphasia).My devoted son and sister are my support systems and he has a wonderful team of medical professionals and a physical therapist that you will read about and see on my website.I am an early retired elementary school teacher with a music business and free membership website for caregivers, musicians, executives, CEOs, friends, students, families, and educators who care for their parents/relatives, or children as well. It's a fun site for everyone that can appreciate the need for a creative break.If you would like to share stories of your experience with caring for a parent, child, or family member who had a stroke on my website, please send these to the creativebreaksworkshop@comcast.netBe encouraged!Creative Breaks Workshop

Piano Tutorials online (free)

On January 5th, 2010 creativebreaksw... says:

Hear and Play
by Jermaine Griggs
http://www.hearandplay.com

Piano Nanny
http://www.pianonanny.com

Submitted by:
Creative Breaks Workshop
http://www.creativebreaksworkshop.com