The sound of drums has something mysterious and profound in it: maybe the inherent life of the materials of which they are made of – leather, metal, wood – or maybe could also be that they remind us of the first sound of our life: the heart beat.
The particularity of drums is that its compositions and rhythms always create something unique. Also, the music of the drums gathers, without distinction of race, belief or religion – just beings with a heart that beats as a drum.
Drums can be also used for dance and for meditation. There are wonderful benefits of the sounds of the drums.
Drums relax you when you are tired. Experts have investigated the sound of the drum and its healing effects in physical and psychological pathologies, because it brings the listener to a meditative or trance state, which produce levels of brain activity ‘beta’ (concentration and centralized activity) and ‘theta’ (profound calmness). Just by listening the sound of drums we can enter an altered state of consciousness and the energy field of our body synchronizes with its rhythm.
Drum sounds strengthen the immune system. Even if you find it hard to believe, the rhythm enters our body and helps us to heal, accelerating the restoration of the physical body and producing overall sensations of wellbeing. It is not coincidence, that slaves in the ancient times, were dancing with drums in the evening, to shake away the hostility they had received during the day.
It works as a sound pacifier. For this reason, it is recommended to patients with Alzheimer, children with autism and people with emotional and nervous disorders.
It stimulates the production of opiates and endorphins in our organisms. Therefore, to listen to drums can help to control pain. You might not know, that also the drums are welcome during a delivery or during hormonal imbalance stages, in which women have reported that it has made them feel relieved and more relaxed.
It liberates negative feelings and blockages of emotional sources that affect our bodies. Since the drum is a great medium to help us to express, it can also help to unblock energies stagnant in the body or in our mind. The vibrations which are issued by the drum playing resonate through each cell of the body, which stimulates the liberation of negative cellular memories or subconscious barriers that we have built deep inside of us.
DANCE ! The dances with drums include all kind of movements which really help people to open up and feel uninhibited, also connecting with the second chakra or sexual chakra from a healthy and joyful point of view. With movements which can be fast and playful which light you up, cheer you up and also make you have fun. Shaking and waving of the spine at the rhythm of the drums, not only releases the tension of the day but also help to maintain a healthy flexible vertebral column. Also, head movements… dancing with our heads is fun and liberates the mind and its thinking processes, and also gives a great massage to our cervical spine.
It is also very interesting what happens in our mind. Because to play or to dance with the drums we naturally have to balance the two hemispheres of the brain; so in this way, it becomes difficult to rationalize, and this means that it will bring into the picture the pure intuitive side of us. For example, if one thinks too much when dancing or when playing an instrument, then it doesn’t come so well. So the idea is to disconnect from the mind and surrender to the rhythm.
Basically, the moment we step in the world, our own heartbeat starts. If one sees in existence, everything happens in a rhythm… our heartbeat, our breath, our walk, the birds flight, the movement of the earth, the seasons... this is also in its own way, reflected in a drum playing, it catches this same essence and that's why it is harmonizing.
It is very interesting that one of the first instruments in Indian mythology, was the Shiva’s drum. The name of that instrument is DAMRU – it is known as Shiva’s instrument.
No music is music without a rhythm, rhythm is the soul of the music.