Rhythm For Good

Tag Archives | health

How to Use the Voice for Self-Care

By Kat Fulton on April 27, 2010 in Music & Wellness

In the People Inspire Me post a couple of weeks ago, The Crazy Music Lady asked me exactly what I do with the voice in self-care sessions for healthcare professionals. The Crazy Music Lady shares very funny stories from the front lines of mental health, (I LOVE her posts!) and when I read Threats on your Life, I understood why she may be interested in self-care. Check it out~

The reason I write about using music for self-care is that I enjoy the challenge of experientially connecting everyday, regular people to the field of music therapy. Music therapists are highly qualified and trained to work with Alzheimer’s, oncology, and autism. But relating music therapy to your average Joe is just a bit outside the box. That’s why I like to attend extra conferences, continuing education opportunities, and workshops, apply new techniques to my practice, then pass on what I’ve learned. Many of my friends, family, and readers work in an office, so I wrote 9 Crazy Ideas for Playful Spontaneity during the Work Day in order to connect them to the idea that making music is good for your health. Toning goes a step further.

Music is the harmonious voice of creation; an echo of the invisible world.
–Guiseppe Mazzini

Toning

I was first introduced to toning in my internship at Musicworx of California. Since then I’ve read a few books by Jonathan Goldman on the topic of toning. The basic idea of toning is to create a massage on the inside of your body with an elongated vowel sound. We get massages on the outside, but the voice is a simple way to loosen up muscles, organs, and tissues on the inside with your own vibrations. Makes sense, right?

Jonathan Goldman’s audio CD on vocal toning is a good resource to learn about vowel sounds corresponding to specific areas of the body.

Quick Tip

I usually start a toning session with beginners by demonstrating an easy trick to move vocal vibrations from the top of the head into the chest cavity.

Put one hand on your jaw. Put the other hand on your chest area. Now tone on eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Then tone on ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. You should be able to notice the way that you can intentionally move the vibrations up and down your body, using vowels and pitches. Eeee goes with the jaw, ahhh goes with the heart. I invite you to experiment with timbre, pulse, and volume as well.

Exercise

Center Yourself: Take a few deep breath, and bring your awareness to your body.

Warm Up: Hum. Hum anything. Hum a familiar tune. Make up your own tune. Continue to hum. Hum with an open mouth, and experiment with different vowels.

Be Present and Tone: Close your eyes and bring awareness to your voice. Make each breath slower and each vowel longer. Continue toning (humming with an open mouth) for several minutes. With each exhale, notice the vibrations that are produced in your body. Enjoy. Take this exercise as far as you are comfortable, even into deeper meditation and relaxation.

Regroup: Slowly bring your awareness back into the rest of your body. Wiggle your fingers, your toes. Open your eyes. Move the rest of your body gently and slowly. Stretch.

Process

What was this like for you? Did you notice any difference between the higher pitches and the lower pitches, louder and softer, different vowels? Did you notice a change in your body temperature? Any other discoveries?

I would love to hear your thoughts and comments on the practice of toning, so feel free to leave a note and get in touch!

Comments { 3 }

VIDEO: Drum with Older Adults

By Kat Fulton on April 20, 2010 in Drumming, For Music Therapists, Older Adults

I wrote a description of this song intervention in No Worries, No Hurries, and No Wrong Notes. Now you can see it in action! I am using Blue Suede Shoes as a guided music-making experience with improvisation. Because Blue Suede Shoes is a standard 12-bar blues, you can use any song with the same form. Other songs I use include Rock Around the Clock, Hound Dog, Elvis selections, Eric Clapton selections, and more.

When drumming with older adults, remember that people take comfort in synchronicity and familiarity. With that in mind, I always start the group session with a greeting song that includes everyone’s names, check-in exercise, orientation to others in the group, movement, and breathing. Then I can assess whether or not the group is ready for drumming.

Once I hand out drums, I start out with some simple familiar exercises that you can watch in the post Make Music with Older Adults. Then, I invite all the participants turn to their neighbor and say “Wow! You’re a good drummer!” As soon as the participants are comfortable making some music on the drums, then I suggest using this guided experience with improvisation.

I also use Arthur Hull‘s bunny hop technique found in the Drum Circle Facilitation book: I start with big visual and vocal cues, then gradually taper down and disappear, providing the basic chordal and rhythmic supportive structure in the background of the players. The focus is on the players, not the therapist or facilitator.

After the session, I always document the group’s behavioral and psychosocial responses. Have fun!

PS There are a million and one variations to the directions that I lay out in this example, so be sure to to adapt, change, and transform for your own groups.

What do you think? Is this similar to your drumming experiences with older adults?

Comments { 5 }

People inspire me.

By Kat Fulton on April 2, 2010 in Music & Wellness

Yesterday I facilitated a session on self-care through music for a group of medical social workers.

We loosened up, squeezed out, and brushed off anything having to do with work, the past, or the future.

We created a clean, safe space for self-care.

We were patient with ourselves and allowed plenty of time for focusing on our own personal well-being.

We cleared our minds.

We gave each other drum massages.

We drum rumbled out our cares and woes.

We laughed together.

We created a human toning bowl using our voices.

We created an hour-long moment in time that will never be replicated with the same people in the same way ever, ever again. And furthermore, we proved that every moment in our lives is just as special. Why have it any other way?

We shared what we were feeling during the catharsis.

