Love Through Rhythm

I think a lot about love, and not just on Valentine's Day. I always have. It is something I seek out anywhere and everywhere I can. It surges in me, sometimes out of nowhere. There seems no great explanation. It is a feeling I get, a certain yummy rhythm in my heart.

Lately, I have been trying like mad to figure the best way to express my love in the world. Writing about people who have inspired me is one way, but writing seems not to go far enough. It is a start, but it lacks the visceral expression of the emotion that I crave so much to give and receive.

What I have come to in recent years is music. I think it's the vibration of it that really lures me in, that I crave when I am for too long without it. There is the rhythm of it that somehow repairs the seams that get ripped asunder through everyday life.

Rhythm. With all the different art forms I've brought to kids and adults alike, rhythm seems to be the most crucial force of healing. Unlike words, rhythm is unlikely to get misunderstood or misinterpreted. It is most likely to sneak straight into your heart like it had been there all along and you just hadn't noticed and, suddenly, you feel better.

I started collecting percussion instruments a couple summers back. I'd taken a band class with some friends and realized that on the nights our teacher had us gather in a drum circle and take turns setting the beat we were much more in tune. That idea, combined with the coming together and true listening I've witnessed at clubs, back-rooms, ashrams, temples and in my own home around communal music-making, set me on a path to use percussive rhythm to teach love, and harmony.

I've been working with kids and adults in a variety of settings over the last couple of years to try to learn the best way to do this, to help people "Get in Tune." The world certainly seems to need that. Then, I found Simon Faulkner on the Internet.

Simon has for years turned to rhythm as a therapeutic answer to distress in schools, healthcare facilities and corporations all over Australia. He has documented his model--Rhythm2Recovery--in a wonderful book, and offers workshops all over the world to train others how to integrate rhythmic music into their own communities and organizations.

"Response to rhythm is an almost irresistible impulse that has been utilized across human history as a means to connect people in community, promote collaboration and cooperation, and develop social cohesion..." he offers up in his first chapter, on Why Rhythm. It is the element of music that "binds people most closely, synchronizing elements of the brain, and our emotions," he says, tracing the first comforts of rhythm back to the presence of our mother's heartbeat in the womb, and the rhythmic intonations of her voice.

Love. This is the way we most can feel it, finding a rhythm together. Of course.

I immediately reached out to see how I might learn from Simon about his methods. I bought the book, of course, but to learn from him firsthand seemed paramount.

I am excited to announce he is coming to New York! For two days' April 21-22, he will be offering participants the chance to learn how to employ rhythmic patterns as a metaphor for describing life and the way it interacts in all its complexity.

JOIN US!! Either just for yourself and your family, or to become an InspireCorps facilitator to help others Get in Tune, the workshop is from all accounts an incredibly valuable tool for connected communication.

For more information click here.

I would love for you to join me on this path to bringing love to ourselves and the world through rhythm. I do believe it is a great way forward!

Happy Valentine's Day! Be sure to hug yourself, and those around you that you love. Hug a stranger who smiles at you. Hug the cute puppy in the park. Be inspired by love today, and let it fill your heart.

hanks for the inspiration Peter, Stephen and Christina!

Shalom. Inshallah. Peace be with You.

Steph Thompson

Founder, Executive Director, InspireCorps