PODCASTHappiness Break

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Relieve stress, boost self-esteem, and increase focus through a simple body music practice. And do it with a friend to feel more compassion and a hit of oxytocin.

How to Do This Practice:

Try using these movements to create various rhythmic combinations with your body:

One: Clap your hands, slightly cupping with each clapping instead of hitting your full palms together.

Two: Tap your right hand to your left chest.

Three: Tap your left hand to tap your right chest.

Four: Tap your right thigh with your right hand.

Five: Tap your left thigh with your left hand. Then loop back to the top.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Keith Terry is a percussionist and body musician who uses a variety of surfaces to create interesting rhythms.

Learn more about Keith Terry: https://tinyurl.com/5av66v5f

Watch Keith Terry in action: https://tinyurl.com/299vuw4a

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

The Science of Synchronized Movement (The Science of Happiness Podcast): https://tinyurl.com/mrys53k4

Five Ways Music Can Make You Healthier: https://tinyurl.com/4ckbtc2e

How Music Helps Us Be More Creative: https://tinyurl.com/4mj6vs44

Wired for Music: https://tinyurl.com/ye2xkjxz

Four Ways Music Strengthens Social Bonds: https://tinyurl.com/y257y25p

How was your experience creating body music? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/2cyp46rp

Help us share Happiness Break! Rate us and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2cyp46rp

We’re living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That’s where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

Transcription:

Dacher Keltner: I’m Dacher Keltner, Welcome to Happiness Break, where we take a short break in your day to try a practice shown to help us find a sense of calm, and connection with ourselves, or each other.

Today we’re doing something kind of different. We’re going to create rhythms using nothing but our bodies, in a kind of musical meditation.

Body percussion practices have been shown to help reduce stress and anxiety, boost self-esteem, and help us focus. And when we do them in synchronicity — with others — it helps us be more compassionate and altruistic and this me brought about by higher levels of oxytocin.

Leading us today is Keith Terry, a world renowned composer and percussionist who uses his own body as his instrument. We’re gonna follow along as Keith guides us through a practice he created called Body Music — starting with just some basic claps — and moving right along into some rhythms using the chest.

So find somewhere where you feel comfortable, where you can move around a little, and where it’s ok for you to get into your body, and make some noise.

Keith Terry: Hi, I’m Keith Terry. I’m a musician. I’m a rhythm dancer and I’m an educator. And in the 1970s as a result of working with a lot of tap dancers. I had the thought that I could stand up and I could play all the rhythms. I was playing on my drums, on my body, they were really inspiring me. And I became a body musician.

Body music is fun and useful in artistic ways and music and dance choreography, but it also has therapeutic values I’ve discovered over the years.

And by the way, you can do this standing or seated, it’s up to you.

First we’ll start with a clap. So I’m clapping palm to palm, [clap]. And it’s not a high-pressured clap. It should not hurt. I’ll say, “Ready? Go,” [clap]. And on the next pulse is our downbeat. Where we’ll clap. Let’s just do a few of those. A-ready, go [clap]. A-ready go [clap]. A ready go [clap]. Oh, one more time [clap]. How about a clap? [clap] Clap. Ready go [clap]. Ready to go [clap].

You got the idea. Palm to palm. Keep it light.

The next sound comes from the chest [chest-thud]. After I clap, [clap] I’m gonna play my chest, the sternum, [thud] with my right palm. So it sounds like this clap [clap] chest [thud]. Try that with me. Ready? Go. Clap [clap], chest [thud]. Again, it’s light.

Let’s try that with a clap and a left hand. Ready go — clap [clap, thud]. Left hand on the chest. Ready to go [clap, thud]. Clap, chest. Ready? Go [clap, thud].

Good. So you got the right and the left. You got that feel. So let’s put this together. So I’m gonna go clap [clap]. And then with my right hand, I’m playing the chest [thud]. Followed by the left hand with the chest [thud]. So it sounds like this: clap. Chest. Chest.

Will you try that with me? Ready to go? Clap. Chest. Chest. Good. Ready? Go. Clap. Chest. Chest. Ready to go? Clap [thud, thud] Yep. Ready? Go. Clap, thud, thud. Ready to go. Clap, thud, thud. One more time Clap, thud, thud. Clap, right, left, on the chest.

So we’re gonna just play a series of threes, keeping the pulse. I’ll give you that. Ready? Go. Clap, right, left to clap, right, left. Ready to go? Ready to go? Yeah. Clap right, left clap, right left. Keep it light. Two more times. Clap, right, left to clap, right, left. One more time. Clap, right, left to clap, right, left. And a stop.

Now if we continue on down the body to the tops of our legs, and by the way, you can do this standing or seated, it’s up to. you. I go clap. And then right chest, left chest, right leg, left leg, just the tops of my thighs.

Ready? Go. Clap. Right, left, right, left. So that’s clap right chest, left chest, right leg. Left leg. Try that again. Ready? Go. Clap. Right chest. Left chest. Right leg. Left leg.

Yeah. You feel that pattern, how that goes. Right, left, right, left. Let’s try it again. Ready? Go. Clap. Chest, chest, leg, leg again, or ready? Go. Clap. Right, left, right, left. Again, ready to go? A clap. Right, left, right, left. Oh, one more time. Go clap. Right chest, left chest, right leg. Left leg. That’s your five. Let’s see if we can repeat that now without a pause. So it’ll sound like this. If I go one, two, three, four, five, or one, two. We’re just on that next downbeat, you come back with the clap and start the pattern. , you’re five. All right. Good luck. Let’s try it. Ready? Go. Uh, clap. Right, left, right. Go. Clap. Chest, chest. Ready, go. Chest, chest, leg. Leg. clap. Chest, Chest. Ready to go. Chest, chest. Leg. Leg. Right, left, right, left, right, left to right. Left. Yeah. One more time. Chest, chest. Leg. Leg. Ending with a clap right here.

Nice. I hope this is giving you some ideas of how doing rhythmic work can kind of bring you back to yourself for a moment. It’s kind of a slight neurological massage as I think of it. I find it very settling and soothing as well as focusing. I hope you have a similar response.

And if you’ve enjoyed doing this kind of body music work, I encourage you to invite a friend to join you because there’s nothing quite like doing body music with someone else or with a group of people. I find this kinda work, this kinda rhythmic work, helps put us back into contact with ourselves and with other people.

Thank you for joining me.

Dacher Keltner: That was Keith Terry, a composer and percussionist who uses his own body as an instrument. If you’d like to see a video of Keith in action, check out show notes on Spotify or wherever you’re listening right now.

Try this Body Music practice with a friend and tell us how it went. You can email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu.

I’m Dacher Keltner, thank you all for making music with us on this Happiness Break.