Here are some closing words that people shared as we closed out the session, passing around the toning bowl:

peace, unity, compassion, love, support, gratitude, humor, fun, together, relaxed.

And now, I extend a big thank you to the session participants. You inspire me.

If you liked this, you’d probably like Humbled and Thankful, too.

Comments { 3 }

Drum Circle Facilitation and Music Therapy

By Kat Fulton on March 30, 2010 in Business & Practice, Drumming

After a meal and an evening of music-making with three amazing women drummers last weekend, I was inspired to write about drum circle facilitation and a program that connects all four of us: Remo’s HealthRHYTHMS®.

Mary Tolena and Jú Linares of ZaBoomBala Drumming Works stayed with me in San Diego for 2 days and told me stories of their recent Drum-About across the United States and through Brazil. Christine Stevens of UpBeat Drum Circles joined us over the weekend, and we four shared music and touching stories about our experiences in our work.

The following paragraphs should clarify the difference between a music therapist (MT) and a drum circle facilitator (DCF). There are MTs, there are DCFs, and sometimes people are both MTs and DCFs (like myself and Christine Stevens). DCFs are not considered therapists, but facilitators, coaches, teachers, and/or mentors. Music therapy is an allied healthcare profession established in the 1940s, while drum circle facilitation is a relatively new field. DCFs come with diverse backgrounds: professional drummers, social workers, music therapists, healthcare professionals, wellness consultants, corporate trainers, and more.

Music therapists ~

Use evidence-based music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship (American Music Therapy Association, 2010)
Are required to obtain a degree (bachelors, masters, PhD), attend a 6-month internship, and pass a board-certification exam.
May be members of the American Music Therapy Association in the US.
Are all formally trained musicians.

Drum circle facilitators ~

Utilize a variety of techniques to make an interactive music experience easy, fun, and meaningful for participants (Drum Circle Facilitators Guild, 2010)
May attend a training program. They vary between 4 days and 2 weeks. HealthRHYTHMS is one such training program. I’ll be writing about more DCF training programs soon.
May be members of the Drum Circle Facilitation Guild in the US.
Are not necessarily formally trained musicians, but some are world-renowned musicians.

MT is an awesome path if you are a formally trained musician and would like to work in the medical, psychiatric, educational, or wellness fields. DCF is a wonderful opportunity for people interested in empowering others to make music in a recreational setting, without having to obtain a degree or become proficient on an instrument. DCF is also great for those already on a healthcare or corporate career path, looking to supplement their current services.

For those interested in continuing education with regards to wellness, the HealthRHYTHMS® training program is a good option because the program focuses specifically on health and wellness through group drumming. The HealthRHYTHMS® research over the past ten years has helped to bridge the gap between the ancient art of healing and modern science.

The body of music therapy literature is prolific, spanning 5 decades of quantitative research that focuses on a variety of techniques with a variety of populations. For instance, I have posted a snapshot of the MT research on infants in a NICU here. MTs are formally trained with regards to the importance of the therapist-client relationship, how to build rapport with the client, how to follow systematic steps for successful client transformation, how to apply these steps with a variety of populations using an enormous variety of music interventions.

Although I was never lucky enough to meet legendary music therapist, Bongo Barry Bernstein, MT-BC, he left his mark in the music & wellness world through his years of service, creative rhythmic interaction, and creating the bridge between music and science. In this video, you may notice that the spirit of Bongo Barry lives on in both the music therapy field and drum circle facilitation.

Image courtesy of Lucas Lee.

Comments { 17 }

9 crazy ideas for playful spontaneity during the work day

By Kat Fulton on March 25, 2010 in Music & Wellness

Sometimes my eyeballs get stuck on the computer screen.

Sometimes I find myself doing the same daily routine, and I need a change.

This week I found bits of time during the day to give my left brain a break, clear my mind, gain new perspective, exercise my imagination, and return to work refreshed.

Here’s how I’ve made music, art, and dance this week between sessions, blogging, and working in my office.

Make your fingers dance on the desk. Do a fun jig or line dance, then modulate into a sensual tango. The best part is that there are TEN of them instead of only TWO!
Make music with your car. Listen to the tone of your car starting. Yes, the bonnnng, bonnnng, bonnnng. Match the pitch or sing different tones with it. Turn your car off and on and off and on until your improvisation feels complete.
Put in a little skip or click your heels next time you walk to your car. Twirl around. Immediate mood enhancer.
Doodle using pen/paper or the computer. The Scribbler is one of my bookmarks. (Thanks for the tip from Victoria Torf.)
Sculpt out a brilliant masterpiece in the air. Use your masterful carving skills to create anything you’d like. Then give yourself applause following the formal installation on your desk. (Thanks for the tip from Draza Jansky.)
Tap your fork onto the glass and plate at lunch. Notice the difference, then create a fun beat with your other hand patting the table.
Boogie in your car. Enough said.
Wink at yourself. Next time you see yourself walking next to a reflective wall on a building, wink and sway your hips dramatically.
Shake off your day before bed. Shake your whole body from head to toe and everything in between. Shake fast, but move the focus of your shaking around your body slowly. (Thanks for the tip from Draza Jansky.)

Sometimes my thoughts lean towards “Oh you don’t have time right now” or “Save the fun creative stuff for after hours.” But then I remember that I’m actually more productive when I throw in spontaneity for a minute here and there.

How do you clear your mind during the day?

Image above courtesy of Francesco Marino.