After your second cocktail you are beginning to feel like you just don’t care about your stress. You have become removed from the “feeling” of being anxious, but in truth, nothing has really changed. As soon as you sober up you return to your daily dose of anxiety. Sound familiar?
While Pagans do have a tendency to imbibe and worship at the feet (or chalice) of Bacchus, drinking as a way to escape rather celebrate can be cause for a vicious cycle of personal discombobulation..
Do you wonder if maybe there is a way to actually help your nervous system deal with the stress rather than covering it up with alcohol, drugs, or distraction?
Many studies have been conducted on the healing and harmful power of music. Japanese scientist Matsura Emoto froze water crystals after being exposed to different music and words, and sure enough classical music and positive words produced symmetrical lovely patterns, while water exposed to heavy metal music and words of hate, the crystals did not really shape into any crystallized form at all, just a chaotic mess. We are mostly water. Ya think?
Music certainly has the power to influence our behavior. Remember when they were blaming heavy metal death music for teens becoming murderers? While those kids probably had problems long before listening to death metal, the music most certainly DID affect them. Not only did the frequency of the sound agitate them into action, but the subliminal (or not so subliminal) programming of the lyrics influenced them. Through the music we listen to we are told what to think, how to act and how to behave with love interests. How many more love songs do we need telling us “I can’t live without you?” Aren’t we done with co-dependency by now? Music (sound, frequencies, waves etc.) absolutely has the ability to change our moods (meditation music), create synergy with others (great old folk tunes) or raise our vibration (primal drumming). Music with words is entering our subconscious minds and literally programming us with each “I can’t”, "don’t want” “f -bomb toward others” we hear. I say turn off the firkin radio, get yourself out of those generic sports bars, and find some conscious uplifting music to unwind to.
How do you feel after singing along with John Lennon’s “Imagine” or James Taylor “You’ve got a friend”? Like there is hope? One of my latest go to uplifting songs is from a Cirque De Sololei soundtrack called “Allegria” and even though it’s mostly in Spanish, she is talking about “that magic feeling.” So?
So what about drumming? Drum circles are popping up all over the place now. In ancient cultures drums were integrated into peoples lives on a daily basis. They were used for celebrations, conflict resolution, to commune and communicate with the spirit world. Without scientific studies these tribal societies knew or felt the power of rhythm.
When a group of people play together there is an entrainment that occurs, a connection what some call “riding the rhythm train”. And it feels great! I’ve been drumming for over 20 years and when I first started in a shamanic drum circle I was hooked. I stopped thinking, I went into “being” mode like in meditation, but the drums were also uplifting my spirit and my energy. I connected to the energetic pulse of those around me.
After several years of loving the drum I began to study traditional West African drumming and things started to change. I went back into my head. The rhythms were so complicated; I switched on my thinking mind. My teacher would constantly tell me “don’t think! Feel it.” In Africa they hear these rhythms from inside the womb, it is in them. I played piano as a kid, learned theory and classical music. While I would have been a better pianist if I felt that music, my mind never really let go. I was never told to just feel it!
To drum, my western music mentality needed to go. So now when I play a drum, I tune into the vibe of Africa, to the connection with others, and do my absolute best to get out of my head. Besides unwinding the mind, the healing benefits of hand drumming are numerous- it stimulates the immune system, balances the left/right brain hemispheres and connects us to others who are playing. The secret is not to go into the head/critical/thinking mode!
At the events I offer called sacred fire circles, we are not so concerned with traditional rhythms, because the intention is to be connected to the synergy of the circle. Some people are dancing; some sing (songs with uplifting lyrics!) and the drums are in support of the circle. There is an incredible connection with drumming and dancing around a fire; the the pulse of the drum brings us back into our tribal roots. The vibration gets us on our feet and into our bodies. We feel the drums inside of us, and that wave of sound can clear away obstacles through it’s permeation into our very being. Whats equally important is what’s going on with the drummer’s energy and what they are sending out (magically speaking) when they play. It’s important to play with reverence and not ego, to keep the synergy flowing. When we dance barefoot on the earth under the stars to the sound of the drum and the fire crackling with it’s alchemical force, something deep in our primal nature floods back into us. We connect to our own ancient roots, unwind, and let go of the stress that plagues us.
If only the mind doesn’t say “I can’t”.
Dev
Devra Gregory
Creator of Sacred Flame Fire Circles
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