{"id":4159,"date":"2019-04-08T15:40:23","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T14:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodvale.com\/?p=4159"},"modified":"2019-04-08T15:40:23","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T14:40:23","slug":"the-sound-of-distant-drums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/the-sound-of-distant-drums\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sound of Distant Drums"},"content":{"rendered":"

Margery Hookings<\/strong> has a go at drumming and meets the founder of Organic Rhythm<\/strong> to find out her story<\/p>\n

I\u2019m in the parish hall at Ilminster where there\u2019s a drumming session organised by Organic Rhythm. The sound of friendly chatter is soon replaced by the booming sound of about thirty djembe drums all being played in a circle. It\u2019s a very primal noise and deeply satisfying.<\/p>\n

For someone who finds it difficult to pat my head and rub my tummy at the same time, I\u2019m finding it quite a challenge. The thing, Organic Rhythm founder Sharon Stone says, is not to think about it too much. So I don\u2019t. And then the magic begins.<\/p>\n

According to Wikipedia, the djembe is a rope-tuned, skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. And according to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe comes from the saying \u2018Anke dj\u00e9, anke b\u00e9\u2019 which translates to \u2018everyone gather together in peace\u2019 and defines the drum\u2019s purpose.<\/p>\n

Sharon first came across drumming in a Cornish summer camp marquee many years ago. \u2018I was immediately drawn to it,\u2019 she tells me after my first hour-long session. \u2018I was offered a drum, but declined, feeling a tad apprehensive, and that I wouldn\u2019t know what to do.<\/p>\n

\u2018Instead, I listened and enjoyed the sound of the drums way into the night, coming across the fields to soothe us to sleep in our tents.<\/p>\n

\u2018A few weeks later I spotted an advert for a one-day African drumming course at a local college. I was hooked. The rest is history.\u2019<\/p>\n

I booked Organic Rhythm for my village fun day last year, thinking it was time for a change from the standard entertainment. The sound of the drums reverberated through the village street as people of all ages joined in and became one tribe.<\/p>\n

Sharon has 150 drums and describes herself as lucky to be making a living the way she does, driving around in her distinctive van with all her drums inside and doing what she loves. \u2018More than 20 years ago I realised that when participating in a drumming class I felt relaxed and came away energised and feeling good,\u2019 Sharon says. \u2018I started to explore why this could be and came across all sorts of exciting evidence and studies around this.<\/p>\n

\u2018I followed courses with the Therapeutic Drumming Foundation, Health Rhythms, Drum Beat, Drum Circle facilitation training and my thirst for understanding around this took me on travels around the UK, USA, and to West Africa.\u2019<\/p>\n

Ten years ago she decided to take the plunge and gave up a steady job to run her fledgeling drumming business. \u2018From a stable job in housing and homelessness to being self-employed was a leap of faith. The job became more stressful with increased caseloads and a decrease in resources and cuts in services. I\u2019d started the business two years before on a very part-time basis, but I decided on my 40th birthday to take that leap.\u2019<\/p>\n

She says nothing pleases her more than sharing the joy of drumming, whether it be at a village fete like mine or as a corporate team building exercise.<\/p>\n

\u201cGigs\u201d have included drumming with Rick Stein\u2019s management staff team meeting early one morning in Cornwall and the Cheshire International Jamboree last year, where they drummed with up to 600 young people per day during the week. One of the participants was adventurer Bear Grylls.<\/p>\n

\u2018From small groups to over 100 people at a time, everyone gets a drum for a fully interactive participatory experience\u2019 she explains. \u2018Our workshops are accessible, inclusive and suitable for all, regardless of age, ability or experience.\u2019<\/p>\n

Several years ago, she discovered that a woman who came to her regular drumming class was her first teacher at Hindayes Infant School in Street. \u2018So, then I was the teacher, and she was my student,\u2019 Sharon says. \u2018We went back to the school together and drummed with all the children there.\u2019<\/p>\n

One of her favourite quotes is by psychotherapist R.Freidman in The Healing Power of the Drum: \u201cDrumming in a group has been shown to enhance the alpha brain waves- those associated with euphoria and feeling good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharon says: \u2018We see this in many settings including, rehab facilities, day centres, schools, corporate events, prison, team-building, private parties and many summer events.<\/p>\n

\u2018People report feeling better after drumming, more connected, included, happier, calmer, energised and relaxed. Teams tell us of increased morale, team-bonding, connection and increased productivity.<\/p>\n

\u2018Schools tell us of improved behaviour, particularly when children have participated in several weeks of our drumming intervention, Drumbeat.<\/p>\n

\u2018Teachers have also been surprised when children they\u2019d expect to misbehave, leave the room or become disruptive, have participated and enjoyed the group drumming experience.<\/p>\n

\u2018Drummers in our regular classes tell us that drumming turns a bad day into a good one, they leave the everyday stresses once they start drumming.<\/p>\n

\u2018I love drumming because of all these results. It\u2019s not really about the drumming; it\u2019s about the outcomes. Drumming makes you feel good!\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Margery Hookings has a go at drumming and meets the founder of Organic Rhythm to find out her story I\u2019m in the parish hall at Ilminster where there\u2019s a drumming session organised by Organic Rhythm. The sound of friendly chatter is soon replaced by the booming sound of about thirty djembe drums all being played […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[36],"class_list":["post-4159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-articles","tag-margery-hookings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}