News from the Teaching Tent: :)

1.) Camp Renewal : Because NOBODY should face cancer alone!

That is their slogan.
An organization of cancer survivors helping cancer survivors, because only a cs KNOWS how a cs feels....
They had heard of me through Wellspring, Toronto and asked me to lead a Healing Drum workshop at the annual 3 day retreat on a private wilderness location “up here” (will not name names to protect participants)
I was then subsequently asked to join the organizers of the retreat as a spiritual consultant / shaman and be available for all participants, should they wish to talk........
So last weekend I arrived at the most beautiful location: Amidst lush pine forest are a group of laaaaarge post and beam lodges and outbuildings all facing a picturesque private lake. Individual cabins for participants and staff dot the shore, docks, a swimming area, an amphitheatre, a camp-fire circle, lots of meadows and rock gardens, walkways to nearby rapids, ponds and Beaver-dams.........
I had my car stuffffed to the brim: 45 drums, 30 rattles, all kinds of percussion instruments, Tibetan singing bowls, bells, you name it...
Also my Bear-fur, my Medicine Basket with shamanic tools to create a sacred Healing Circle......>> You get the idea.....
I was greeted by the other organizers - all either cancer “survivors” themselves or immediate relatives of someone affected.
I wrote the “survivor“ in “ “ because most everyone there is terminal or with dire prognosis.
A few participants helped me to unload the car and set up for the morning’s Healing Drum circle.
One young slender delicate woman immediately caught my attention. Huuuuge eyes fixed on my every move, every word.. She followed me around hoping for a word. Lara - I will name her Lara - (all names will be changed to protect individuals) introduced herself: ”I have heard of you! you healed D.!
She told me!
and you helped F and J.!
Will you help me? I am so scared! I do not want to die!”
I knew:

This encounter would set the tone of what I will do that weekend.

A blue handkerchief, graced her head, hiding the scar, the center mark and protecting the radiation burn on her head - But did not hide the “angry blue glow” I “saw” deep inside her neocortex.
I put my hands onto her head:
She was shaking.
I felt her trapped energy; high voltage with nowhere to go, but in erratic zig zags her head
“ All I can do, is pray for you and pray with you.
All I can do is help you with the fear.
All I can do is teach you how to find some Balance and Beauty.”

“It is the fear, that eats me“, she said.
Move away from it: Take a deeeeeep breath ....... and another one...... 3....4 .....
and now focus on the here and now....
and help me with the smudge”

A group had gathered, watching the proceedings. I explained the herbs and the reason for smudging. ( - see Teaching Tent....)
I mentioned, that especially for them, I also had brought a few other herbs, cancer fighters: Burdock root, Water Cress, Sheep’s Sorrel, Una’ de’ Gato, Slippery Elm bark, and dried Echinacea flower....
“They do not smell quite as nice as Sage, Cedar and Sweet Gras, however....”

First there were just 12 women lined up - then word went around and most of the 48 participants came to be smudged and blessed......

The first tears started flowing.....

Drumming for the soul:

Everyone settled in for the Healing Drum Circle.
The Talking Stick round revealed much individual history and also the beautiful spirit of the participants....
And then we drummed
Thunder rumble to great Father Sky
Heartbeat for Mother Earth
Medicine Rhythms for
the East, and New Beginnings
South,, love and family
West, strength and healing of body, mind and Spirit
North, the ancestors visions and dreams
At times the tears flowed with the rhythms, at times the joy of LIFE danced drum drum to drum.......

Val :
experienced :
a symphony of colours- seeing all the drums and instruments
a symphony of smells - the smudge
a symphony of sound - we created together
a symphony of feelings - with the flow of the circle
a symphony of love - flowing from one woman to the next
a symphony of joy - lifting everyone up
Everyone agreed.

Individual stories:

Indra had only eyes for ONE drum: the large Mardal from India that I had parked on a chair so it can be played easier. During the set-up phase this chair had moved around to several locations. Each time Indra changed her seat to be right in front of it. When drums were picked she SHOT forward and grabbed the drum!!!!
That one was hers!!!!!
And she knew how the play it! she had not played one since early childhood in India, where late at night, VERY quietly, she sneaked over to her dad’s drum and VERY quietly played it..... She was NOT supposed to!!!!
She however knew a few chants.... They came up- - out of the dusty recesses of her memories.
The whole weekend Indra and that drum were ONE!
Powerful experiences resulted !!! -->- more later...........

