Tag Archives | refreshed

9 Great Self-Care & Music Therapy Posts in the Past Week

By on April 13, 2010 in For Music Therapists, Music & Wellness

There has been an explosion of great blog posts in the past week, and I want to share them with you. They have enhanced my every day practice of self-care, wellness, and music therapy.

Self-care & Wellness

1. Rest and Recovery from the Art of Non-Conformity. Chris describes how to manage energy instead of time. Our energy is something that we can be aware of, something that we can convert, something that we can refuel. Whereas, we have can’t change the pattern of time.

2. The Zen of Doing from Zen Habits. Explore ways to engage in everyday tasks with a deep feeling of inner peace and appreciation.

3. Making Art Instead of Setting Goals from Agile Living. Goals = Future. Art = Now. Give living in the here and now a try between your goal-achieving sessions.

4. Live Your Life as if Everything is a Miracle from Make It Happen. Life, love, the body, nature, creativity. Modern science has not been able to figure out these phenomena. Miracles are everywhere!

5. How to Make your Drumming More Meaningful by former Rusted Root drummer Jim Donovan. Jim describes how to connect drumming patterns to your body and mind by way of movements, breathing, and intentions.

Music Therapy

6. Functional Neuroscience for the Clinical Music Therapist handout by Kimberly Sena Moore, MT-BC

7. Middle Eastern Idiom for Guitar Improvisation by Dr. John Carpente, MT-BC

8. The Mindful Music Therapist’s handouts for Taboo Topics by Roia Rafieyan, MT-BC

9. Book review for Bella’s Blessings by Rachel Rambach, MT-BC

One more for music therapists that you’ve got to check out if you work with kids who have special needs is More with Music. Free songs for music therapists!

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6 Reasons to Attend Arthur Hull’s Trainings and Playshops

By on April 4, 2010 in Drumming, For Music Therapists

I have been lucky enough to attend a couple of Arthur Hull’s Rhythmic Alchemy Playshops (RAPs) and the 2008 Hawaii Drum Circle Facilitation Training. I remember at my first RAP just a year after my internship, we did a clapping circle, passed out parts, had everyone make up their own, then rumbled to a stop. I was in love. Here are some of my favorite reasons to attend his trainings and playshops:

1. You learn how to empower people through rhythm. Arthur teaches facilitating without over-facilitating. He teaches to listen for space in the music that lends itself to transition. Then and only then does the facilitator step in. Drumming is about the drummers. It’s not a facilitator’s performance.

2. You don’t have to be a formally trained musician to participate.

3. You get to practice with a supportive group. Everyone at the training is in the same boat and wanting to improve skills, so you can push the envelope and try things that you might not try with clients.

4.  You learn how to get rhythm going with or without drums. We practiced all sorts of body percussion (clapping, snapping, tapping, and rapping) with Arthur. I had experienced drumming with groups before his training, but to get rhythm going without drums? Beautiful. Now I know that if I ever forget to bring drums, I can always get people going with body percussion and vocal expressions instead!

5. You return to your practice rejuvenated. Arthur’s training inspired me to take his effective, fun techniques and apply them to various settings for both adults and kids (self-care, team-building, community-building, festivals). Even when I facilitate a medical bedside 1:1 session and use no drum circle techniques, I still feel refreshed. I am able to incorporate abstract ideas from the training and apply them to the session.

6. You’ll connect with some amazing people. I remember Jeni Swerdlow of Drummm showing the group how to keep a steady beat by stomping bells around the ankles. Cameron Tummel taught us some very clever techniques to use with kids for gaining immediate rapport. I learned of Scott Swimmer’s drumSTRONG organization that holds drumming events to raise funds and beat out cancer.

Because of the connection to Arthur and other facilitators, I recently ran into an awesome blog by Jim Donovan, award winning facilitator, teacher, and performer and founding member of the multi-platinum selling band Rusted Root from 1990-2005. Read some of Jim’s latest articles on Why Drumming Builds Good Teams and Why Everyone Should be Drumming.

If you get a chance, check out Arthur’s calendar and go to Hawaii for the training! Or at least attend a playshop. Also, Arthur’s most recent book Drum Circle Facilitation is an excellent addition to a drummer’s or music therapist’s library.

Arthur Hull always says “If you can say it, then you can play it.” If that’s true, then I wonder how Lori Cotler would sound on a drum:

Have you ever attended Arthur Hull’s trainings? If so, how was it for you?

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9 crazy ideas for playful spontaneity during the work day

By 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.

  1. 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!
  2. 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.
  3. Put in a little skip or click your heels next time you walk to your car. Twirl around. Immediate mood enhancer.
  4. Doodle using pen/paper or the computer. The Scribbler is one of my bookmarks. (Thanks for the tip from Victoria Torf.)
  5. 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.)
  6. 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.
  7. Boogie in your car. Enough said.
  8. Wink at yourself. Next time you see yourself walking next to a reflective wall on a building, wink and sway your hips dramatically.
  9. 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.

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Qualcomm DRUMS

By on January 12, 2010 in Community, Drumming

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They say that team-building was the ropes course in the 80s, office foosball in the 90s, and now drum circles for the new millennium and beyond! And really, it makes perfect sense because drumming is accessible no matter the level of physical fitness, drumming is intergenerational, and drumming cuts straight through language and cultural barriers. For larger corporate events, drumming brings the engineer, marketer, administrator, management team, and the rest of the departments together working towards the same goal.

Our last drum circle at Qualcomm, Inc. took place during lunch at a community event called QSOL (Qualcomm Summers on the Lawn). My colleague, the very talented special guest facilitator Dayna Koehn co-facilitated the event. The relaxed atmosphere, the beautiful lawn, and the BBQ offered a casual, fun, and entertaining opportunity for employees to make music together and build the community.

Drumming is at the core of our very existence. People drum because we are biologically programmed to do so! Language is rhythm, breathing is rhythm, walking is rhythm. Drumming connects us to our bodies, minds, and spirits, then opens up space for creative thinking and a new perspective.

Research shows that drum circles and active music-making prevent burnout and enhance physical and emotional well-being. As a Remo Endorsed Facilitator, I and my team tailor this vibrant experience to the following needs: leadership development, efficiency in communication, increased productivity, stress-management skills, community building, and/or diversity training.

The purpose of the QSOL event was community building within the company. And the drumming component fit right into the equation. Participants looked around at each other, smiled and said “Man, now I’ve let it out!” and “Mm, I feel good.”

At QSOL, it wasn’t only the employees who reaped the benefits of making music. In addition, kids of Qualcomm employees came up to explore all the different instruments from around the world.

Opher Bonarie, head of the Qualcomm community hand drumming club, stated “”Kat Fulton and the staff from Sound Health Music made it possible to offer a casual event that even first-time drummers enjoyed tremendously.  The feedback was 100% positive, with several people asking when we can repeat it.  I hope to be working on future projects with Kat for many years to come.”
Qualcomm + Drums = Community.

Needs: Community building
Interventions: Active music-making, chanting, movement, drum call, sculpting and shaping the circle
Outcomes: Smiles, laughter, connection among co-workers via eye contact, rhythmic entrainment among co-workers via physical movement and sound, and positive statements about individual talent

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