One
of the more interesting aspects of my involvement with NLP is the learning new
things.
Within
Neuro Linguistic Programming is the aspect of modelling new skills and
behaviours and of course the best way of doing this is to go and learn something
new so you can apply these tools.
Over
the past few years I have studied foraging, Tai Chi, dowsing as well as various
forms of music outside of my original training but one area that fascinates me
and which I can see also interested Richard Bandler is that of Shamanism.
Shamanic
practice is our most ancient way of communing with deep consciousness and
creating theta level trances and NLP’s use of timelines is so close to the idea
of shamanic journeying where the practitioner can travel back and forth
‘through time’ on an imaginary timeline to affect healing changes to be
conclusive of NLP’s original source material in my opinion.
However
my interest in Shamanism is the way that music and rhythm is used in its
practices. The word Shaman comes from the Siberian visionaries but this label
has stuck with many cultures and walks of life from the Amazon to the western
trained practitioner who traditionally would have been called something else. The
African, Aborigine and Native American still are referred to by their original
terms, but for anthropologists Shaman seems to be the most favoured around the
world.
What I
find striking is their similar use of droning rhythms and chanting or
repetitive melodies whether that is from a didgeridoo, drum, shakers or
overtone singing as used by the Mongolians to encourage trances, sometimes this
is joined with dancing and in some cultures the use of psychoactive plants but
even the cultures that use ‘drugs’ also use music to ‘guide’ the traveller.
Music
and rhythm is far more important and powerful than we realise and partly this
is due to our Western ideas where there has been a disconnection with our
subtle feelings and a’ dumbing down’ of creative aspects of consciousness but I
think this will in time change as I have noticed some interesting developments
and increased popularity in machines such as Mind Spa, and the general use of
the computer and the windows format seems to act on the right side of the brain
in fact the idea of an Icon seems to bear
this out. As I have mentioned in previous postings it maybe music and its
use in ceremony that gave us the advantage over the more powerful but less
cultural and communal Neanderthal’s.
For
us as musicians and teachers music has so much potential for healing and self-development
which many of our ancestors understood and it has been our teacher for well
over 60,000 years possibly longer. In my mind that is proof enough to keep
playing.
Vic
For the amazing rock band experience www.bluescampuk.co.uk
