African Drumming for Health!

Hello! Sorry there have not been more posts of late, but here I am again to try and impart some words of wisdom/kill five minutes of your day…

So anyway, this is a bit of an experiential post again (much like the jet lag one) in that I’m not actually making any science-based claims but more letting you know about something I have done which has improved my health. I quite like these posts. They’re a bit more real and fun – but rest assured, once I’ve got a couple of big projects out of the way with the site I will get back to more how-to/resource type posts as I know they’re probably more useful.

Now, unless you’re a first time visitor and have not noticed the fact that health is written all over this site – this blog is all about health, wellbeing and (ultimately) happiness. And this weekend I started on my new trend of trying new things and I went along to an African drumming workshop in North Sydney.

It was awesome!

The drumming (largely on a djembe) and the rhythms have had a huge impact upon me! I totally didn’t expect this response from my body but I feel:

• fresh
• focused
• clear
• and absolutely energised

Now, you might just think that this is me being overexcited about playing a djembe but I can assure you it is not! The rhythm, the group/community nature of it, the experience of learning and, if I’m being totally honest, the act of physically creating music totally got me into the zone. I think it is kinda similar to the laughing yoga thing I blogged a while back in that it is all about movement, joy and quite possibly the big Djun-Djun bass drum reverberating around inside me!

Anyway, I guess that what I am saying, similarly to the last post I made, is that the actual trigger could be different for you (maybe you will get the same from origami – I don’t know?!).

But my experience was this:

• I committed to trying something new
• I played a djembe with a large group for an afternoon
• And now I feel physically and mentally charged!

So maybe you should try too. You’re already on t’Internet – why not open a new window and search for some African drumming lessons in your area, or for some other totally new, totally random experience.

It’s all good…

P.S. I’ve gotta give a big shout out to Philipe Lincy, our teacher for the day. Philipe gave not only an amazing lesson in African drumming but he also taught us all about the culture and history of Africa and African music. He was also a top fella and gives lessons at Bondi Pavillion every Sunday. And I can promise you this – if you get the chance to head down there then you will definitely see me drumming away!