Bridget
like all others tried most of the different drums but came back to one of the Dene’ style Native American drums.
Much later she came over and shared:
Her daughter had heard that drumming was good for people with cancer and had gotten her a bodhran drum for christmas last year. But she does not know how to play it and how to work the tipper. There were no instruction books and .... it all was too complicated....
But!!! The way we played, with a Native American style drum stick!!!!!!
She LOVED that!
Especially the heartbeat and the fact that one could move around while doing that!!! ( I had taken the whole group outside for a drum-walk to the lake to greet the Guardians of the camp....)
Where could she buy a beater?
I send her of into the bush to get a stick of appropriate length and then to scrounge up a sock and 2 rubber bands.
We made a drum stick and in the craft room she decorated it ! She was VERY pleased!

Lean:
Lean Loved the singing bowl:
Every time she tipped it with its stick and it rang out she felt joy and serenity. I send her around the circle pinging the singing bowl over everyone present. I encouraged them to visualize that every “Ping” implodes a cancer-mother-cell. For the rest of the weekend the “pinging” was constant.....

Mandy:
A soft touch on my arm.
She handed me a slip of paper:
“cant talk anymore
throat cancer
drums!!!
give me a voice!”

Chaos round versus Drum-circle jam:
A chaos round is when everyone ads an individual rhythmic sequence to the circle - no downbeat, no rhythm. A cacophony of noise sound results.....

Jean
commented: that was like Outside - meaning home, in Toronto, in her family and social circle. Everyone going about their business - I have to concentrate in that, that I do not loose the beat that I make, that I do not loose myself!
That is sooo difficult -
and stressful!
Drum-circle jam: I provide a downbeat and thereby a general pulse to follow and everyone ads to that their individual rhythm/ melody. A multifaceted repetitive rhythm results, is sustained, even when participants change instruments....
Some people get up drum and dance......
Jean commented:
That’s more like it!
It’s like in here - It is a family! (at camp)
It is fun and no fears!

Jin Mei from Korea:
I love the drums! I tried them all.
In Korea we have shamans that drum for us and over us when we are sick. Here it is just Doctors talking about us....

That gave me an opening to announce this afternoon’s workshop where participants will pair up and learn to drum and rattle over each other.
Then I went into Hemispheric synchronization and how the Healing Drum works and we practiced with a healing rhythm.........
We still drummed when lunch was served......

.... And Lara?
Lara relaxed.
Lara became a conga queen!



Stay tuned......

