Survivors Say Ancient Drums Help In Beating Cancer’s Stress

By John Voket

In the womb, we were all comforted by the constant and unwavering rhythms of a heartbeat. And for centuries, in the darkest corners of our planet, the rhythm of drums has served to communicate, to celebrate, and even to heal.

That is the basic premise that drives musician David Wonsey and his wife JoAnn, a six-year breast cancer survivor, to share the ancient and mystical art of healing drumming. The couple gathers with fellow cancer survivors and caregivers the first Friday of every month in the chapel at New Milford Hospital.

As one recent meeting of Mr Wonsey’s group began, about a dozen visitors sat in the circular hospital chapel, each picking out a drum and several handheld instruments that they would shake, rattle, strike, or roll during the 45-minute session.

The drum circle leader briefly explained the concepts surrounding the activity. Then, over the course of the session, Mr Wonsey skillfully transitioned the group through several exercises using metal objects to begin, then wood, then the full-sized drums, to handheld instruments before culminating in a pounding, clanging, sizzling finale.

Before the activities began, however, the couple took a few minutes to discuss their personal story. While Mr Wonsey had been a drummer since about age 8, Ms Wonsey had never picked up an instrument until after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999.

But while receiving conventional treatments, she and her husband began exploring alternative activities to help facilitate the process of healing her body, mind, and soul from the effects of the cancer and the treatment regiment Ms Wonsey was undergoing.

“We were trying a bunch of alternate stuff, but I was really drawn to the concept of sound healing,” she said. “So we spent weeks searching every music store and art shop in New York City for a Tibetan bowl that resonated in my heart chakra.”

Mr Wonsey recalled going into dozens and dozens of different stores and studios, “playing every singing bowl we could to find the perfect one that resonated in her.”

Having played drums for practically his entire life, Mr Wonsey understood the healing powers and inner peace that comes when a person connects with a particular instrument that is suited to him/her. But in his study of drumming, and his participation in healing rituals over the course of many years, he also came to believe that the drum has a universal appeal that connects anyone playing it to the deepest and most basic inner core of his/her being.

“The beat of our mother’s heart is the first rhythm we come to know in the womb,” he said. “So any rhythm that we can participate in touches us either consciously or unconsciously. So once JoAnn was diagnosed and she decided to incorporate drumming and music into her healing cycle, it was a perfectly logical step for me to take this drum circle into this complementary arena here at New Milford Hospital.”

Leap Of Faith

Ms Wonsey admitted that in the beginning, taking on drumming as a component to her healing regiment was a leap of faith inspired by her musician husband and best friend.

“I never played an instrument before, but once this began, it was amazing to see how I could escape into the drumming. It only took two or three sessions before it became like a form of meditation,” she said.

Describing it as one part exercise and one part “an aspect of healing,” Mr Wonsey said that in his opinion, drumming was the perfect form of escape for those undergoing the painful or sickening process of cancer treatment.

“When it’s over, there’s something going through you,” Ms Wonsey agreed. “Your hands are tingling — it feels like you’ve just had a good workout.”

“A lot of cancer patients are weak, but participating with the drum gives them a lift, a light workout. Plus there’s something to be said about touching the drums with your hands,” he said. “For most of the people who are like JoAnn, it becomes the same life changing experience that musicians get.

“It’s the reason that we drive for two hours to play a $50 gig. It’s about the unique energy you create — the camaraderie — it’s like a unification to be able to share this with other people who sometimes have zero musical training.”

From the scientific or medical perspective, there is a growing conviction that this type of therapy is extremely effective for many participants. A groundbreaking study funded by the Remo drum company, and published in the January 2001 issue of Alternative Therapies, linked a specific type of group drum playing, known as Composite drumming, with an increase in natural killer (NK) cell activity, one of the mechanisms through which the body combats cancer and viral illnesses.

These findings reinforced the theory of a mind-body connection that influences the immune system, and may point the way to reversing the “classic stress response” that depresses immune system function.

Led by Barry Bittman, MD, the research team tested a variety of different group drumming protocols and nondrumming control groups made up of healthy adults at the Meadville, Penn.-based Mind-Body Wellness Center. In their findings, titled Composite Effects of Group Drumming Music Therapy on Modulation of Neuroendocrine-Immune Parameters in Normal Subjects, they found that one group drumming method in particular correlated with increases in NK cell activity, lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cell activity and chemical changes that together signal a strengthening of the body’s natural immune response and a direct connection between the external senses and the natural immune system.

Catching The Beat

While Mr Wonsey had heard about the positive effects of drumming as a healing art, he never experienced its success first hand until his wife was diagnosed with her cancer.

“I never consciously said to myself, I’m going to find a musical outlet to help my wife heal,” he said. “But having experienced the positive therapeutic power of drum circles, it’s fairly easy to recognize that everyone goes away feeling better.”

One of the participants in the New Milford Hospital group is a healing arts practitioner as well as a cancer survivor herself. E. Barrie Kavasch is the founder, president, and Reiki Master at the Medicine Wheel Wellness Center in neighboring Bridgewater.

“I led a drumming circle at the Indian Institute in Washington [Conn.] for several years before I was diagnosed, and I participated in these activities across the country,” she said.

According to Ms Kavasch, just ten minutes or more of drumming enhances one’s immune system.

“It makes you stronger — it makes you peaceful,” she said. “I’m so interested in this, as a cancer survivor myself. And I’m so grateful to be involved with New Milford Hospital, which clearly recognizes that this drumming activity and many other activities there provide important links to the spiritual and physical wellness of patients and their families.

“I’m living proof that drumming makes a difference,” she concluded.

From the Wonseys perspective, drumming is an aspect but by no means the only component of JoAnn’s healing and wellness.

“It’s all complementary — not alternative,” Ms Wonsey said. “I don’t pursue this activity instead of going to my conventional doctor. It’s just one part of the process. I’m just very fortunate that it has provided a very organic process for my husband and me to share.”

Mr Wonsey will lead a drum circle at the 2006 Brookfield Relay for Life, and a monthly drum circle at The Healing Arts Center of Brookfield. For details call 860-354-5900.