How’s your mental health been lately? No, really

As the pandemic has taught many of us, taking care of your mental health is an ongoing process.  Many people hear the term “mental health” and they conjure up images of psychiatrists, medications, and even acts of violence that have been in the news.

Mental health is so much more than that.

  • It’s adding 5 or 10 minutes into your day for some quiet reflection time.
  • It’s being willing to say “no” to requests once in awhile when you feel overwhelmed.
  • It’s recognizing personal limits and boundaries and making sure others respect them.
  • It’s figuring out a work-life balance that works for you, even if you’ve been working from home.
  • It’s finding opportunities to smile, laugh, sing, dance, and be silly with others.

Wait…being silly is part of our mental health?

Heck yeah it is!  As adults, we tend to lose the playfulness that was abundant during our childhood – it’s no longer acceptable to sing out loud, skip around in a circle, or play hide and seek (unless you have a kid).  But having opportunities to be playful and silly boosts our creativity, and science backs this up.

Drumming & mental health

So, how does drumming measure up? SO. MUCH. RESEARCH. Has been done in the past several decades about the connections between drumming, brain activity, and mental health.

If you want to know which populations can benefit from drumming programs, it might be better to ask which population hasn’t been studied yet – veterans, corporate employees, senior citizens, at-risk adolescents, adults in recovery, nursing students, school children – all have experienced the benefits of rhythm, and psychologists have written about it.

During the pandemic, it became especially important to embrace new tools that focus on our self-care and mental and emotional health. This past year, I’ve had the chance to introduce new rhythm self-care techniques to doctors and nurses at Baptist Clay Emergency Department, chaplains with Baptist Health Jacksonville, and seniors experiencing social restrictions at Allegro Senior Living.

What rhythm can do for you

Let’s go back to silliness.  As technology bring us closer together, so too does it isolate us.  Seeking out activities where we can directly interact with one another becomes more and more important, and connection often means bringing out that inner child.

Just ask anyone who’s sat through back-t0-back virtual meetings and is starting to wonder what kind of impact they’re having at their job.

Drumming has this amazing ability to bring out our inner child, and to encourage us to interact with each other in simple, uncomplicated ways – a smile, a thumbs up, a whoop of encouragement – anything more would get lost in the roar of the drums.

In addition, drumming helps our mental health in other ways:

  • it improves our ability to focus and concentrate on a task
  • it increases our memory capacity to help stave off dementia as we age
  • it enhances our problem-solving capabilities by encouraging creative expression

The bottom line

We need to take care of our mental health just as much as our physical health, and drumming offers a proven way to do it.  Do you want to help your organization connect better through an evidence-based virtual or in-person rhythm experience?  Give us a call!

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