Hemispheric synchronization

Hemispheric synchronization
or
How the healing Drum works
One of the most powerful aspects of drumming and the reason that people have done it since the beginning of being human is that it changes people's consciousness. Through rhythmic repetition of ritual sounds, the body, brain and the nervous system are energized and transformed. When a group of people play a rhythm for an extended period of time, their brain waves become entrained to the rhythm and they have a shared brain wave state. The longer the drumming goes on, the more powerful the entrainment becomes. . All of the oldest known religious rites used drumming as part of the shared sacred experience.
It is interesting to look at these ancient drumming practices from the perspective of the latest scientific research into the functioning of the brain. Using electro-encephalographs, scientists can measure the number of energy waves per second pulsing through the brain. A system of classifying states of consciousness according to the frequencies of these waves was created.
Normal outwardly focused attention generates beta waves which vibrate from 14 to 40 cycles per second. When awareness shifts to an internal focus, our brain slows down into the more rhythmical waves of alpha, vibrating at 7 -14 waves per second. Alpha is defined by relaxation and centering. Dropping down to 4- 7 cycles per second the brain enters the theta state in which there is an interfacing of conscious and unconscious processes, producing hypnagogic dream-like imagery at the threshold of sleep.
Theta is the source of sudden mystical insights
and creative solutions to complex situations and is
marked by physical and emotional healing. People with a preponderance of theta brain waves are also able to learn and process much more information than normal. Without some form of intensive training, it is hard to stay awake in theta--one slips quickly down into delta. This is the slowest brain wave frequency, 1-4 cycles per second, the state of unconsciousness or deep sleep.
The brain is divided into two hemispheres that are basically split in their control of the thinking process. The right brain functions as the creative, visual, aural and emotional centre. The left brain is the rational, logical, analytical and verbal administrator. Generally, either the right or left brain dominates in cycles lasting from 30 minutes to 3 hours. While one hemisphere is dominant, the memories, skills, and information of the other hemisphere are far less available, residing in a subconscious or unconscious realm. Not only do the right and left brain operate in different modes, they also usually operate in different brain wave rhythms. The right brain may be generating alpha waves while the left brain is in a beta state. Or both can be generating the same type of brain waves, but remain out of sync with each other. But in states of intense creativity, deep meditation or under the influence of rhythmic sound, both hemispheres may become entrained to the same rhythm. This state of unified whole brain functioning is called hemispheric synchronization or the awakened mind. As the two hemispheres begin to resonate to a single rhythm, a sense of clarity and heightened awareness arises. The individual is able to draw on both the
left and the right hemispheres simultaneously.
The mind becomes sharper, more lucid,
synthesizing much more rapidly than normal,
and emotions are easier to understand
and to transform.
The conscious and unconscious levels of the mind interface and integrate more easily. Insight quickens and creative intuition flourishes, giving one the ability to visualize and bring into manifestation ideas more easily. An expanded, more complete and integrated state of consciousness comes into existence.
Scientists believe that hemispheric synchronization is the neurological basis of transcendent states of consciousness. Research has shown that rhythmic music is one of the most effective ways to induce brainwave synchronization. Musical comprehension is a joint function of left and right brains and rhythmic sound can drive the brain waves into alpha or theta states.
Furthermore Drumming has been shown in current research to lower the stress hormone cortisol which can make you feel calmer and sleep better. Drumming also helps the immune system by raising natural killer T-cells that can help prevent cancer. It also has the effect of elevating the hormone DHEA, implicated in anti-aging. After playing a rhythm for 20 minutes, the human brain can slow down to an alpha or theta state similar to meditation where creative inspiration, deep relaxation and healing occur.
Many ancient religious practices have originated in order to induce deep states of relaxation and
facilitate a healing response as well as induce the transcendental experiences of unification with deity that hemispheric synchronization brings.


Stay tuned.......

Difficult times for those dealing directly with cancer in their lives but it sounds like they all found some strength and peace through the drumming group.

Will they continue drumming at home or attending a drumming group after this?

What wonderful stories! And thank you for tying the science together with the mystical. I like hearing how scientists can explain the real connections we feel when rhythmically linked to one another, and to our own brains!

Peace,

Melvis

Maha Lakshmi

Lunch for me was hectic.
Sooooo many crowded around; wanted questions answered, share more of their stories, wanted an appointment to see me at home....
- - or could I come to Toronto- once a week???

Finally Rene’ on of the organizers, whisked me away into the staff room.
“You are the first outsider that we ever allowed to come as a facilitator to this camp. I always was against it. But the lady who used to do some drumming with us the year before last has died. And you come highly recommended.
- I liked your presentation.”

She got out the "Hemispheric synchronization" handout and continued:
“I am at the end.
I am, what is considered palliative.
The metastases are getting too big.
I hung on for 14 years.
I am not ready to die.
I think nobody ever is...
Do you think you can turn this around for me?”

She looked fine, carefully made up, tight corduroy jeans, nice wig of natural hair, soft make-up
No eyebrows.
= She is on chemo.
I took her hands.
Low sluggish energy. A multitude of blue specks everywhere, some large, like the one atop her liver.....
“ Is the chemo still doing its job?” I asked.
“They refused to give me any more.
I had to beg! On hands and knees!
For some new stuff that they are testing for toxicity.
It ruins all my mucus membranes. But it shrunk some tumors back down to size so the pain is less.....!”

“We will have to see.
If I trance-drum with you/ for you.
Will I find enough reserves in your mutilated immune system?
Will it be able to rally yet again?
Will it have enough strength left to produce some significant killer T cells?
Or will the drumming help you relax.
Get some rest?”
“If ever I rest I will die within a week!” she answered.
“Thank you for being honest and not telling me about blue skies ahead.”
She pats my shoulder and leaves.

