Tomorrow is the shortest day of the year. Winter Solstice.Peter Togni is a musician and composer and contributor to the CBC. He shares his musical playlist for the Winter Solstice. His picks are:
“…the drum has been used since time immemorial as a regular part of healing traditions…” (The Joy of Drumming: Drums and Percussion Instruments from Around the World By Töm Klöwer, Plym Peters, 1997)
Emotional and creative expression: develops and encourages expression of all kinds of experience non-verbally; then enhances creative self-expression; develops creativity.
Emotional release: helps us let go of troubled feelings, physical tension, frustration & sadness.
Develops memory and increases concentration and attention: by learning to play structured rhythms, long & short-term memory skills are exercised and extended.
Self-discovery: facilitates learning about desires, fears, personal issues, skills, limitations, and intentions.
‘Hemispheric synchrony’ /mental clarity: balancing the right & left brain hemispheres results in theta brainwave states which calm, soothe and expand heightened awareness & creativity.
Group/community awareness: we learn to co-operate with others to make music, this leads to feeling heard, acknowledged and affirmed by the group. We awaken to our role in the group.
Increases Self-esteem: Self-expression leads to confidence, as does musical skill development.
Increased Energy: drumming releases endorphins, which energize body & mind and lifts our spirits.
Peace and stillness: expressing emotions creatively clears the body. Rhythm stills the critical mind.
Communication: drumming is symbolic non-verbal communication, teaching us how to listen, repeat, reflect and express. Then, with strong conviction, we can speak proudly to the world.
Motor-co-ordination: drumming develops hand-eye co-ordination, motor skill fluidity and teaches the brain to send messages to the hands in accordance with auditory signals.
Time keeping: mental discipline is required to monitor the physical action in accordance with the time & pace of the rhythm, promoting mind & muscle control. Intuition develops here.
Inspiration: the music and magic of the drum’s rhythm excites us & fills us with passion.
For these reasons drumming is highly suited to addressing and facilitating personal growth and inspired experiential learning processes.
written by Heleniq Argyrou M.A. (Clin. Psych.)
Clinical psychologist, Sound & Drum Therapist, Drummer, Organizational and Peak Performance Trainer
Feel the sea spray on your cheeks. Sense the wind in your hair. Feel the sun on your shoulders. Feel the sand beneath your feet. Feel the water rush up between your toes and run back down the beach again. Smell the salt air. Listen to the pulsating sound of the waves. Sense the power. Hear the healing energy.
“Like us, the sea is ever-changing. And, like us, the earth’s vast oceans appear at a distance to be stable and homogenous. But beneath the mask of solidity that both we and the sea wear, there lies unpredictability, sensitivity, and power. There is much we can learn from the ocean, representative as it is of our inner landscapes. The rough sounds of the sea’s waves are spiritually soothing, and its salt can purify our physical selves. Yet not everyone has the luxury of living by the shore or even visiting the coastlines where water and land meet. The ocean, however, exists in our conscious minds, put there by images we have seen and descriptions we have read. Wherever we are, we can access that mental image and use it as the starting point from which we can help to heal our emotions by meditating on the sea.
Just as the ocean’s tides sweep the shores free of detritus, restoring balance, so can the waves in our mind’s eye cleanse our souls of what no longer serves us.”