In this video, I talk about the 5 key strategies I employ every day to optimize my focus. These are essential for people like me, with ADHD, to keep an unruly brain on task. Of course, you’ll also want to add listening to some of my focusing music to this list.
In this video, I describe the state of flow and how to use drumming to induce and enhance it. Flow exists in the transition between the alpha and theta states of consciousness. A rhythm at 7.4 beats-per-second is a great tempo to induce flow.
Tempo is only part of the equation. Flow is characterized by a deactivation of the pre-frontal cortex (a phenomenon called “transient hypofrontality”).
To achieve this state of flow, the rhythms need to be variable enough to entrain the brainwaves to the 7.4 Hz pace, while not so complex or variable that they activate the brain. This video shows examples of rhythms that are too repetitive (not able to entrain), too complex (activating), and musically variable (just right to entrain and induce flow).
Note: You don’t need to play the drum. All you need to do is listen. If you choose to play, the 7.4 bps tempo is achieved by setting your metronome to 1/4 note equals 111 beats-per-minute and playing 1/16th notes (you play four drumming beats for every click of the metronome).
In this video I talk about how the brain responds to rhythm at different tempos. At very slow tempos you need a constant pattern, whereas at faster tempos you need variability. To illustrate this, I show you how I adjust my rhythms across the continuum of tempos used for drumming.
In this video Jeff shows how he approaches the three types of sensory processing issues – hyper-sensitivity, hypo-sensitivity, and sensory discrimination.
He plays examples of various drumming rhythms to influence these sensory responses and describes how hyper and hypo sensitivity fits into an REI Custom Program.
Activating the brain for memory and cognitive enhancement can be done two ways:
Play pleasingly variable patterns with an unpredictable, yet musical quality at 8 beats per second. This has an immediate activating effect and, coupled with progressively more complex patterns over a series of recordings, can provide long-term cognitive enhancements. This is the approach we use for the REI Custom Programs.
Play various tempos all within the alpha range of 8-12 beats per second (bps). Musically, 8-12 bps is 120-180 beats per minute when playing 16th notes and one beat of the metronome is a 1/4 note. This means that you are playing 4 drumming beats for each click of the metronome. This approach is the key to the Brain Boost category on brainshiftradio.com.
I end this video with a cognitive enhancement drumming session. Let it play quietly in the background and see how mentally clear you feel afterward.
I’ve been playing for people with neurological disorders for 25 years and everyday I still wake up passionate about the work I do. It wasn’t always this way. As I was building my business, I received a lot of advice to delegate and be a manager. I tried this and quickly found myself losing interest. So, I resumed doing the one task that I loved: customer support.
If you’ve ever called or emailed us, chances are you talked to (or heard from) me. I answer the phone because I love talking to clients, prospective clients, and providers. This is what gets me up in the morning; yet this is what the business “experts” told me I shouldn’t be doing. The secret is that this task gives me joy, and my clients can sense my passion for the work and their well-being.
My advice: Focus on the aspects of your work you love, even if they are the “lowly” tasks that most people hire out.
In this video, I breakdown a variation on a traditional 12/8 rhythm that you can play to lift your mood. I then show how I morph it into a 53-beat rhythm I use in our REI Custom Program for people with mood issues.