I live in a world that grooves, gyrates, syncopates, and funks to the rhythm in my bones.
A couple decades ago, during a time of ridiculous stress, I developed a heart arrhythmia that gave me a spot of bother. The heart specialist showed me the EKG readout, pointing out that one of my ventricles was prematurely firing, and I literally cracked up because sometimes you just have to laugh. But also, I laughed because what immediately occurred to me was, “Well, of course my heart is pushing the damned downbeat.” I mean, have you met me? [For non-musicians, but kind of TL;DR: pushing the downbeat is a form of syncopation that gives a certain drive to the music. Ordinarily the downbeat comes on the 1-beat of a 1-2-3-4 sequence, but when one pushes the downbeat, it comes on the fourth “and” of a 1-and 2-and 3-and 4-and sequence, propelling the groove forward at a gallop.]
I have been pushing the downbeat since … dear gods, forever, in so many ways. Always in a hurry to get to the next thing. Always wanting to move to the next bit before the current bit is completely over. Rushing through too many things, to be honest, that should have been lingered over. Never a dull moment.
Musically, I still tend to play with the idea of pushing, and I can’t imagine ever not playing with that. At least I hope I never slow down and become so … calcified that syncopation is too much effort.
But as for the other parts of my life, i have been learning, as parts of me are slowing down, to allow the slower, more planetary rhythms to slow my frantic pace. The moon has a particularly interesting rhythm to me. There are 13 moon cycles per year, beating New-Half-Full-Half over and over, with a little turn-around (we call that the Day Between Years) just to keep any dancers on their toes. I find myself doing things 13 times quite often, like stirring my tea in the mornings. I use 13 as a count for certain kinds of breathwork, or stretching. All kinds of eccentric and unexpected things.
Rhythm is everything.
It’s our breath and our beating hearts. It’s the pulsing of the cicadas on warm summer nights. It’s car tires playing thu-thunk thu-thunk thu-thunk over joints in the pavement. It’s lovers moving together in passionate expression. It’s the hip-bounce every parent unconsciously perfects that soothes a baby into rest.
Nothing is without rhythm, oscillation, frequency. Everything, alive and … everything not-recognizably alive with our limited human senses, is in a state of constant vibration. Frequency is the glue that holds us together. Some – actually quite a few – musicians say rhythm is God. It’s hard to argue with that.
We have so many sayings that express this knowing: “Once I get into a rhythm with things, it goes better,” or, “Once I really hit my stride …” which means finding the counterpoint between breath and feet that allows all the systems in the body to sync up and work like a perfectly tuned machine. Somehow we just know that our body works on principles of harmony and rhythm.
Time is way less important than rhythm, although rhythm is a kind of time-keeping. Time moves without the purpose of rhythm, Rhythm always brings coherence and unity and efficiency and power to action. Time just … passes.
Try a little experiment in finding your rhythms. Pay attention to the way you do simple things, listening for the simple rhythms of everyday life, from walking or running, to chopping veg to stirring the pot to brushing your teeth … What’s your tempo? Do you syncopate? Do you push any downbeats? Just observe and see how it changes your awareness of synchronicity and efficiency and ease of effort. Get your groove on. Really.
Want to really get your groove on? SoundWorks is hosting monthly Shamanic Journey experiences. If you are in the Iowa City area, we’d love for you to join us! Click the button below to visit the page and reserve your ticket.