Results successfully replicated Bittman’s study, boosting the immune system, reducing burnout, and improving team building. The research team also studied nurses and health care professionals working in long-term care, which showed a 64% reduction in burnout after a six-week group drumming program on the Maslach Burnout Inventory.
Can drumming improve mental health, and if so, what mechanisms contribute to positive results? A study in the UK offered ten weeks of group drumming to mental health consumers. It successfully showed a significant reduction in depression, anxiety, and inflammatory immune response while also improving social resilience.
Across the 10 weeks, there was a shift from a pro-inflammatory towards an anti-inflammatory immune profile. The study demonstrated the psychological benefits of group drumming and suggested underlying biological effects, supporting its therapeutic potential for mental health.
Drumming Reduces Pain, Stress & Anxiety during COVID
For one year, I led a team of three sound healers offering 30-minute sessions online during COVID-19 to assist people with active COVID, complicated grief, burned-out healthcare workers, and long-haul COVID. We developed a protocol using a combination of singing bowls, guitar, voice, drums, Native American flute, monochord, and Sansula kalimba.
During the sessions, we used a 22-inch REMO frame drum in a soothing way, a buffalo drum for imagery, and the festival djembe for uplifting energy. The drum stood out as the most effective instrument, although most participants enjoyed the variety of sounds.
Pre and post-surveys of 171 participants from 12 countries showed a significant decrease in pain, anxiety, and stress with a sustained effect of up to seven days.
Many people reported spontaneous healing imagery without being instructed, demonstrating the power of sound to evoke individualized visualization. This study was published in April 2024 in the International Journal of Music Medicine published the program.
Drumming the Elements – a Guided Meditation
We all know the value of meditation and grounding, but what if you cannot sit still or find it hard to be centered and present in the moment? Here is a guided method of connecting with the four elements of earth,
water, fire, and air through specific sounds on the drum. Based on the Nubian tradition of Hamza el Din and the Native American drum style of Lakota Sioux and Navajo drumming,
these teachers helped me develop a simple wellness practice.
American Heart Month – The Inner Drum
"There is a place in the heart where everything meets. The mind, soul, and spirit. Are you there?"
~ Dr. Lorin Roche, Radiance Sultras
If you’re ready to feel the pulse of health and get in tune with drumming, you can begin with four rhythms of life - breathing, heartbeat, dancing, and resting.
I created a video tutorial on these rhythms, which begin in the body of health, expressed on the drum.
https://upbeat.teachable.com/p/the-four-essential-rhythms-of-life-free-video-training