Next Drumming Circle Wednesday, March 11, 6-7 pm
To preserve the integrity and focus of our events, we ask that participants refrain from distributing business cards, promoting services, or engaging in professional solicitation. Thank you for honoring the intention of these gatherings.
Our drumming circle is growing beautifully, with new faces each month. Even when some friends are traveling, our smaller gatherings allow for deep listening and connection. Many joining the group have never drummed before—and that’s the joy of this circle. No expertise needed—just a willingness to join the rhythm. Elaine continues to guide us with her steady leadership, and we are deeply grateful for the way she holds the group together.
Each gathering also includes a reflection from Dr. Pautz—sometimes a meditation, other times a note on the health benefits of drumming—adding an extra layer of meaning.
In September, Dr. Pautz will share a short video of Michael Jackson visiting a Brazilian community where a drumming school helped boys support their families, showing how music can offer hope and opportunity. He was filmed and the movie helped draw attention and funds to reconnect the kids with their own culture and earn a little money to buy food. It’s a moving reminder that no child anywhere should have to go hungry—or resort to stealing for food.
At our circle, a small love-offering box is available for those who wish to help keep this event alive and sustainable. Your generosity helps us continue building this community of rhythm, healing, and joy. ✨ Special Note: These next two weeks mark Persephone’s 24th anniversary! We’ll celebrate this milestone at our drumming gathering—another reason to come share the rhythm.
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Here is another write up.
The Therapeutic Power of Drumming: A Whole-Person Perspective
Drumming is more than rhythm—it’s an ancient and scientifically supported form of healing that connects body, mind, and spirit. Across cultures and centuries, humans have turned to drums not only for music, but for meaning, medicine, and community.
1. Neurological and Cognitive Benefits
– Brain Synchronization: Drumming engages both hemispheres of the brain. The left hemisphere tracks rhythm and structure, while the right processes emotional tone and creativity. This bilateral stimulation supports:
• Improved focus and attention
• Enhanced memory and executive function
• Greater neuroplasticity (brain flexibility and learning)
– Trauma Integration: In trauma therapy, rhythm provides a predictable, regulating experience, restoring coherence where chaos has lived. Drumming can access non-verbal memory, aiding those who struggle to process trauma through words alone.
2. Physiological and Somatic Healing
Regulation of the Nervous System:
• Slower rhythms can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing anxiety and heart rate.
• Faster, controlled drumming can release stuck energy in the sympathetic nervous system—offering both grounding and release.
– Boosts Immunity: Research by Dr. Barry Bittman (2001) showed that group drumming increases natural killer (NK) cell activity, which is critical for fighting off viruses and regulating immune responses.
– Pain Reduction: Repetitive rhythm can engage endogenous opioid pathways, easing chronic pain without medication.
3. Emotional and Social Connection
– Nonverbal Emotional Release: Drumming creates a safe container for grief, anger, joy, or love—especially useful for those who feel “stuck” emotionally.
– Reduces Isolation: Group drumming fosters belonging and connection, especially important in depression, addiction recovery, or grief.
– Safe Synchrony: When we drum with others, our heart rates, breathing, and even brain waves begin to entrain (sync). This gives a felt sense of unity that is deeply healing for trauma and disconnection.
4. Cross-Cultural and Spiritual Significance
– Universal Healing Practice: From West African djembe circles to Indigenous powwows, from shamans in Siberia to Sufi rituals—the drum is a universal medicine.
– Alters States of Consciousness: Steady rhythms (around 4–8 Hz) can shift brainwaves into theta, supporting:
• Meditation
• Inner vision
• Somatic and ancestral healing
– Ritual and Ceremony: Drumming invites the sacred into the ordinary—marking transitions, facilitating grief, and restoring connection to meaning and purpose.
Applications in Integrative Health
Drumming is now used in:
– Hospitals and cancer centers
– Veterans’ PTSD programs
– Psychiatric and addiction recovery
– Elder care and dementia programs
– Children with autism or ADHD
– Community grief rituals and social justice healing
Final Note: Drumming as a Return to Self
Drumming bypasses the analytical mind and awakens the body’s wisdom. It does not require talent, training, or even words—just a heartbeat and a willingness to listen. In a time when many feel fractured, drumming offers an ancient medicine: rhythm as remembrance, of who we are and how we belong.
Below are a couple of our YouTube links as samples from our sessions.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eitZbHOtRaY
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4tlq98E9BOk
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/H2G9740FdXo
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ueHmmR1eoM4
Drumming offers a wide range of health benefits, including stress reduction, improved cardiovascular health, enhance cognitive function, and boosted immune response. It can also be a fun and engaging form of exercise that improves coordination, motor skills, and social well-being.
Specific Health Benefits of Drumming:
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Drumming can help lower stress levels by releasing endorphins and promoting a sense of calm.
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Improved Cardiovascular Health:The physical activity of drumming can increase heart rate and improve cardiovascular fitness.
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Playing drums engages both hemispheres of the brain, improving coordination, focus, and memory.
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Boosted Immune System:Studies have shown that drumming can increase T-cell levels, which are important for fighting off disease.
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Drumming can be a distraction from pain and promote the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers.
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Improved Motor Skills:Drumming requires precise coordination of hands and feet, enhancing motor skills and dexterity.
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Social Interaction and Well-being:Group drumming can foster a sense of community and improve social interaction, leading to better emotional well-being.
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Drumming is a good form of exercise that can improve stamina, muscle strength, and overall fitness.
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Emotional Release:Drumming provides an outlet for emotional expression, allowing individuals to release pent-up feelings and emotions.Drumming has widespread therapeutic value
"When we are at ease, our bodies work efficiently, our minds settle, and space opens up for us to connect to our intuition, creativity, and sense of connectedness."
Tara Stiles
The first and last lesson of religion is, “The things that are seen, are temporal; the things that are unseen, are eternal.” It puts an affront upon nature.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot become manifest, strength cannot be exerted, wealth is useless, and reason is powerless.
Herophilos