Next day she resigns from the organizing board.
She knows it is the last time she is here.
....................................................................................................................

In the dining room a group has assembled around Indra and her drum .
All the ladies with South-Asian ancestry.
Radha, Jazzy, Chandra, Jin Mei.
Indra is playing and chanting, Radha is snipping her fingers to the rhythm.... I watch.
Jazzy, and Chandra do some tentative dance movements
Jazzy uses her pashmeera scarf as a prop...
Everyone laughs.

Only Jin Mei is still married.
The others all have lost their husbands “to the disease“.
What I now learn shocks me:
Hindu men apparently leave their wives when the woman has cancer.
It “has to do with karma” I am informed.
Also the sons stay away.
The ladies here only see their daughters.
All live apart from their families - -alone!!!
I am shocked!!!
The women feel visibly uncomfortable and the group almost breaks up.
I AM the outsider here.
I sense, I destroyed their good mood and trying to restore it I start the Maha Lakshmi chant.
Indra joins in. The others too.
They are surprised I know that.
We chant for a while.
Then I ask them what they are asking of Maha Lakshmi
-Good luck for my family! aAl agree.
And for themselves?
-That my disability pension comes through
-That I get to see my oldest son’s wedding
-That my treatment works
-yes, that the treatment works..
-That my double mastectomy next week goes well.- Indra has tears in her eyes.
“We have “the gene” all pf us! We fled halfway across the world to get away from the disease- - just to find out we brought it with us. My aunts, my mon, my sisters all had cancer. my brother as well. prostate. my daughter.... I am afraid for her. I am the oldest one in my family now. All the others are gone.....
I will get a reconstruction done.
And then I want to get me a drum - - like this! And I want to du pudras again. And chant! It all fell by the wayside ...with us coming here....
I have to get back to that. To my culture.
I realize that now. “

Ohm na ma’ Shiva’ ya
We all chant.
Jin Mei contributes with the bell-rattle......

The weather was magnificent and we decided that it would be good to do the afternoon workshop outside. The first part was about shamanism and shamanic healing practices and the old ways and how to use them in the 21st century.
We did not go into things too deeply, because the woman were eager to drum and to experience being drummed over.
So for me it was time to pick a candidate for a demonstrating from 10 eager volunteers. Lara would have been a good choice, but I sensed that Liane was in pain and needed it more. So it was she, who lay down on the Bear fur. I asked her to relax and close her eyes, to completely let go and put he into a light trance. I then showed the ladies how to rattle over a person to shake loose and clear stale energy. Then I started drumming and later chanting. after a few minutes Liane’s head flopped to the side.
She was gone.
I treated her like every other patient and refrained from any explanations to the group. Some of them lay down sort of next to her, to get some of the benefit of the proceedings; others just watched.
after some smudging and closing prayers we let Liane sleep it all of.
we had to wake her when it was time to gather for reflections at the end....
Everyone else had chosen a partner, a Yoga mat, a frame drum and a spot beneath one of the mighty White Pines - (Tree of protection for the Anishenabec People)
I first took my large rattles and went from one partnership to the next helping the healer and rattling over the patient, then got my drum and went around again.
Then it was time for a little rest and recovery and then partners switched roles....
Finally we re-grouped and the Talking Stick went around for sharing.
Everyone had felt the powerful Energy of the drums and several women had seen clours, shapes and “strange angel-like singing’ - - - (= often experienced in light trance. )
Liane reported she heard a strange clicking inside her head and then - - nothing- just colours and a sensation of being lifted out of her body and floating is “golden cotton”. The pain in her spine and shoulder was gone.
Lara also reported that, when I drummed over her with my large drum she felt that strange Click in her head and then searing heat that washed through her and “cleaned everything out”
Several others felt the same heat and Energy from the big drum.
As to drumming over someone most agreed that they first thought it would be exhausting and tiring but then- -
- it was not at all ....
“It just flowed and took me with it and I felt the Power coming up from the Earth and surging through me and out the drum-stick and into my partner!” Marie reported
I was drumming “it all” out of me AND her! were Brenda’s words.
Val said “I felt empowered ! I was in charge! For once!
And after being in charge I could let go - - lay down and let go and let Nancy drum me away."
Many more powerful statements followed.
Then it was time to call closing and gather things up for suppertime.