Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
550
A chaplain and a volunteer at a local hospital talked with me about music therapy this week. The volunteer, being a church organist, was very interested in possibly looking into music therapy training for herself. The chaplain also was inspired to pick up his guitar again and take some lessons, ultimately planning to add music to his bedside ministry.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
548
We had a wonderful time at our Celebrate Summer Drum Circle last night, and I was able to share the music therapy story with 14 new people (and about 10 who have already heard it!). Gallery360 is a beautiful venue for music making, in the heart of downtown Vancouver near Divine Consign and the old Spanky's location. The gallery's walls were covered with jewelry, textiles, glasswork, photography and paintings and showed evidence of children's camps which have been going on all summer.
The drum circle was attended by a variety of people from ages 10 to 62. Several brought their own drums and my music therapy friend Karla and art friend Pat brought several of their own to share. We drummed, sang, played tone chimes (one person said she expected fairies to flutter around us when she heard their lovely sound) and even danced, which I hadn't expected. Pictures from the drum circle will be on my website soon.
Next drum circle September 20, 5:30 at Gallery360.
The drum circle was attended by a variety of people from ages 10 to 62. Several brought their own drums and my music therapy friend Karla and art friend Pat brought several of their own to share. We drummed, sang, played tone chimes (one person said she expected fairies to flutter around us when she heard their lovely sound) and even danced, which I hadn't expected. Pictures from the drum circle will be on my website soon.
Next drum circle September 20, 5:30 at Gallery360.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
534
Our local newspaper, The Columbian, published an interview with me! How fun to see your words and picture in print! I talked about my 1000 Person Project, and how my message about music therapy is spreading in my local area, Clark County Washington. As a result of that interview, I have had several email and phone conversations from interested people about music in their lives. One gentleman said he loves music and always has and would like to get a music program started in his assisted living residence. I told him he called the right person! I also got an interesting email from a person who has always been interested in learning an instrument or singing and now in retirement has time for that! So I'm adding these two people plus Eunice to my list.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
7 Days to Better Brain Power with Music! Day 6 -- Hum!
6. Hum.
You may be noticing a pattern here – and humming is no exception! Humming is great for you ~ so if you’re just not up to singing out loud, hum a favorite tune and see if you don’t feel good afterwards. Humming works because it grounds you, and brings you to your center. The vibrations are effective at clearing phlegm as well as refreshing your mind and your thinking processes. You may find that humming relaxes all the muscles in your face, neck, shoulders, and promotes smiling! And that’s a good thing . . .
Because humming uses breath in a steady manner, humming your favorite tune may slow your breathing rate which in turn slows your racing pulse, lowers your blood pressure and reduces your stress level. It also activates your parasympathetic nervous system (which is activated after the “fight or flight” response of the sympathetic nervous system) which brings the body back to normal, and has a calming effect. Hmmmmm. Ahhhhhhh.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
531
It never fails . . . when I talk about music therapy, someone always has a story to share about the power of music in his or her life or in the life of a loved one. In this case, I spoke with a lady who, although she is on oxygen, volunteers her time to help others. When I began my music therapy talk, she interrupted joyously and told me about her grandson who can play by ear and seems to have a musical gift. This proud grandma's face lit up when she spoke about her grandson and it was a delight to see!
Monday, August 1, 2011
530
I got a call from our local paper, The Columbian, and the reporter asked about the 1000 Person Project. Yippee! I can't wait to see her write up in the Bits N Pieces column.
I also spoke with 2 volunteers at Legacy Salmon Creek about music therapy. They were both so excited to hear about what music can do in the lives of people with disabilities or recovering from illness. One woman said she remembered hearing lovely guitar music in her room being played by an MT-BC as she was recovering from mastectomy surgery. She couldn't say enough good things about her experiences with that music therapist, whomever it was!
I also spoke with 2 volunteers at Legacy Salmon Creek about music therapy. They were both so excited to hear about what music can do in the lives of people with disabilities or recovering from illness. One woman said she remembered hearing lovely guitar music in her room being played by an MT-BC as she was recovering from mastectomy surgery. She couldn't say enough good things about her experiences with that music therapist, whomever it was!
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