We are musical beings

Dear Harmonic Selves,

We are musical beings. Everything is playing its score. Every thought, every feeling, has its melodic line, it's key - minor or major, its rhythm, and its mode. Our job is to find the harmony in it all. To enter the music, even when it is sad and discordant, and bring it to resolution.

There’s a dance at the center of any storm. A rhythm and flow that’s just our own. We’ve got to find it and let it move us; to get into its energy and just keep on moving with it, and let ourselves feel where it wants to take us. It's our own song that is always playing. When the outer rhythm changes we can decide to keep dancing, sit it out for a rest, or move on to the next party. But we never lose touch with our own rhythm.

The most important part of finding our rhythm is that we do not play the comparison game.

We use the language of rhythm all the time. For example, we may feel out of sorts, "off-beat," or happy, "up-beat." People talk about feeling that they've got their "groove back." But when we dive deeper into this rhythm metaphor to the deep pulsing heartbeat that defines life itself, we discover that rhythm exists within and all around us. Sometimes playing drums and percussion can become an invocation of this healing life force.

We all have rhythm within us. This rhythm is so natural that we hardly notice the drum of who we are. Our heartbeat rhythm is primal—the mother of all rhythms and the rhythm we first hear inside our mother’s womb. The rhythmic pattern (groove) of life ranges from a resting heart rate of seventy-two beats a minute, or adagio, which literally means “at ease,” or to andante, moderate, like a walking pace. When we question our own innate rhythmical sense, we can just remember that this inner beat is pulsing within us, always. If we are alive, we’ve got rhythm.

The beat of breathing is a natural balanced pattern of inhale and exhale. Breathing is the rhythm of life that gives our body the chance to receive and release. How we breathe creates great impact on our health, and our breath is a barometer of our state of being. Relax, and we breathe more deeply. Under stress, our breath becomes shallow. When we become aware of this breathing rhythm, we are more present and connected to our body.

Walking is a two-beat pattern, a double beat, which in music is called "duple meter." The walking beat has a masculine energy, like marching forward, feeling a sense of linear movement, straight ahead. Military chants are formed to this rhythm, but so are some samba rhythms in Brazilian street parades. In the walking beat, we learn the subtle contrast between downbeat and upbeat. In the downbeat, we feel a sense of grounding, like steps walking on the earth. In the upbeat, we feel lifted in the magical space between each pulse.

Rocking back and forth or swaying creates a soothing, more feminine rhythmic pattern. We all know it from the motion of being rocked as babies. Rocking inspires the hips to move in the sensual and circularity of undulating motions. Rocking is a triple meter or three-beat pattern. We hear this rhythm in the music of cultures, from Africa to Brazil, that have more connection to the feminine energy of Mother Earth.

The rhythmic pattern in music is the feeling that calls our bodies to dance easily and effortlessly. It’s the underlying essence of the rhythmical force that holds music together. Good drummers learn to establish the rhythmic pattern and then fall into it, maintaining a consistent energy. The rhythmic pattern is a pathway, a portal, a secret spot that drummers call “the pocket,” a place of rhythmic alignment where playing becomes effortless.

Being in the "groove" also happens in life when we are in tune with the rhythmic pattern that is our essence. It’s our way of moving through life, sharing our gifts, growing, and dancing with challenges. We can tell when we’re in the groove - life lines up, and we feel a sense of being carried by the rhythm of our daily movements and interactions.

Gradually we learn to trust this groove and are able to expand in the midst of contraction more seamlessly and effortlessly. Life then becomes a dance to the beat of our own drum, building vitality and wellbeing upon every pulse of our life as we step forward, sometimes into uncharted areas, into what is being orchestrated by our heart.

We can tune into our own life’s rhythmic pattern (groove) and observe how the tempo changes. When we are confident that we can access our own personal rhythm, and maintain it even in the midst of challenging situations, we can then be courageous and share the beat of our own heart noticing how we create the sweet spot, "the pocket", in our life, the place where our gifts line up with the opportunity to serve, grow, and create.